BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE -- A Cincinnati TV station has pulled a Republican Party campaign commercial that Democratic congressional candidate Ken Lucas has claimed is inaccurate.
Management at WCPO-TV (Channel 9) would not comment Monday, but the station reported on its evening news broadcast that it no longer was running the ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
The committee is based in Washington, partially financed by the Republican National Committee and works to elect Republicans to Congress.
Mr. Lucas, the former Boone County judge-executive, began complaining to Cincinnati TV stations about the ad's accuracy after it began airing Friday. He was particularly upset with an implication that he used $18,000 in county money to purchase a car and then spent additional money on carwashes and gas.
Mr. Lucas said he has never had a county-paid car.
Spokesman Todd Harris said the NRCC stands by the ad.
"We absolutely stand by every one of our claims, and we have reams and reams of documents to back every one of them up," Mr. Harris said.
The car mentioned in the ad was purchased with money in the budget of the judge-executive's office, but was used by another county official and not Mr. Lucas.
John Lapp, Mr. Lucas' campaign manager, said other assertions in the ad are equally false.
"We are thankful that steps have been taken to remedy the situation," Mr. Lucas said. "The advertisement was downright false. WCPO's decision to pull the ad entirely shows just how false the ad is." Mr. Lucas' Republican candidate in the 4th District race, state Sen. Gex "Jay" Williams of Verona, had nothing to do with the ad, the Williams campaign and NRCC said.
Still, the Lucas campaign has called on Mr. Williams to ask the party to stop showing the ad.
"Williams is getting the benefit of the ad, yet he knows the allegations are completely and utterly false," Mr. Lapp said. "Williams needs to show some backbone and get the false TV ad stopped." Mr. Lucas and his campaign also complained to other Cincinnati TV stations. The stations did not return calls to comment, but Olivia Morgan of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said stations are reviewing the ad.
Mr. Harris said stations, which he did not identify, have had discussions with the committee's attorneys; and no other station has pulled the ad.
This is the second ad under a NRCC campaign called "Operation Breakout" that has come under scrutiny for accuracy.
Earlier this month, an ad the committee aired in a congressional race in Washington was briefly pulled; but Mr. Harris said it went back on the air after some wording was changed.
"Our attorneys are preparing a letter to send to stations to be on the alert for inaccurate and misleading ads placed by the RNCC," Ms. Morgan said.
