3:48 p.m. - U.S. Senate candidate Mike Liffrig's press secretary has left the campaign in frustration over a provocative television ad campaign that accused his opponent, Byron Dorgan, of supporting gay marriage.

Chris Morrola was Liffrig's press secretary from July 1 until last week, when he returned to Virginia. Morrola said he left largely due to the TV advertisements that were broadcast over his objections. He said he opposes gay marriage, but the ads were inflammatory and only hurt Liffrig's polling numbers.

"I think Mike Liffrig is a good man with good intentions and his heart is in the right place," Morrola said. "However, some of the people operating his campaign have made serious errors, tactically speaking, that have cost Mike any chance of defeating Byron Dorgan."

Morrola has worked on six other campaigns, including four previous congressional campaigns.

When asked about Morrola's departure, Liffrig's campaign manager, Jon Zahm, said Morrola wanted to return home to his family. Zahm said he had no knowledge of Morrola's unhappiness over the ads.

"There's probably a lot of things that I could say about him," he said. "He was not a real big part of the campaign."

He said Morrola's departure is no big deal; most campaigns experience a 50 percent turnover in staff because working on a campaign is such a stressful experience, with long hours and low pay.

Liffrig's ads, which ran for two weeks, criticized Dorgan for voting against an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The ads showed two men at an altar, preparing to kiss while an announcer said, "With Sen. Dorgan now supporting gay marriages … you can kiss our North Dakota values goodbye. Or we can kiss Dorgan goodbye."

Zahm stands by the ads. He said when you're running against an incumbent, you have to shake things up and get voters' attention. Zahm said the ads, which cost $40,000, increased Liffrig's name recognition to 82 percent. When asked how the ads affected Liffrig's poll numbers, Zahm said he hasn't released their most recent poll numbers yet, even "to most of our staff," for strategic purposes.

Liffrig did not return a call seeking comment.

(Reach Deena Winter at 250-8251 or deena.winter@bismarcktribune.com.)