State commission finds fault with Space campaign ad

If he does what everybody knows is right he will pull the ad, Gibbs said. However, I believe Zack is so far removed from the values of the 18th district that he will listen to (U.S. House Speaker Nancy) Pelosis political team and leave the false ad on the air to try and damage my real record of cutting taxes for Ohios families.

A bipartisan Ohio Election Commission panel voted 3-0 last week that there is probable cause to believe U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, made false statements in a television ad against opponent state Sen. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville.

Gibbs is challenging Space in the Nov. 2 general election for Ohio’s 18th Congressional District, which includes the northern portion of Athens County.

Gibbs iled an elections complaint over a television ad from Space that claimed that Gibbs, while in the state legislature, voted for a pay raise for himself and not for a tax break for average Ohioans.

However, Gibbs contends that he never voted for a pay raise for himself, and did vote for a major income tax cut that afected all Ohioans.

The elections panel consisted of one Democrat, one Republican and one independent.

The full commission may not vote on the matter until August or September.

“We have known all along that Congressman Space was lying,” Gibbs said in a statement ater the ruling. “I’m glad to see that the bipartisan panel also sees the problems with this ad.”

Gibbs said he has a record of cutting taxes for Ohio’s families and the ad from Space was an attempt to distort the facts.

He also questioned whether Space would now “do the right thing” and remove the ad.

“If he does what everybody knows is right he will pull the ad,” Gibbs said. “However, I believe Zack is so far removed from the values of the 18th district that he will listen to (U.S. House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi’s political team and leave the false ad on the air to try and damage my real record of cutting taxes for Ohio’s families.”

A statement from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Gabby Adler skirted whether or not the ad would be pulled.

“Even though Bob Gibbs has shown he will say or do anything to try to make voters forget his record as a proven tax raiser, his record is crystal clear,” she said. “When Bob Gibbs voted in support of the largest tax increase in Ohio’s history he was also supporting a pay increase for him and his fellow legislators.”

She added that Gibbs then “thought it was a good idea to author legislation giving tax breaks to golf courses.”

Adler also said that Ohio families deserve honest leadership that stands up for middle class families to create jobs, “not a proven tax raiser who hides behind his lawyers to twist the truth.”

A Space spokesperson was quoted by the Columbus Dispatch as saying the campaign “stands by the accuracy of the ad.” he campaign also issued a statement headlined, “he facts are the facts are the facts. Bob Gibbs put himself before Ohioans.”

Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Tory Mazzola said Space’s “dishonest smear tactics are disappointing.” He also tied Space to Pelosi, saying such attacks should be expected from her “loyalally.”

The Space ad states: “Columbus politician Bob Gibbs says he’s a tax cutter. Only problem:

The facts. Gibbs voted for the Tat tax, largest tax increase in state history. Gibbs voted himself a pay raise. Did Gibbs vote for tax breaks for families? No. He gave them to golf courses.”

When Gibbs’ campaign iled the complaint, it included in an e-mail a letter from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, which stated that Gibbs could not have voted on HB 712 in the 123rd General Assembly, the most recent change to members’ salaries, because he was irst elected to the 125th General Assembly.

But Space’s campaign pointed to an Akron Beacon Journal article from June 2003 that states that Gibbs voted for the budget, which allowed an automatic 5 percent pay increase to continue unchanged.

With regard to the tax matter, Gibbs claims he co-authored the largest tax cut in state history with a 21 percent reduction on personal income tax, as well as voted for expanding the Homestead Tax exemption for senior citizens.

But Space says that Gibbs voted for a conference report of the biennial budget that increased the state’s sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent, which is a 20 percent increase.

As far as the reference to golf courses, Space’s campaign said that this is last year’s Senate bill 199, which designated parts of the courses as business ixtures and therefore nontaxable under the property tax.

Gibbs voted for the Taft tax, largest tax increase in state history,” Space’s ad claimed. “Gibbs voted himself a pay raise.”

We have known all along that Congressman Space was lying,” Bob Gibbs said in a statement after the OEC ruling.