Reno TV station pulls GOP spot attacking Democrat

LAS VEGAS - A Reno TV station has pulled a Republican ad against Democratic congressional candidate Kate Marshall in Nevada's special election over a bogus claim.

KTVN-TV station manager Lawson Fox told The Associated Press on Friday that an internal review determined the claim in the ad purchased by the National Republican Congressional Committee was unsubstantiated. The ad running across Nevada claims Marshall backed a $500 million tax increase on businesses in her role as state treasurer. It was slated to run on KTVN through next week.

Fox said he could not recall pulling another political ad because of unproven statements in his 20 years at the station. A NRCC spokesman didn't return a request for comment.

The station investigated the ad after Marshall's campaign challenged the veracity of its claims. When the station asked the NRCC to support its ad, the group pointed to a 2010 state meeting on unemployment insurance rates charged to businesses.

Fox said there was no evidence Marshall lobbied for such a tax. During the meeting, Marshall said she did not appreciate the state's unemployment debt, but she also did not argue that tax increases were the only path toward solvency.

"In our opinion, we didn't find that she had advocated or supported that," Fox said.

Marshall faces Republican Mark Amodei for a vacant House seat in the Sept. 13 election. She has portrayed Amodei as a tax-raising conservative who wants to dismantle Medicare, while he has ignored her in his ads that blast Washington Democrats.

The NRCC has played the attack dog instead, pegging Marshall as a financial irresponsible Democrat in two TV spots airing across the state.

Fox said campaigns frequently challenge attacks purchased by their rivals or opposing political parties.

"Usually, we find there is enough there to support the claims made," he said.