Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and self-described “word doctor,” has never been shy with his opinions. He has a lot of them about this year’s election ads, over 1,300 of which he says he’s put before his famous focus groups.

The best ad of the season, he says, was this 60-second spot from Mitch McConnell. It features a throat-cancer survivor who, as the employee of a Kentucky energy plant, was exposed to radiation on the job. He can barely speak but, in a whisper, touts McConnell’s efforts on his behalf. “You have to listen, you have to strain to hear it, that’s what makes it so powerful,” Luntz says.

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The others winners: ad campaigns run by Republicans Scott Brown and Joni Ernst and by Democrat Kay Hagan. “They were creative while still being grounded, they spoke to issues people care about, and they didn’t treat viewers like children,” he says. One of Ernst’s first ads, which ties her experience castrating pigs to her promise to cut pork in Washington, will perhaps go down as the most memorable of the year. It was written by GOP strategist and media consultant Todd Harris, who also happens to work for Florida senator Marco Rubio.

The worst ads, Luntz says, have been run by Connecticut gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley, the Republican challenging incumbent Dan Malloy. Many of the ads, which you can see here, feature Foley himself. “His ads were sophomoric at a time when Connecticut is one of the most sophisticated and best-educated electorates in America,” Luntz says. He also dinged North Carolina’s Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, who he said has run a lackluster ad campaign.

For future candidates, Luntz offers a general rule of thumb: Don’t put your family in your ads. “I’m sick and tired of candidates running ads of their spouse telling people how good they are,” he says. “If you use your spouse it means everybody else hates you. If you use your children it means your spouse hates you.”