Democrats’ TV Ad Attacks Rogan on School Class Sizes

In its first foray into a congressional race this year, the California Democratic Party today will air a cable television ad casting Rep. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) as an obstacle in the fight against classroom overcrowding.

The Rogan campaign responded by accusing the Democrats of “breathless dishonesty.” Aides said Rogan has voted repeatedly to hire teachers to reduce class sizes.

The commercial signals the beginning of an expected flood of outside money into the high-stakes race between Rogan and his challenger, state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank).

The candidates have raised more than $5.7 million for what is already the most expensive congressional race this year in California.

But in a contest that could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the House, the major parties and outside groups are expected to dump huge sums of their own into ads targeting voters in the swing district covering Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and adjacent areas. The opening volley came last month when the League of Conservation Voters ran a newspaper ad attacking Rogan’s environmental record.

“I expect to do whatever is legally permissible in order to get Jim Rogan out of Congress,” state Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said.

Torres said the TV ad was an effort to counter Rogan’s depiction of himself as a champion of education.

“We’re not going to let far-right Republicans portray themselves as moderates when they’re not,” he said.

The ad says Rogan voted five times against hiring 100,000 teachers for public schools.

“Call Jim Rogan,” the narrator says. “Tell him to start voting for new, qualified teachers and smaller class size.”

Jim Nygren, Rogan’s campaign consultant, called the ad misleading. He said Rogan has voted in Congress to hire 120,000 teachers, and also supported class-size reductions when he was in the state Assembly.