Attacks and counterattacks across north Alabama television airwaves have dominated the race for the state’s 5th Congressional District in recent weeks as Republicans try to win the seat for the first time since Reconstruction.

State Sen. Parker Griffith, the Democratic nominee and a retired doctor, faces Republican nominee Wayne Parker, a Huntsville insurance executive, in the Nov. 4 race. The two men are vying for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, a Democrat.

State and national Republican leaders made the 5th District a target this year, saying the conservative area is finally prime for the taking. Democrats are equally set on trying to keep the seat they’ve held more than a century. Both parties have poured money into the campaigns.

For more than a month, TV advertisements by Parker and the Republican National Congressional Campaign have mostly focused on Huntsville Hospital reviews from the late 1980s. The reviews allege that Griffith, then a cancer doctor, gave low doses of radiation to patients to increase their number of visits. The ads claim Griffith did it to increase profits.

Griffith denies the claims of improper patient treatment and has said the hospital’s reviews were done when he was setting up a cancer center that would compete with the hospital. He has called the ads “dirty politics” and responded with ads and a Web site that include testimonials of former patients or their families.

He rarely gets asked about the hospital reviews while on the campaign trail, Griffith said.

“We’re in a financial crisis that rivals the Great Depression and I think the public has become very disappointed in not talking about the issues,” he said.

Parker defends the ads and release of the hospital reviews. He said Griffith wanted to talk about his life record, including his work as a doctor.

“I think the public has the right to the whole story. … I don’t know if I call that negative. I believe that’s just talking about what the record shows,” Parker said.

Ads by Griffith and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have included attacks on Parker’s work as a lobbyist in the late 1990s, when his father-in-law, Bill Archer of Texas, was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

An ad also has claimed that Parker has said he would consider getting rid of jobs at NASA, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Army, which together provide 20,000 jobs in the district. Parker called the claims about the jobs “laughable” and said his time as a lobbyist was spent on issues that help people, including seeking to eliminate the inheritance tax.

As of Sept. 30, the Griffith campaign had spent $964,142 and Parker’s campaign had spent $711,955. A chunk of Parker’s spending included his campaign in the six-person Republican primary race.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also has spent about $750,000 and the National Republican Congressional Committee just more than $250,000 on the race, according to a Swing State Project analysis of campaign spending.

Freedoms’ Watch, a conservative political organization, also has spent tens of thousands of dollars running issue ads against Griffith.

Constituents’ issues:

Both candidates say they’ve also been trying to get out messages about issues that affect north Alabama residents.

Parker said he wants to work to keep America strong and energy-independent. He said he’s for more drilling in the United States and developing more nuclear power, solar power and clean coal technology.

Parker also said he wants to stop illegal immigration “so illegals don’t take jobs from Americans,” and be a strong voice for traditional American values.

Griffith said the main message he’s trying to get out before the election is that, if elected, he would make a bipartisan effort to reach across the aisle “in the style of Bud Cramer and (Republican Sen.) Richard Shelby.

Griffith said he would continue to bring jobs to the 5th District and use his expertise in health care to help shape policies to make health care less costly for people and businesses.

Athens State University political science professor Jess Brown said Griffith enjoys several advantages in the race.

While people in the district have voted Republican in recent presidential races, they tend to lean toward Democrats in local elections, Brown said. Cramer, a highly popular congressman, endorsed Griffith for the seat. And Griffith didn’t have to spend much money in his primary, while Parker did.

Recognizable name:

Griffith also went into the race with a more recognizable name than Parker, who hadn’t been in the public eye much since his 1990s campaigns, Brown said.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama also may help Griffith and other local Democrats by generating what could be record voter turnout among blacks, Brown said.

Brown also said a Republican nominee has a harder time running on economic issues while the economy is in crisis. “The public punishes the party in the White House,” he said.

Parker’s key to winning could be linking Griffith to Democratic leaders unpopular among conservatives in north Alabama, such as Nancy Pelosi, Brown said. Griffith should talk more about the economy and local issues that affect north Alabama residents, he said.

Brown believes a few percentage points could decide the 5th District race. “It’ll be competitive.”

E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com