Jason Plummer, the Republican nominee for the 12th U.S. House District seat, acknowledged Thursday he misspoke during a debate the night before when he said a TV attack ad run by Democratic opponent Bill Enyart had to be pulled because of factual inaccuracies.
Plummer said the attack ad against him that was pulled was actually sponsored by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an outside group that may not coordinate with the Enyart campaign.
"The ad the DCCC is using against me now has been pulled because it's misleading," Plummer said Thursday during a press conference. Plummer said he did not know what TV market that ad had been playing in.
Haley Morris, a DCCC spokeswoman, denied Thursday that any of its ads have been pulled.
"We've had no ads pulled in the 12th," Morris said. "It's completely untrue."
Also during Wednesday's debate, held at Lindenwood University in Belleville, Plummer said that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, R-Calif., the former House speaker, had hosted a fundraiser for Enyart on Sept. 20.
Enyart vigorously denied that claim during the debate Wednesday. On Thursday, a spokesman for Pelosi denied she had ever hosted a fundraiser for Enyart. Enyart campaign manager Jason Bresler also denied that Pelosi had hosted such a fundraiser.
On Thursday, Plummer's campaign released a copy of an invitation that Pelosi and other top House Democrats had sent out in support of a DCCC fundraising reception for 50 Democrats running for the House known as the "2012 Red to Blue Candidates." Included in those 50 names were Enyart and Dr. David Gill, the Democratic nominee for the 13th U.S. House District seat. Neither Enyart nor Gill attended that event.
Bresler said that on Sept. 20 Plummer and Enyart were in Marion for a 12th District debate, and at that debate Enyart told Plummer "that if you want to run against Nancy Pelosi, I suggest you move to San Francisco."
Plummer and Enyart are vying with Green Party candidate Paula Bradshaw in the Nov. 6 election to replace U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, who is retiring after 24 years in office.
