Sam Page, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, today applauded Attorney General Jay Nixon’s crackdown on illegal automated calls.

Nixon, who, of course, is also running for governor, announced yesterday that, as the state top’s prosecutor, he sent a letter to 2,000 political committees, warning them to include proper disclosure on automated calls or risk prosecution.

Page, a state representative from Creve Coeur, was himself the target of anonymous “robo-calls” before last month’s primary.

In a statement sent this morning, Page blamed the calls on his general election opponent, incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who, according to Page, “raised enough money to pay for robocalls and the messages were very similar to those in radio advertisements paid for by the Kinder campaign.”

More from Page’s statement:

Page’s campaign was attacked with robocalls in two ways.  Some calls attacked Page’s voting record.  But other, more despicable, calls led voters to believe the Page campaign itself was calling homes 10 or more times between midnight and 6 a.m.  This ploy was used widely by Republicans in 2006 Congressional races.

Previously, a spokesman for Kinder denied involvement in the calls, saying the script “sounds like a Democratic robocall to me.”

Either way, Page backed Nixon’s effort to pursue violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law that gives state attorney generals specific enforcement authority.

“It’s dirty tricks like these that make voters lose faith in their politicians,” Page said. “Anyone impersonating another campaign should be punished harshly for such crass attempts to deceive voters.”