Congressional Republicans launch TV spot against Democratic Rep. Lois Capps

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In some early fallout from the political upheaval expected under proposed new districts for California lawmakers, the campaign arm for House Republicans said it would begin airing a TV ad slamming Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) over her position on Medicare.

‘Congress is debating big changes for Medicare, and Congresswoman Lois Capps voted for the most extreme plan. Capps voted for the plan the media says would ‘decimate Medicare,’ ‘ the narrator says in the spot that the National Republican Congressional Committee said would begin airing Tuesday.

Republicans see Capps as among the most vulnerable of the Democrats under the redistricting. Her district, derided as the ‘ribbon of shame’ for its blatant gerrymandering, forms a narrow, 200-mile coastline band that runs from Oxnard to the Monterey County line. Under the first round of proposed new maps, her district would shift considerably and become less Democratic than currently.

Capps could not be reached for comment on the ad late Monday afternoon.

[Updated, 11:42 a.m. June 28: On Tuesday morning, Capps’ campaign office issued a statement saying the Washington Post had “thoroughly discredited” the TV spot’s allegations. ‘The people of the Central Coast know that Congresswoman Capps has been a champion for protecting Medicare in Congress. She voted against the Republican plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program because she knows how important guaranteed access to health care is for seniors and their plan would end that guarantee,” campaign spokesman Randolph Harrison said in the statement. He added Capps had worked in other ways to improve Medicare and opposed a Republican-backed proposal to privatize the program.]

Former Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria has said he’d run, even before knowing what the new districts would be.

That might not sit too well with the folks who are paying for the TV spot, however. Some Republicans still are angry with the moderate businessman for voting for temporary tax increases as a state senator two years ago, in exchange for getting a new ‘top two’ primary system on the ballot.

-- Jean Merl