NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An in-your-face political ad from a former state senator has raised the stakes in a middle Tennessee election campaign.

Former Sen. Bob Rochelle claimed his opponent lied on official documents and refused to talk to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents.

Current state Sen. Mae Beavers said it is Rochelle who is telling the lies.

Beavers is livid about a TV ad launched Tuesday by Rochelle, the Wilson County Democrat she replaced 4 years ago.

The commercial claims that Beavers was in a “Massive cover-up … lied about residence … TBI, 5th amendment, refused to cooperate, lies on qualifying petition and builder registry … another corrupt legislator.”

Rochelle claims Beavers lived in a house outside her district when she ran for office. She maintained an apartment was her legal residence.

A TBI investigation at the time cleared Beavers of wrongdoing, an investigation she said was politically motivated.

"… I was never interviewed by the TBI, never took the 5th amendment,” Beavers said.

Rochelle said the investigator's file contradicts Beavers' version of events, although he could not produce copies of what he said was the evidence.

Republican Beavers maintains the commercial is an act of desperation because voters remember Bob Rochelle as the architect of a state income tax.

The tax was so unpopular in 2001 that horn-honking protestors surrounded the state Capitol. The tax and Rochelle's political career were soon over.

Rochelle is hoping his ad strikes a chord with voters who are tired of corruption and ready to sweep out incumbent politicians from Capitol Hill.