Attack Ad Leads to Election Complaint
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Republican congressional candidate Bob Gibbs has filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission based on a controversial attack ad from incumbent Democratic Congressman Zack Space of Ohio’s 18th Congressional District.
Gibbs called Space a liar in the wake of the ad that slams Gibbs for voting to give himself a pay raise. among other charges. According to Space campaign manager Danny Friedman, Gibbs approved an automatic pay raise when he voted for the 2003 state budget. But even Friedman cannot find the pay raise mentioned in the text of the budget bill. Still, he believes Gibbs should be held accountable for taking the automatic pay raise. Gibbs disagrees.
“I’ve never voted for a pay increase,“ Gibbs said. “It was done in the budget before I was in the legislature.“
EXTRA: Space’s Explanation Of Ad (PDF)
MORE: Gibbs Statement (Word Doc)
Gibbs’ complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission said Space made a false statement regarding the pay raise issue and in the criticism that Gibbs did not give tax breaks to families.
“That’s not even close to the truth,“ Gibbs said.“I helped write the largest tax cut in Ohio, over $2 billion. And that was the 21 percent cut to individual income tax payers.“
Friedman said the campaign was not insinuating that Gibbs never worked to give tax breaks to families. But the Space ad asks, “Did Gibbs give tax breaks to families? No, he gave them to golf courses.“
That claim is false. Gibbs introduced Senate Bill 199 in 2009 which would have changed the way golf courses are taxed. The bill has not moved out of committee and golf courses have not reaped any benefits.
Friedman argued Gibbs should have spent his time working for families, rather than golf courses. But the ad does not criticize Gibbs’ time management. It erroneously states that Gibbs, “gave (tax breaks) to golf courses.“
Only one of the Space ad’s charges is not in dispute. Space criticizes Gibbs for voting for “the Taft tax, the largest tax increase in state history.“
Gibbs acknowledged voting for the 2003 state budget that contained a one cent increase in the state sales tax.
“I did vote for the budget. I did try to, I had long hours of leadership trying to figure out a way that we could cut spending more. I didn’t like that,“ Gibbs said.
Gibbs’ campaign has demanded the Space ad be removed from television. Friedman told NBC4 on Friday that the ad will not be taken down.
