19th Senate District Republican candidate Tony Strickland today unveiled a new TV ad that features a testimonial from Erin Brockovich, the legal clerk whose research uncovered evidence that led to a major class-action settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric over the poisoning of drinking water and whose story was dramatically told in the 2000 film "Eric Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts.

"I'm a consumer advocate and a Democrat, but I'm also an independent thinker. And so is Tony Strickland," Brockovich says in the ad.

Strickland consultant Joe Justin described Brockovich as "a bigger than life personality" whose testimony will be effective because she is seen as "truly independent."

Brockovich has come to Sacramento a number of times to promote legislation relating to the regulation of toxic materials, such as the chromium 6 chemical that poisoned the water of Hinkley, CA, in the story featured in the film.

When I told Democratic candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson of the ad today, she said she was "a little surprised."

Brockovich may be a Democrat, but in her blog recently she said she is considering becoming an independent -- in the same entry that she praised GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

"Some of the comments about Sarah Palin have been unfair and I don't say that because blogs say she is 'Sarah Brockovich' or 'half Ronald Reagan half Erin Brockovich' or 'The Erin Brockovich of Alaska,'" she wrote. " I am proud to be a member of the same Strong Woman's Club that Sarah Palin is in."