CAMPAIGN AD REALITY CHECK

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

3rd CONGRESSIONAL district RACE

What the ad says

Jon Porter: I'm Jon Porter, and I approve this message.

Announcer: Two years ago, out-of-state liberals rented a home in Nevada and tried to buy a seat in Congress. Well, they're at it again.

Meet Tessa Hafen.

This is her home in Virginia. She bought a house in Nevada a few months ago, just to run for Congress.

What's worse?

She's paying herself thousands of dollars each month from her campaign account. She's getting paid to run for Congress. Tessa Hafen, another political opportunist Nevadans can't trust.

What the ad's trying to do

This spot is designed to make voters think Hafen is some out-of-state, goofy young woman trying to buy a congressional seat. Defining the little-known Hafen as a carpetbagger who is paying herself a stipend and labeling her a "political opportunist" is designed to paint a picture of her that Porter hopes repels voters.

This is a nasty, tough ad. And Hafen's camp is worried that even if the implication is false, it might be effective. That's why she already has an ad responding to it.

What's accurate

The truths here are at the margins. Hafen rented a home in Virginia while she worked for Harry Reid as his press secretary. And it is true that she bought a house in the district a few months ago after getting married and moving back to run for Porter's seat. She is paying herself to run for Congress - but not exactly at a rate of thousands a month.

What's wrong or misleading

Hafen is from an old Henderson family. She moved back East in the mid-1990s to work for Reid. So to suggest she is from out of state is more than a stretch.

And let's look at that initial claim. There were no out-of-state liberals who rented a home and tried to buy a seat. A picture is shown in the ad of Tom Gallagher, who has been a legal Nevada resident since 1997. It is true that he moved into the 3rd Congressional District to run against Porter. And it's true that he has homes in other states. But there were no out-of-state liberals who rented that house - Gallagher did.

The line "they're at it again" implies that these mysterious out-of-state liberals have found someone else from outside Nevada to try to buy the race.

Tessa Hafen is not a Virginian, as the ad implies. While working for Reid, she remained a legal Nevada resident and voted here. Whether she moved back to run completely on her own or at the urging of Reid is a matter of some debate. But what's clear is that even if you blame or credit Reid, he's no out-of-state guy, either.

The last part of the ad about Hafen paying herself also is a distortion. Yes, it's true she is taking a stipend - and that is allowed under the law. But is she taking thousands of dollars each month? Not exactly. She took $4,000 in July, $2,800 in May but only $800 in June. The Hafen campaign says she is going to take $8,000 for the entire campaign. But whatever amount she is taking, what Porter knows is that people won't like it - just as people don't like out-of-state folks coming in to buy races.