At the request of the Indiana Democratic party, an attorney in Indiana is demanding the PAC run by Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) pull down a new TV ad it’s running that attacks state House Democrats who went AWOL for costing the state nearly a half-million in cash.
Cody Kendall, an attorney in Indianapolis, has sent the letter to about a dozen TV stations around the state airing the TV ad, which Daniels’ PAC — Aiming Higher — launched earlier this week. The state Democratic party is behind the letter, and asked Kendall — a former state elections official — to draft and send it.
The Daniels ad dings the 40 or so state House Democrats who fled to Illinois and shut down the legislature over concerns with the Daniels agenda and the legislative plans of the majority Republican caucus.
Kendall says the claim made in the ad, that the standoff cost Hoosiers $400,000, is just plain wrong. Kendall (and Democrats) say the time away actually saved the state money.
“This figure appears to be loosely based on the cost of operating the state legislature during session,” Kendall writes of the $400,000 figure in the letter. “The cost of operation during the Democrats’ absence was the same as it would have been if the Democrats had been present to establish a quorum.”
He continues:
In fact, by refusing their per diem payments in their absence, the Indiana House Democrats have saved the state over $150,000. Additionally, the $113,700 in Republican-levied fines accrued by the House Democrats would bring the total savings for taxpayers to more than $263,000.
“Consequently, we formally request that you cease airing this patently false and potentially defamatory advertisement immediately,” he concludes.
Read one of the letters Kendall sent Thursday here.
These kinds of spats over the claims made in political ads are commonplace during campaigns. Sometimes, as in the case of this ad from the 2010 Kentucky Senate race, the spot is pulled by a station manager after complaints about the accuracy. Though letters like Kendall’s carry the threat of legal action, rarely is a lawsuit filed.
The Aiming Higher PAC did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Watch the ad that has the state Democrats crying foul:
