Hogsett goes negative in ad linking Shreve to guns

• "No thanks," a woman says as the ad ends.

Why it matters: It's the Democrat's first negative ad in three campaigns for mayor, a sign of how competitive the race is, and shows the Hogsett campaign's urgency to brand Shreve as pro-gun and anti-abortion in a city skewing left.

State of play: Hogsett has talked a lot about guns in recent weeks, introducing gun-free zones and new restrictions the city can't enforce due to Republican-drafted state laws that prohibit cities from regulating firearms.

Between the lines: The Hogsett campaign keeps linking Shreve to the NRA because it views his past gun positions as toxic to the Indianapolis electorate.

The other side: Shreve has criticized Hogsett's streak of policymaking on guns and other public safety issues as electioneering.

• "It is remarkable how many anti-crime initiatives are 'begun' during an election year for this election-year mayor," Shreve said in a recent statement.

Of note: Shreve has self-funded his campaign to the tune of millions of dollars and has been running mostly negative TV ads for months, while Hogsett had more than $4.1 million in cash on hand as of April and is just getting started.

The bottom line: Indianapolis residents will see an unprecedented number of mayoral ads this year.