With the midterm elections now just days away, many campaigns and outside groups are making their final appeals. And, as has been the case all election season, some of the claims miss the mark.
Final Week Spin
Locations: North Carolina
2014 Campaign Whoppers
No shortage of tall tales in the midterm elections, from both parties.
Aiken’s Attack Ad Is Off-Key
Clay Aiken’s latest attack ad against incumbent Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers hits a couple of bad notes.
FactChecking the North Carolina Senate Race
The North Carolina Senate race pits incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan against Republican challenger Thom Tillis. While the two campaigns have aggressively attacked each another, they’ve had a lot of help from outside supporters as well.
Midterm Medicare Mudslinging
Democrats, Republicans spend nearly $50 million on TV ads that repeat old, scary Medicare claims.
NEA Advocacy Fund
A super PAC created in 2010 by the National Education Association, which describes itself as an “advocate for education professionals.”
Tillis: Education Budget Backer or Hacker?
A North Carolina public school teacher says in a TV ad that she tells her students to “start with the facts,” but she begins attacking Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis with an exaggerated claim about Tillis’ education “cuts.”
More Carbon Tax Distortions
Crossroads GPS claims that Colorado Sen. Mark Udall “voted to enact a carbon tax.” Udall did no such thing. Republican Thom Tillis claims that Sen. Kay Hagan “supported a carbon tax” that would destroy “up to 67,000 jobs in North Carolina over the next ten years.” That’s not accurate, either.
Twisting Tillis’ Tax Record
Two new ads from Senate Majority PAC wrongly claim North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis “raised taxes on 80 percent of North Carolinians.” The claim is based on a misreading of an analysis of a 2013 Tillis-backed tax plan.
Dueling ‘Amnesty’ Claims in N.C.
We’ll sum up competing TV ads from two Republicans vying in a North Carolina House primary like this: My opponent is “pro-amnesty.” Response: No, you are. To which we say: Neither is.