Slammed as ‘dishonest,’ Sacramento PAC pulls attack ad targeting county supervisor candidate
A Sacramento political action committee was forced to retract an accusatory attack ad that targeted county supervisorial candidate Jaclyn Moreno.
Moreno last week called out the advertisement by Sacramento political action committee Californians for a Growing Economy and Safe Streets, which claimed a lien had been placed on the candidate’s Elk Grove property for unpaid taxes.
Moreno of Elk Grove, president of Cosumnes Community Services District, is battling Elk Grove City Councilman Pat Hume in a heated race to represent south Sacramento County’s fifth supervisorial district in Tuesday’s election.
“The ads fraudulently claim that Moreno had a lien placed on her family home for failing to pay taxes, which, with a simple query to the county of Sacramento, has been proved inaccurate and dishonest,” Moreno’s campaign said in a statement released Saturday.
A Sacramento Bee search found no record of a lien.
Attorneys for Moreno’s campaign issued a cease-and-desist demand, calling for a public retraction and for proof of the retraction.
“Special interests will go to any lengths, including inventing false claims, to malign candidates’ character,” Moreno said in the statement. “The political system just doesn’t work unless people are held accountable for the statements that they make.”
The Sacramento-based political action committee is largely bankrolled by the Sacramento Deputy Sheriff’s PAC, the giant law enforcement union Peace Officers Research Association of California known as PORAC and a PAC controlled by Western Electrical Contractors Association, a building industry group. The PAC says it “supports candidates, public policy and ballot measures that are critical to a healthy business climate.”
Its principal, Michelle Smira, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Moreno’s campaign in a statement thanking supporters announced later Tuesday that the PAC’s attack ad had been taken down.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 11:07 AM.
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