If you asked Americans to rank electoral contests based on how little they paid attention to them, state auditor races wouldn't remember they existed until they reached the middle of the list, by which point they would already be asleep.

So, if state auditor candidates want people to pay attention to their campaigns, they need to bedazzle their efforts a bit with a few artifacts of home-state pride or pop culture. If you're a state auditor candidate in New Mexico, that means making "Breaking Bad" references.

Don't forget this is a state auditor race, though. We can't get too exciting. That means no violence, drug dealers, family tension or references to the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Let's talk about the car wash from "Breaking Bad," and segue into a riff on how dirty politics are right now!

This is the formula for fame and glory devised by Democratic state Sen. Tim Keller's campaign and ad-maker Philip de Vellis, who it behooves us to mention is best known for that Hillary 1984 ad. Not that Keller seems to especially need some of that Bryan Cranston magic -- he has more than $150,000 left in his campaign stash, while his opponent Robert Aragon has less than $10,000. Also, this is New Mexico.

The car wash isn't the only celebrity featured in the ad, though; Steven Michael Quezada, who played Steve Gomez on Breaking Bad, does the voice over. Quezada has himself won an election in New Mexico; he is a secretary on Albuquerque's school board. He is also basically the David Letterman of Albuquerque.

We predict this won't be the last state-level campaign ad to cash in on local pop culture cred. We look forward to seeing "True Detective" ads from parish coroner candidates in Louisiana, Georgia gubernatorial candidates riffing on "The Walking Dead" and hopefully some adventurous New York-based ads featuring "Orange Is the New Black."

Looking at you, Rob Astorino.