Hoping for a final surge in votes in the final days of the special election, Democrat Ed Case went on the offensive yesterday calling on Republican Charles Djou to retract a television ad that an independent analyst declared to be false.

The ad, claiming Case voted to raise taxes that “;kill 3,000 local jobs a year,”; was analyzed by the website Factcheck.org, the same group that said last month that an attack ad against Djou by national Democrats also was false.

“;The same organization that he's been citing for months now in his own defense says that his ad — not somebody else's ad — is wrong, and he doesn't have the character to say so and retract it,”; Case said. “;So this is the real Charles Djou.

“;He took a chance. He thought he could get away with it. He got caught, and he is scrambling to explain it away. There's just no way explaining it.”;

Djou's camp stood by the ad, arguing the analysis was flawed.

“;Unfortunately, Factcheck.org rushed their research on this ad and did not do their due diligence,”; Djou campaign manager Dylan Nonaka said.

Case and Djou, along with Democrat Colleen Hanabusa, are vying with 11 other candidates in the winner-take-all special election being conducted by mail. The deadline for ballots to be received is 6 p.m. tomorrow, when they will be counted.

According to the state Office of Elections, about 152,000 (48 percent) of the 317,000 ballots sent to voters in the district had been returned as of yesterday. That was up from 46 percent Wednesday.

About 1,200 votes have been cast through walk-in absentee voting at Honolulu Hale, which ended yesterday.

“;I hope we elect a Democrat,”; said retiree John Signor, 80, of Ewa Beach, who voted yesterday morning at Honolulu Hale. “;I think the Democrats are more likely to help President Obama get his agenda going.”;

Signor said he voted for Case.

Djou's supporters included Richard and Karen Lynch of Hawaii Kai. Both said they do not consider themselves Republicans, but feel Djou is the only candidate capable of bringing about real change in government.

“;We cannot continue to operate the way we've been operating for years,”; Richard Lynch said. “;We can't keep funding things we can't pay for.”;

Djou has led in recent polls.

    Fact Check: Djou's ad on Case is incorrect

 

 

Fact Check, a nonpartisan arm of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at University of Pennsylvania, says information in the ad is flat-out wrong.

 

[ Watch ]

 

 

 

 

His ad analyzed by Factcheck.org calls Case a “;typical politician who will say anything”; and says Case voted to raise taxes, killing 3,000 local jobs a year.

The ad cites a 2006 “;web memo”; by the conservative Heritage Foundation that argued Congress should make permanent tax cuts signed by President George W. Bush that are scheduled to expire this year. The foundation estimated the average yearly employment growth in each state from fiscal years 2008-14 if the cuts were left in place, pegging Hawaii's rate at 3,426 annually.

“;It is true that Case voted against the Bush tax cuts in 2003, but that's not the same as raising taxes,”; Factcheck said. “;And the Heritage memo fails to back up Djou's claim that Case's tax votes were draining thousands of jobs from his state.”;

Nonaka defended the ad, noting that in 2005 Case voted against establishing the congressional budget for fiscal 2006, which would extend $106 billion in tax cuts, including all of the tax provisions of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts.

“;In a straight up-or-down vote, Case voted against extending all of the Bush tax cuts, and the Heritage Foundation clearly states that Congress' failure to act to extend these tax cuts would kill the 3,426 average annual jobs that Hawaii would gain if the cuts were made permanent,”; Nonaka said.

Case called the negative ad in the last week of the campaign a “;desperate”; move.

“;This is a desperate candidate feeling his prospects slipping away rapidly and being told by his D.C. handlers to go on the attack in the last week (of the campaign) so I couldn't respond,”; Case said.