Bernstein TV ads targeted

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bernstein took his face off of his law firm's TV ads, but that's not good enough, the Nevada Republican Party says.

Nevada GOP Chairman John Mason has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the law firm's ads violate FEC laws because the ads, despite Bernstein's physical absence, are "in coordination with the candidate which echo a theme of the candidate's campaign."

"This complaint is just political games to divert people from the issues like (abortion) choice and health care." said Bernstein's press secretary, Kelley Benander.

Bill Oldaker, who served four years as general counsel to the Federal Election Commission and now is an attorney for Bernstein, said his client has not violated FEC laws.

He said the ads do not represent an excessive contribution to the campaign.

The complaint alleges that, "in the time since his (Bernstein's) formal announcement (on March 13) the law firm has more than doubled its past television buys with the new advertising message echoing the issues highlighted by the candidate and the campaign."