A Republican nominee for the Senate from New Mexico, Allen Weh, released a campaign ad video that shows images of the Islamic State fighter who beheaded journalist James Foley, Politico reported.

The image is flashed, with the knife-wielding militant, as the voice of Weh's opponent echoes from an interview, in which Tom Udall says, "As far as I feel, this diplomatic path that we're on right now is a good one."

But the image of an incident involving the graphic execution of an American being utilized as a political tool is the central focus of the video's critics.

"Out of respect for the Foley family, no picture of James Foley was used," Weh's campaign manager, Diego Espinoza, told Politico. "Tom Udall's feigned outrage over the inclusion of a now familiar image of this Jihadi terrorist, who is clearly the face of the evil that threatens our nation. Senator Udall's comments about our diplomacy being 'good' reflect his naiveté and inexperience in matters of national security."

But Udall's campaign replied that the use of the image is clearly disrespectful to the family.

"Using James Foley's horrific and tragic death for shock value is offensive to Mr. Foley's family, New Mexico voters and the rest of our country," Udall's campaign manager, Daniel Sena, told Politico.

The video was released Monday and attacks both Weh's opponent and President Barack Obama by flashing images of the President playing golf, while showing images of the violence around the world.

On his website, Weh has posted as a caption under the video, "The lack of strong decisive leadership in Washington clearly threatens our national security. "

Weh currently trails Udall, but different polls have given different margins.

A New York Times/CBS poll showed results at the end of July which placed Weh at 44 percent and Udall at 51 percent out of 931 polled individuals.

Politico, on the other hand, shows Weh at 33 percent and Udall at 53 percent.