CAIRO, Ill. -- Alexander County Republicans charged Friday that the Clinton-Gore campaign may have violated federal election laws over the running of a newspaper ad.

Michael Caldwell, Alexander County Republican Central Committee chairman, said he would ask the Federal Elections Commission to investigate.

The full-page ad ran Wednesday in the Southern Illinoisan newspaper in advance of Clinton's campaign stop Friday.

"We don't think the taxpayers of Cairo should be paying 1-cent to help the Clinton-Gore campaign or any other political organization," said Caldwell.

He said it was a blatant misuse of tax dollars.

But Mayor James Wilson said the Clinton campaign had nothing to do with the $1,500 newspaper ad. He said he placed the ad.

He said the ad promoted Cairo. It read: "Cairo, The Capital of Little Egypt, Welcomes President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to Southern Illinois."

It listed the time and place of the rally and mentioned that shuttle buses would transport people from parking areas to the rally.

It featured three photographs of historic buildings and one showing the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

There also were smaller photos of Clinton and Gore.

The word "Democrat" didn't appear on the ad, Wilson said.

"I wouldn't even of dreamed of this being a political ad," the mayor said.