I've received a couple tips about a robo-call that reportedly features Secretary of State Sam Reed. I'm told it starts off with him reminding you that the primary is this Tuesday, and instructing you to send in your ballot. You know, just the kind of civic minded public service message you'd expect from the secretary of state in his official capacity overseeing our state's elections.

And then, out of nowhere I'm told, he reminds you to vote for Republican Bill Finkbeiner for Lt. Governor.

Yikes. That sounds a tad inappropriate. Certainly more so than Rick Steves just reminding you to vote. But since I haven't heard the call myself, I'm hoping somebody who has it saved to voicemail might do me the favor of forwarding it my way.

UPDATE: Finkbeiner writes via email:

The Sam Reed call people received yesterday wasn’t a PSA, it was paid for by my campaign. I haven’t seen the Rick Steves PSA and don’t know anything about it, but it seems very different. Sam Reed has endorsed me and he and I worked closely together on the top two primary, so for him to ask people to vote for me in a message paid for by the campaign doesn’t seem to me to be controversial.

Well, I didn't mean to imply that it was a PSA, just that it comes off as one at the outset. I presumed it was paid for by a campaign, and identified as such at the end.