Why This Congressional Candidate Doesn't Want You To Pay Attention To Her TV Ad

Zephyr Teachout wants to change the way politicians treat voters when targeting them with ads.

“You know how most political ads don’t say anything? Well, 30 seconds isn’t enough time,” the New York Democratic congressional candidate says in her first television ad, released Tuesday. “But also, a lot of politicians just don’t think you’re very smart. I’m Zephyr Teachout, and I think you are.”

Watch the ad above.

In the ad, Teachout invites voters to watch detailed videos, explaining her positions on issues like equal pay and climate change, that she’s posted on her campaign website.

“Most campaigns treat you like you’re dumb,” she says in the ad.

Teachout, who rose to fame as an activist and grassroots challenger to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in 2014, is running for Congress in upstate New York on a progressive platform. A law professor specializing in corruption and corporate power, Teachout has emphasized her commitment to getting money out of politics and her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Last month, she called attention to the outsize role of corporate interests in politics by challenging not her Republican opponent, former state Assemblyman John Faso, to a debate, but rather a billionaire donor to his super PAC instead.