The front-runner candidate for the state Senate District 39 seat accused her opponent on Monday of stooping to "desperation tactics' and "gutter politics' by circulating a campaign pamphlet throughout the district that she claims distorts her voting record.

State Rep. Lydia Jackson said her opponent, City Councilman Theron Jackson, is behind a pamphlet titled "Did You Know' that questions her voting record in the state Legislature on six issues ranging from prayer in schools, to rural development to punishment for drinking-and-driving offenders.

Lydia Jackson and Theron Jackson, both Democrats, face each other in the Nov. 15 runoff election to fill the Senate seat being vacated by longtime state Sen. Greg Tarver. Earlier this year, Tarver announced his retirement and then threw his endorsement behind Theron Jackson.

Theron Jackson, who garnered 25 percent compared to Lydia Jackson's 47 percent in the Oct. 4 primary election, denied any involvement in the production or distribution of the pamphlet when contacted by The Times on Monday.

"If it was me I'd take full responsibility for it,' he said.

Lydia Jackson said the pamphlet contains "lies, half-truths and distortion.'

Vivian merchant Sam Curry said he received a pamphlet two weeks ago and showed it to Lydia Jackson. She was in Vivian last week on a campaign stop when she saw the pamphlet for the first time. Curry said it was handed to him personally by Theron Jackson.

"He had a stack of them and handed one to me,' Curry said. "I hate to get tangled up in politics, but I'm not going to lie for him.'

Theron Jackson said he's known the pamphlet's out there but he's not the instigator. The pamphlet doesn't specify by whom or where it was generated.

"I won't deny there are people promulgating it, but it's not at my direction,' he said. "The key for me is that when she and I are any place together we talk about the issues. We've always been friends in the past, and she has not said to me anything about it. I'm accessible to her.'

The pamphlet states Lydia Jackson voted against "displaying our nation's motto, 'In God We Trust,' in schools,' voted against voluntary prayer in schools, did not actively support rural development for small towns and villages, is "for partial abortion,' and voted against legislation that reduces the blood-alcohol content to .05 for repeat DWI offenders.

Lydia Jackson, who has represented House District 2 as a state representative for the past four years, confirmed she did vote against the first two pieces of legislation targeted by the pamphlet.

"I did so because they were going to be clearly unconstitutional, and I didn't think the state should waste its resources defending lawsuits when we had pressing problems in our schools that needed our precious resources,' she said.

However, Lydia Jackson said she annually supports an appropriations bill that earmarks funds for rural development, and she also supported a bill proposed last year by state Sen. John Hainkel, R-New Orleans, to create separate funding - above and beyond the rural development fund - for small town and local projects.

"I don't know what a partial abortion is,' she said, referring to the pamphlet's wording on House Bill 1909. "This bill sets a dangerous medical precedence for us all. It dictated how many doctors have to be in an operating room, which diagnostic tests you have to have before a procedure. I don't think I'm smart enough, and I don't think the Louisiana Legislature is smart enough, to make those kinds of decisions. This vote is inflamed by the language of abortion.'

She also said she supported the strongest sanctions against drunken driving offenders in last year's legislative session, but voted against lowering the blood-alcohol content measure out of constitutionality concerns.

Theron Jackson said he's not taken the time to personally examine Lydia Jackson's voting record, in part because she initially told him she was supporting him for the Senate seat before jumping into the race herself.

"I never was interested in attacking her record because she had pledged her support to me,' he said. "I don't carry a copy of it around with me, but it's her record. She's never talked to me about inaccuracies in it. I've never mentioned her name in a negative sense since this campaign started, and since we live in the same city I don't intend to.'

Said Lydia Jackson: "It's so unfair to citizens to take these votes out of context.

"We look at hundreds of pieces of legislation every year. If the worst things I've done can be reduced to one side of an eight-and-a-half by eleven-inch sheet of paper, then I think I've done a pretty good job.'