NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans branch of the NAACP is calling on Republican candidate for governor David Vitter to take down a TV campaign ad. The television spot claims his Democratic rival, John Bel Edwards, would release thousands of "dangerous thugs" from prison if elected. 

Morris Reed, the NAACP's New Orleans chapter president, accused the Vitter campaign of "race baiting." Reed objected to use of the word "thug," saying it's an attempt to frighten the white community. 

The TV ad seeks to tie Edwards to President Barack Obama. It references remarks Edwards made last month at Southern University about shrinking Louisiana's prison population. 

The narrator warns that, like Obama who has advocated the release of federal prisoners, Edwards will release "dangerous thugs, drug dealers back into our neighborhoods."