Angus King left the state of Maine with a $1.2 billion deficit at the end of his term. But King’s new ad has him looking sternly into the camera and proclaiming, “There was no deficit.” Despite his emphatic denial, a simple review of the public record shows King to be flat-out wrong about this.

Gov. Baldacci had to deal with King’s budget as his successor.

He said this in his inaugural speech, just weeks after taking over for King: “State spending is out of line with state revenues creating a billion-dollar deficit.”

And in a 2006 debate, Gov. Baldacci said this: “When I became governor we had a $1.2 billion shortfall and the highest tax burden in the nation.”

Reporters from this paper have also detailed King’s deficit. In 2010 (“Economy tempered ambitions,” Dec. 26), Press Herald reporter Susan Cover reported that Baldacci “inherited a $1.2 billion budget deficit when he took office in 2003.”

Twice this year (“Truth Test: In chamber’s ads, numbers check out,” July 27; “Truth Test: King TV ad correct about cutting taxes, but not about deficit,” Oct. 25), Press Herald fact-checker Michael Shepherd reviewed the billion-dollar deficit claim, and pronounced, “The numbers check out.”

And just recently (“State vows no repeat of lopsided liquor deal,” Oct. 20), Press Herald reporter Jessica Hall said that when Baldacci took over from King, he “faced a massive billion-dollar budget deficit.”

King doesn’t want to be held accountable for his record, but facts are stubborn things.

The bottom line is that Angus King is exactly the wrong person to send to Washington at a time when spending is our number one problem.

Charlie Summers will provide the leadership we need to stop the spending in Washington, and that’s why he deserves our vote Tuesday.