Assembly candidate Andy Pugno, whose strapped coffers have forced him to run a low-profile campaign, launched a radio offensive this week attacking opponent Beth Gaines as an "insider politician ... hiding from voters."
Pugno and Gaines, a two-year assemblywoman, are Republicans vying for the 6th Assembly District seat based in Placer County.
Pugno said his 60-second ad began running Monday on about a half-dozen stations.
"The message of the ad is that California's problems have been caused by insiders from both parties," the Folsom attorney said.
Pugno's campaign has been strapped for cash, and in an email Monday to donors, he asked for immediate financial help to keep his radio ad running through Election Day.
Disclosure statements showed his campaign with $29,314 in cash and $132,205 in debts through Sept. 30.
Gaines characterized the ad's claim that she hides from voters as an unfair act of desperation. She said she works hard to attend community events and listen to people throughout the 6th District.
"My job is to stay connected to constituents, and I'm very proud of how connected I am," said Gaines, who finished first in the June primary.
– Jim Sanders
ELECTION WATCH
Election Day is still two weeks away, but more than 1 million Californians have already cast a ballot. That's according to vote-by-mail data tracked by Political Data, a firm that provides voter information to campaigns and others. County officials have reported ballots from about 12 percent of the state's 8.3 million residents who vote by mail, the firm says.
– Torey Van Oot
WORTH REPEATING
"A voter registration WOW: 20,000 people registered to vote online yesterday – in Orange County alone!"
DEBRA BOWEN, California secretary of state, commenting via Twitter on last-minute voter registra- tion applications submitted Monday. Official statistics on verified new voters will be available Nov. 2.
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