TONY EVERS

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Allies of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his Democratic opponent Tony Evers released new attack ads Thursday, including one depicting a teacher accused of sexual misconduct unbuckling his belt.

In the first week since Evers’ primary win, the tight race for governor has largely focused on two themes: whether Evers, as state superintendent, failed to act aggressively enough in cases involving teacher misconduct and whether Walker has done enough in the past eight years to improve the quality of Wisconsin’s roads, education and health care costs.

A Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday shows the race at a dead heat.

The latest Wisconsin Republican Party ad references three teacher discipline cases. One involves a female Beloit Turner High School teacher accused of sending sexually explicit Snapchat messages to a male student.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the case is complex. An attorney for the state Department of Public Instruction, which Evers oversees, initially said there was “substantial reason” to find the teacher had engaged in “immoral conduct.”

But none of the Snapchat messages in question could be recovered and the student declined to testify against the teacher. Beloit police dismissed the case due to lack of evidence. A staff member for Republican state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, of Clinton, lobbied Evers’ staff to hurry up the investigation so the teacher could get a new job in 2015.

After the case closed, the teacher worked for a year in Janesville but has since left the profession.

State education department spokesman Tom McCarthy said the case would be reopened if the student involved agreed to testify.

“If we could make this case, we would pursue it immediately,” McCarthy told the Journal Sentinel.

The former teacher, Dayleen Yoerger, told the Journal Sentinel that her case was being used as a weapon in the governor’s race.

“I definitely don’t think it’s fair,” said Yoerger, who was 23 years old at the time of the incident and is now a stay-at-home mother. Regarding the allegations, she labeled them “absolutely false.”

Republican Party spokesman Alec Zimmerman was unmoved.

“Faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence that these individuals were unfit to be in a classroom with students, Evers still abandoned our children and allowed them to remain licensed teachers,” Zimmerman said. “Evers is simply unfit to be governor.”

Evers’ campaign manager, Maggie Gau, called the ad “disgusting and dishonest.”

“Since he cannot run on his own failed record, Walker and his special interest allies will do everything in their power to distract from his eight years of abandoning our kids, our roads, and our public safety,” she said.

A new spot announced Thursday from A Stronger Wisconsin, which is aligned with the Democratic Governors Association, accuses Walker of failing to address teacher shortages, rising health care costs and deteriorating roads the past eight years and “he’s not changing now.”

Walker has been content so far to let the state party attack Evers while Walker runs more than $2 million worth of positive ads. In April, after the conservative-backed candidate lost the state Supreme Court race, Walker urged his supporters to stay positive.

“The Far Left is driven by anger & hatred — we must counter it with optimism & organization,” Walker tweeted then. “Let’s share our positive story with voters & win in November.”