A television ad from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign mistakenly aired in Colorado Springs Thursday morning, marking the first time since last Friday's deadly shooting a spot for one of the presidential candidates aired in the state.

Both candidates' campaigns said on the morning of the shooting they would discontinue airing political ads in the state. A spokeswoman for Obama's campaign said Sunday the ads would remain off the air through Friday. Romney's team said the ads would not be airing "until further notice."

Obama's campaign and the channel that played the ad both said it aired as a result of a station mistake.

According to ad trackers at the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), an Obama ad aired Thursday morning a 5:55 a.m. on KRDO, a CNN affiliate, in Colorado Springs.

The spot that aired, "The Choice," was released earlier this week, but Obama's campaign told CNN it would not air in Colorado until Saturday. It began airing in other battleground states Tuesday.

"As we said earlier this week, the ad in question will not be airing in Colorado until Saturday. It appears that this was a mistake on the part of the station," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith wrote.

Phill Emmert, the general sales manager at KRDO, confirmed the ad aired by mistake.

"We did air it and it was a station error," Emmert said.

In the spot, Obama looks directly into the camera and tells voters, "Over the next four months, you have a choice to make."

The president says the choice isn't just between Democrats and Republicans, or between himself and Romney.

"It's a choice between two very different plans for our country," Obama explains. "Governor Romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top. Roll back regulations on big banks. And he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. But you know what? We tried that top down approach. It's what caused the mess in the first place."