Sen. David Rouzer’s congressional campaign is demanding that 10 TV stations in the Raleigh and Wilmington areas stop airing a political ad that accuses him of “running on a platform of outsourcing.”
The campaign’s attorney, Phillip Strach of Raleigh, sent the letter Tuesday. The 3-1/2 page correspondence goes into great detail to refute the attack ad, which was paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, waving a legal sword but stopping just short of threatening to go to court.
“The DCCC has every right to support the candidate of its choosing, but has no right to fabricate lies in order to do so,” Strach writes. “Because broadcast licensees have a legal responsibility to review and to eliminate any false, misleading or deceptive materials contained in advertising, we urge you to stand up for the truth and put a stop to these false attacks on your station.”
Rouzer, a Republican, is running against longtime incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre in the 7th Congressional District, which stretches from Johnston County to the coast.
Besides the outsourcing issue, Rouzer also objects to the ad’s claim that Rouzer supports more tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas.
“Congressman McIntyre’s allies at the DCCC know David Rouzer is running on a platform that would pay down our national debt, promote job growth, and get our country back on track, but that wouldn’t be distorted enough for them,” Rouzer spokeswoman Jessica Wood said Wednesday. “They are growing more and more desperate and resorting to false and baseless attacks.”
A spokeswoman for the DCCC said the committee stands by its ad. The committee aired an ad with the same message that began running back in September.
“After profiting as a special interest lobbyist for an Asian corporation, it’s no wonder that lobbyist David Rouzer doesn’t want North Carolina families to find out that he also ‘wholeheartedly’ supports a budget plan that gives more tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs,” said Stephanie Formas.
The TV ad began airing on Oct. 23, and is part of a final drive to Election Day that sees the DCCC spending close to half a million dollars in Raleigh and Wilmington over two weeks. The DCCC has spent $1.8 million in this race, records show.
Andy Combs, general manager of WWAY in Wilmington, said the letter has been referred to the station’s attorney, and no decision has been made yet on whether to pull the ad.
This isn’t the first time this election season that a Republican candidate has tried to get an ad pulled.
Earlier this year, GOP gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory’s campaign had a lawyer threaten legal action if TV stations didn’t pull an ad raising ethics questions about his relationship with a lending and real estate company. The ad was eventually tweaked, and no lawsuit was filed.
Super PAC funds Forest ads
In the lieutenant governor’s race, a super PAC funded by a supporter of U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick is sponsoring TV ads on behalf of her son, Republican Dan Forest.
Citizens for Accountability started just this month with $75,000 from Charlotte businessman David Longo. This week, the PAC spent $61,800 on cable TV ads for Forest, who faces Democrat Linda Coleman.
Longo, president of Carolina Business Interiors, has given Myrick’s campaigns at least $10,800 since 2007. Longo could not be reached Tuesday.
The effort is likely designed to match an outside group aiding Coleman’s campaign. The state employees association is giving at least $200,000 to air TV ads promoting Coleman.
Values Coalition for Newby
The N.C. Values Coalition was the driving force behind the successful constitutional ban on same-sex marriage earlier this year, and now it’s weighing in on the N.C. Supreme Court race, which pits incumbent Justice Paul Newby against appellate Judge Sam Ervin IV.
“Judge Ervin was endorsed by the radical homosexual activist groups Equality N.C. and the Durham People’s Alliance,” coalition executive director Tami Fitzgerald says in a TV ad. “These groups worked to defeat the marriage amendment, and now they want to further their agenda.”
The ad appropriates music from the TV “banjo ad” that other independent political groups are airing across the state in support of Newby.
Staff writers Craig Jarvis and John Frank and Charlotte Observer reporter Jim Morrill
Send tips to dome@newsobserver.com.
