Truth Test: Governor Mary Fallin's Campaign Ad Paid For By Republican Governor's Association

With just one month to go before the general election more political ads are taking a negative turn. Supporters on both sides of the race for Governor are flexing their political advertising muscle, taking shots at each candidate.

6 Investigates put an ad against Joe Dorman to the Truth Test.

The ad was paid for by the Republican Governors Association and in it Fallin's Democratic opponent, Joe Dorman, becomes "Liberal Joe." And while Fallin's spokesman says they had no input on its content, he says the ad raises legitimate points about Dorman's record. 

"Hey liberal Joe, time for you to drive right on out of Oklahoma." 

The RGA ad claims..."Dorman supports expanding Obamacare here in Oklahoma."

That's technically true. Dorman voted against bringing the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare to Oklahoma when he had the chance, but now says his first act as Governor would be to accept the act's Medicaid expansion dollars. 

"Dorman voted to give lower in-state tuition to illegals."

That's technically true. In 2003, Dorman voted to approve a bill that allowed certain children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. However, three years later Dorman voted to repeal that law. And then, in 2007, voted 'yes' on House Bill 1804, Oklahoma's controversial immigration reform law. 

The ad then moves on to Fallin's record, claiming the Governor is "stopping Obama's common core takeover of our local schools." 

Again, technically true. Earlier this year, the Governor signed a bill repealing common core standards. But, even as late as 2013, Fallin supported common core in Oklahoma. 

The ad also says Fallin is..."fighting Obama's failed immigration policy." 

This is true. After Obama housed more than 1.200 unaccompanied illegal minors at Fort Sill in Lawton, Fallin publicly criticized the President for his failed immigration policies and wrote him a letter, calling on him to end the secrecy surrounding the childrens' transfer to states and accusing the Obama administration of intentionally burdening states to pay for their care. 

The ad says Fallin is lowering taxes, which is true. The tax rate has gone from 5.5% to 5.25% and will go down to 4.85 percent over time if the state's general revenue increases. 

And finally, it says Fallin is..."creating jobs."

You decide. Statistics show more than 100,000 jobs have been created since Governor Fallin was sworn in and the unemployment rate has gone from 7 percent to 4.7 percent. Whether she is responsible for "creating" all those jobs is up for interpretation. 

Another ad by Dorman's campaign, claims Fallin is out of touch, putting Washington politics above the state's.

10/2/12014 Related Story: Truth Test: Do Oklahoma Governor Candidate Joe Dorman's Ads Pass Or Fail?