Topeka ? U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun’s television ads and help from Vice President Dick Cheney will backfire, Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda predicted Tuesday.

But Jeff Black, a spokesman for Ryun, said Boyda’s campaign was showing signs of faltering.

Ryun, a Republican from Lawrence, is seeking a sixth two-year term in a rematch against Boyda, whom he defeated in 2004.

The district includes west Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan and southeast Kansas.

During a news conference, Boyda, of Topeka, said her underdog campaign remains a dead heat.

She released her campaign poll, which she said shows Ryun at 42.6 percent and Boyda at 40 percent with the rest undecided. Last month, she released polling that had her with a slight edge.

“All the attack ads of the last month that have been run by Ryun have not significantly raised his support or lowered mine,” she said, adding that her first TV ad will start today.

And, she said, Thursday’s visit by Cheney to Topeka to line up $1,000-a-piece photo-ops as part of a fundraiser will hurt Ryun, too.

“I think people of Kansas see Dick Cheney as a big part of the problem right now,” Boyda said. “Ryun’s campaign is in trouble and they know it.”

But Black, Ryun’s spokesman, said it was Boyda’s campaign that was in trouble.

“This is the act of a desperate campaign. They are trying to come back to the good graces of their donors,” he said.

He said he doubted her poll results and said their release was a ploy to keep people contributing to her campaign.

Black said the Ryun campaign would not release its poll results.

As for Cheney’s visit being a sign of a campaign in trouble, Black said the fundraiser had been scheduled since August. He also dismissed suggestions that Cheney is seen as a negative in the 2nd Congressional District.