RSLC Calls Out Democratic Party of Wisconsin over Efforts to Pull Ad from Airwaves

Alexandria, Va. (March 31, 2011) –Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) President Chris Jankowski issued the following statement today after the Democratic Party of Wisconsin sought to pull an RSLC issue ad that portrayed a Wisconsin teacher with every reason to leave the state if Senator Dave Hansen, in collusion with union bosses, had their way over the educational system:

“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has set a new bar when it comes to hypocrisy in politics.  They silently stood by while former Senator Russ Feingold fabricated an entire person and did not disclose file footage, but now attack the RSLC for portraying a Wisconsin teacher and making this portrayal abundantly clear.
“The fact of the matter is that we took the extra step of adding “File Footage” to the ad to make it clear to Wisconsin voters that this was a vivid representation of the teachers in Wisconsin that could leave the state if Senator Hansen succeeded in continuing to tie the best teachers’ pay to that of the worst.
“Furthermore, after witnessing the abhorrent actions on the part of union-backed protestors at the state house, we would never put a teacher in an ad for fear that his or her safety would be endangered and because no teacher should be subjected to outrageous comparisons to unseemly figures.”

The RSLC plans to continue running the issue ad at a rate of approximately $50,000 weekly.

About the RSLC

The RSLC is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down ballot, state-level Republican office-holders. Since 2002, the RSLC has been working to elect candidates for the office of Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and State Legislator. The RSLC has more than 100,000 donors in all 50 states. The RSLC raised more than $30 million for the 2009-2010 cycle as part of an effort that picked up 20 legislative chambers, six Attorneys General, three Lieutenant Governors and seven Secretaries of State.  The RSLC spent $1.1 million in Wisconsin to help take control of the Senate and Assembly, including spending nearly $500,000 to target Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker.  The RSLC was the only group to target Decker who was defeated soundly by Republican Pam Galloway.