Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Flake pulled down and amended a campaign web video this weekend after his primary opponent Wil Cardon complained it contained a false accusation.
Flake agreed the information in the video was wrong and apologized.
In the original web video sent out Friday, the Flake campaign accused Cardon of failing to pay his insurance company’s income taxes, resulting in the Internal Revenue Service revoking the company’s tax status.
But, Cardon has no connections to the company Flake cited, Eagle Gate Insurance LTD.
The Cardon campaign sent out a press release Friday afternoon pointing out the error, and demanding the video be pulled down.
People are also reading…
Flake’s campaign withdrew the video on Friday, and then put it back up without the reference to the unpaid income taxes, said Flake’s spokesman Andrew Wilder. He said they believed Cardon was associated with the Eagle Gate company because it operates out of the Cardon Group’s headquarters.
Flake, a six-term Congressman who polls show is the front-runner in the race, posted this on his Facebook page on Saturday:
“I want to be sure that each communication from my campaign is accurate. When it was brought to my attention that Wil wasn’t responsible for filing the 990 for Eagle Gate Insurance, as my web video claimed, I had it corrected immediately,” Flake wrote. “My apologies, Wil. The error was unintentional, and I want to make sure my campaign is accurate in every detail.”
Ironically, the Flake video was attacking Cardon for “doctoring the truth,” citing Cardon’s use of photoshopped pictures in campaign ads, and Cardon’s flip-flopping on the birther issue, fighting for ‘pork barrel spending,’ and the unpaid income taxes.
“Desperate lies. Doctored photos,” the narrator says. “Whatever it takes to win an election.”
The Cardon campaign remains upset about the error, especially after they've been attacked all campaign about being “loose with the facts.”
“It’s unacceptable and unbecoming to accuse him of a crime,” said Alyssa Pivirotto, Cardon’s spokeswoman, on Monday.
Cardon has never held ownership nor invested in the Eagle Gate insurance company, Pivirotto said in a press release sent out Friday.
“Since day one, the Flake campaign has lied about Wil, his business record and his conservative credentials, but this is a new low,” Pivirotto said in the press release. “To simply make up facts and accuse Wil of failure to file income taxes — a crime — is beyond shameful.”
She said the accusations about Cardon being a “birther,” which refers to people who don’t believe President Barack Obama is eliglbe to be President of the United States, are just plain wrong, too. Cardon does not question the President’s birth certificate, she said.
Wilder, Flake's spokesman, pointed out that his campaign corrected the mistake as soon as they became aware. That's not something Cardon has done after the Flake campaign has complained about their misleading use of photos in their campaign ads, he said.
Voters will choose among Flake, Cardon, Bryan Hackbarth and Clair Van Steenwyk in the Aug. 28 GOP primary for U.S. Senate. On the Democratic side, Richard Carmona, former U.S. Surgeon General, is running unopposed.
Stay tuned to the Pueblo Politics blog throughout 2012 for news, updates and information about Arizona politics. You can follow Arizona Daily Star reporter Brady McCombs on Twitter by clicking on his name.
