The Republican candidate for North Carolina attorney general is targeting his opponent over an alleged friendship with a local LGBTQ leader and registered sex offender that Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson denies having.

Rep. campaign Dan Bishop is broadcasting an ad which assumes that Jackson knew about Chad Turner’s criminal history and still decided to hug him at an awards ceremony. Turner is the president of the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and a registered sex offender who was charged in 1998 with “committing or attempting to commit a lewd act on a child under 16” when he was 20. The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Jackson’s campaign said he had no relationship with Turner and was unaware of his criminal history.

The ad, which generated spikes in Google search traffic across the state, comes from a video of Jackson accepting an award for “advancing equity” at an event hosted by the LGBT+ chamber in 2022. Jackson is shown hugging Turner while accepting the award. Other event participants and award winners include NASCAR, Ally Bank and Avita Pharmacy.

“Rep. Jackson, along with NASCAR and other companies, received an award from a local chamber of commerce for supporting small businesses,” a spokesman for Jackson’s campaign said in a statement to The Observer. The Chamber of Commerce that presented the award had a serious criminal record that Representative Jackson was unaware of.”

turner resigned from the role in 2016 after he was criticized by a conservative group when he advocated expanding Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance. Turner joined the LGBT+ Chamber as President and CEO in 2020, according to his LinkedIn page and the organization’s website.

Last year, the city drew criticism from a conservative group after they appointed Turner to the city’s business advisory committee, The Queen City News first reported it.

What the Chad Turner ad shows

Bishop’s campaign declined to comment on the allegations or provide details on the ad spending, which is based on reports from The Daily Wire, a national conservative publication.

The ad features several women reacting to a video of Jackson accepting the award. The women then say they can’t trust Jackson to be around the kids.

“Child abuser Chad Turner has become one of Charlotte’s most notorious sex offenders. A few years later, Jeff Jackson accepted an award from Chad Turner and hugged him,” says a narrator during the commercial. “Everybody knew about this guy.”

Jackson’s campaign said the ad was misleading and Jackson did not know about Turner’s criminal record when he addressed the camera.

“Bishop is using a deceptively edited video to deliberately mislead the public about what actually happened and distract from his extreme record,” a spokesman said. “Bishop’s conduct is simply unethical and should be considered disqualifying for someone seeking to hold a position of trust and authority.”