BY WESLEY P. HESTER

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is out with a new ad in Virginia and other swing states touting his record as Massachusetts governor.

The ad, titled “Strong Leadership,” comes on the heels of an Obama campaign ad currently airing in Virginia that criticizes Romney’s time in office, claiming he had “one of the worst economic records in the country.”  

The Romney campaign’s new 30-second spot counters that, defending his economic record and casting him as a fiscal reformer who turned things around for the state.  

“As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney had the best jobs record in a decade,” the narrator says. “Romney reduced unemployment to just 4.7 percent. He balanced every budget without raising taxes. He did it by bringing parties together to cut through gridlock.”

The ad closes: “From day one as president, Mitt Romney’s strong leadership will make all the difference on jobs.”

 The tit-for-tat between the campaigns comes against the backdrop of a weak May jobs reports that saw the nation’s unemployment rate slip from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent.