INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis mayoral candidate Greg Ballard on Thursday accused Mayor Bart Peterson of demeaning Ballard's military career in Peterson's latest TV ads.

The commercials quote an Indianapolis Star editorial that endorsed Peterson and called Ballard inexperienced. Ballard said that because most of his working life through now was spent as a Marine Corps officer, the ads imply that military veterans aren't good enough for public service.

"It's disappointing, I think, that the mayor puts so little faith in the men and women of the Armed Forces, denigrating our experience and the ability to continue into public service," Ballard said Thursday, five days before the Nov. 6 election. "Communities should welcome such public service and … that's what I'm trying to do."

Ballard, a Republican, said Peterson is attacking him with ads because polls show the race tightening, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

Peterson, a Democrat, said Thursday that the ads don't demean veterans and that he admires Ballard's military career. He said the words are the Star's, not his, though he said he believes what the Star said.

"I assume what the Star meant, and I certainly took it that way, was that they didn't believe he was experienced enough to be mayor of the city. And that's simply what the ad says," Peterson said.

Peterson said he has complaints about Ballard's current ad, which says crime in the city is rising. Peterson said the latest statistics show crime rates in several major categories, including murder, rape and car theft, are dropping.

Abdul Hakim Shabazz, a 6News political contributor, said Peterson's ads feed Ballard's contention that the incumbent's campaign is getting nervous.

"If you're really 14 points ahead in the polls, if you've got $3 million in the bank, and your opponent, on a good day, can put a sentence together, why go through all this energy and hassle and trouble if there's not something else going on?" Shabazz said.