Tarkanian mailer cites article critical of Tarkanian

Republican Danny Tarkanian recently sent mailers attacking primary rival Michael Roberson, but they cited an article that was critical of Tarkanian’s 3rd Congressional District campaign.

Tarkanian hammered Roberson, the state Senate majority leader, as a “Common Core Politician” in a direct-mail ad paid for by his campaign committee. The ad notes that Roberson voted to approve a set of Common Core education standards in 2012, citing an April 22 article from the political fact-checking site PolitiFact.

That article is titled “Danny Tarkanian off the mark on Common Core attack.” It evaluated a television ad put out by Tarkanian’s campaign in April.

“Danny Tarkanian’s new ad claims Roberson ‘forced Common Core in Nevada schools,’” wrote Riley Snyder, the article’s author. “The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate the statement Half True.”

The Nevada State Board of Education voted to adopt the Common Core standards in June 2010. Roberson was elected to his first term as a state senator about five months after the board’s decision.

Jeremy Hughes, Roberson’s campaign manager, called the ads “ill informed and false,” and cited Tarkanian’s past political losses as a reason to take the ads with a grain of salt.

“Danny Tarkanian has proven time and again he has no understanding of the issues related to any of the half dozen offices he has run for. The voters have rejected him over and over again because he has no idea what he’s talking about. Once again the voters have been proven right,” Hughes said.

Jamie Fisfis, Tarkanian’s campaign consultant, said he stands behind the ad.

Fisfis said the PolitiFact article took issue with the claim that Roberson “forced” the education initiative on schools, and he changed the wording for the new ad accordingly.

“I changed the language that PolitiFact objected to. We stand 100 percent behind the piece. He voted for it. He didn’t have to. Somebody else voted no,” Fisfis said.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.