Republican in special election for Weiner seat evokes controversial mosque

Republican candidate Bob Turner--running in the special election to replace scandal-plagued Democrat Anthony Weiner--is seeking to revive last summer's furor over the construction of a Muslim cultural center close to the site of the World Trade Center attacks.

A new spot takes aim at Turner's Democratic opponent, David Weprin--who has lately been losing significant ground to the GOP candidate in New York's heavily Democratic 9th congressional district.

In the ad's opening, the ad's voiceover reminds voters that this September marks the tenth year since the Sept. 11 attacks. The message includes footage of the World Trade Center buildings in the wake of the attack.

"Some though, want to commemorate the tragedy by building a mosque on Ground Zero," states the ad's narrator. "President Obama thinks that's a good idea, and so does congressional candidate David Weprin."

You can watch the commercial below via the Turner campaign:

The mosque--actually a Muslim prayer space within a proposed community center to be located several blocks from Ground Zero--drew fierce opposition and anti-Muslim sentiment across the country from critics who argued it amounted to an insensitive show of support for the Islamic radicals who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ninth district voters include residents of Brooklyn and Queens. They are scheduled to head to the polls for this special election on Sept. 13.

Weprin on Thursday accused Turner of playing politics with Sept. 11.

"As we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it's shameful that Bob Turner is trying to use the tragedy for his own political gain," Weprin said in a widely disseminated statement. "I knew people who lost their lives that day, and Bob Turner dishonors their memory by politicizing the attacks on New York."

As The Ticket reported Wednesday, a new Siena Research Institute poll shows Turner trailing Weprin in the heavily Democratic district by just 6 percentage points--42 to 48 percent.