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Denver TV station pulls GOP ad attacking Jared Polis

By Ernest Luning 10/18/2018 | updated 7 years ago

Denver TV station KMGH-Denver7 decided Wednesday to pull a pro-Republican independent expenditure committee’s TV ad attacking gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis over a 1999 incident involving a confrontation with a female employee.

The move came after the Colorado Democrat’s attorneys demanded the ABC affiliate, owned by The E.W. Scripps Co., take it off the air because it is “false, defamatory and malicious,” Colorado Politics has learned.

Numerous media outlets in recent days have debunked the claims made in the ad, paid for by Colorado Citizens for Truth, a secretive campaign group formed last week.

The ad, which started airing Saturday, alleges that Polis, a five-term congressman from Boulder, changed his name following the 1999 altercation with a former employee who later obtained a temporary restraining order against him.

“This shameful false ad by Walker Stapleton’s special-interest backers is as low as politics gets – a desperate last gasp to rescue Stapleton’s sinking campaign,” said Lisa Kaufmann, who chairs Polis’ campaign.

“Each of the four biggest news stations in Denver and other prominent news outlets across the state have debunked the claims in this ad, and we are glad to see The Denver Channel protecting its integrity by refusing to spread these falsehoods. We hope other stations quickly follow suit.”

The group reported spending $700,000 on Oct. 12 to air the ad through Election Day.

Messages requesting comment from Colorado Citizens for Truth were not immediately returned.

A spokesperson for the Polis campaign said the campaign’s attorneys have issued the same demand to station managers throughout the state.

Conservative groups and GOP operative have been peddling the story depicted in the ad to Colorado media outlets for weeks.

Polis is facing Republican Walker Stapleton, the state treasurer, in the race to succeed Gov. John Hickenlooper, a term-limited Democrat.

According to recent polling conducted by Colorado-based Republican firm Magellan Strategies, Polis is leading Stapleton by 7 points among likely voters.

The two major party candidates were set to meet Wednesday night in Fort Collins for a debate sponsored by 9News and The Coloradoan newspaper.

 
Ernest Luning

Reporter

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