COVINGTON — State Senate candidates Jack Westwood and Jaimie Henson hold their first and only debate tonight amid a campaign heating up with new attacks and rhetoric from both sides.

        Mr. Westwood, the Republican incumbent from Erlanger, and Mrs. Henson, an Independence Democrat, are set to face off at 7 p.m. at the Ninth Street Baptist Church, 231 E. Ninth St. in Covington.

        The debate comes as the candidates and their surrogates are going on the offensive in what is one of the most closely watched and contentious Senate races in the state.

        Both sides have targeted the 23rd District race, which could help decide the balance of power in the Kentucky Senate, where the Republicans hold a slim 20-18 majority.

        Mr. Westwood is the first candidate to begin a televi sion campaign. His 30-second commercial, which does not mention Mrs. Henson, began airing Tuesday night on ICN Cable in Northern Kentucky.

        The ad is the first of three Mr. Westwood's campaign plans to air, campaign manager Marc Wilson said.

        The Henson camp has not said whether it will run TV spots, but the Democrat is trailing Mr. Westwood in campaign fund raising.

        Reports filed last week show that Mr. Westwood has raised $102,000 and has about $81,000 cash on hand. Mrs. Henson has raised $41,000 and has about $24,000 on hand.

        Meanwhile, Kenton County Republican Party Chairman Greg Shumate issued a press release Tuesday about Mrs. Henson's unsuccessful run for Independence mayor two years ago.

        In that race Mrs. Henson finished fourth in a field of six.

        The election, Mr. Shumate said, “clearly shows that the citizens in her own neighborhood did not want Jaimie Henson to be their mayor. It is obvious that the people who know Jaimie Henson best trust her least.”

        The Westwood camp is also touting endorsements it has received from two anti-abortion groups, Kentucky Right to Life and Northern Kentucky Right to Life.

        Mrs. Henson has said she is also opposed to abortion.

        She is getting help from Gov. Paul Patton, who has made fund-raising phone calls and has sent letters to voters on Mrs. Henson's behalf.

        Mrs. Henson's campaign has come out with campaign literature that takes Mr. Westwood to task for votes he cast and causes he didn't support during his first term in Frankfort.

        The literature claims Mr. Westwood opposes a patient bill of rights and repealing a tax to reduce the costs of some prescription drugs while he voted to double lawmakers' pensions and increase taxes in Northern Kentucky that will be used to promote tourism in Ohio.

        “Jack Westwood has dropped the ball in Frankfort,” Mrs. Henson said Monday while receiving the endorsement of the Covington Fraternal Order of Police.

        But Mr. Wilson said after reviewing the literature that it is a totally misleading” and a “pack of blatant political lies.”

        For instance, on the tourism tax Mr. Westwood did vote for a bill that allows the fiscal courts in Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties to raise the region's hotel tax, which they have yet to do.

        Money raised by the tax would be used to promote tourism in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, Mr. Wilson said.

        But Mrs. Henson's campaign has repeatedly attacked Mr. Westwood for voting for the pension increase.

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