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Democratic nominee Chet Culver fired the first shot. The secretary of state donned a rain slicker and hat in a TV ad poking fun of the Earthpark’s indoor rainforest and Nussle’s vote in Congress to provide $50 million for the project.

On Friday, Nussle launched a radio ad that pokes fun of Culver’s TV ad and the Democrat’s “goofy rain hat.” The sound of falling rain plays in the background.

“Culver wants us to believe it’s raining even though it’s just a garden hose,” the ad’s narrator says before arguing that the Earthpark near Pella will create 2,000 jobs and has the support of the state’s top political leaders, including Democrats.

Nussle’s ad then pulls a short quote from a column by Des Moines Register political columnist David Yepsen to question whether Culver is really “smart enough” to be governor.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a longtime Earthpark backer, also stepped into the fray on Thursday.

Culver “ought to say he welcomes 700 jobs to Iowa and bring a billion dollars to Iowa every year. Is Culver for economic development or isn’t he?” Grassley said.

“I think it really gets back to a real key thing my mother always reminded me. She always referred to some people who didn’t know enough to come in out of the rain,” Grassley said.