Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens, Calif., is running an online ad that consists of a TV commercial that his opponent, Steve Poizner, ran in 2010 when he was a Republican running for governor.
In the ad, Poizner promised to cut “taxpayer-funded benefits” for “illegal immigrants.”
But Poizner is now running as an independent and would prefer that voters not be reminded of views he held waaaaay back in 2010 — many of which he says he no longer holds.
Political advertising expert Travis Ridout, a professor of political science at Washington State University and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said he’s never seen a candidate do this before. He doubts it will be effective.
“The average viewer might be a bit confused,” he said. “They’re asking, ‘Why am I seeing an ad for governor?’ Maybe the (Lara) campaign is hoping that some people in the media write about it so more people can be reminded of (Poizner’s) former views.”