Panel dismisses GOP complaint against progressive ad campaign

The Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM) was cleared in a complaint by the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) that an ABM ad earlier this year was false. The online ad criticized Reps. Tom Emmer, Marty Seifert and Kurt Zellers for siding with Gov. Tim Pawlenty for cutting the state’s renter’s tax credit. A panel of judges said the ad was accurate.

Pawlenty included the cuts in his unallotments earlier this year. The ad showed an image of Pawlenty and the representatives and implied that they supported cuts to renter’s credits. The HRCC charged that the ad was misleading:

The HRCC maintains that the statements in the advertisements and on Respondent’s website that “GOP allies,” “GOP friends” and individual representatives were responsible for the reduction in the renters’ credit are false because Governor Pawlenty’s decision to use the unallotment statute was made by him alone.

The panel of judges, though, disagreed, saying it isn’t misleading to associate a politician with a position they publicly support:

“The record demonstrates that Representatives Seifert, Emmer and Zellers have all taken public positions in the past in support of reducing the Renters’ Credit program and all have been vocal supporters of Governor Pawlenty’s use of unallotment to cut funding of programs in 2009. The statement is at most an unfavorable deduction based on the Representatives’ past positions and conduct.”

Hat tip: Politics in Minnesota