Update: This commercial has been changed to make it clear the ad is referring to two amendments, not all six.
Former Gov. Pat McCrory called Tuesday for a misleading ad on North Carolina's proposed constitutional amendments to come down off state airwaves.
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McCrory, and all four other living North Carolina governors, are against two of those proposed amendments. But there are six proposals on the ballot, and the ad put forward in recent days by a left-leaning group doesn't specify which amendments the governors oppose, nor does it mention that McCrory actively supports the other four amendments.
It shows pictures of the five former governors while a narrator says: "All recommend voting no."
McCrory said on his Charlotte radio show Tuesday that he planned to send letters to television stations running the ad, asking them to pull it. The ads were produced by a recently formed group called Stop Deceptive Amendments, which was registered by Michael Weisel, a Raleigh attorney and the go-to lawyer for a number of political groups that support Democrats.
"It’s a false and misleading ad that deceived the people of North Carolina," McCrory said Tuesday.
Weisel referred questions to group spokesman Justin Guillory, who was part of former Gov. Bev Perdue's campaign and administration and has since worked with a number of left-leaning groups in North Carolina, including Progress North Carolina.
Guillory stood by the commercial, saying it's difficult to pack context into a 30-second TV spot.
"I think that the ad is very clear that it is focused on the two amendments that have to do with giving the legislature new appointment powers," he said.
The ad has no numbers in it, saying the former governors and former chief justices of the state Supreme Court are against "the constitutional amendments Raleigh lawmakers put on the ballot this fall." It mentions concerns that the amendments would "strip all of our courts of independence" and let politicians "block investigations of corruption."
Those are references to the two amendments the governors have opposed. One would shift power to choose members of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement from the governor to the legislature, and the other would make a similar shift when it comes to filling judicial vacancies.
Asked whether a reasonable person would believe the ad is talking about all six amendments, Guillory said no.
McCrory told radio listeners that the ad, "clearly gives the impression that I’m opposed to all six amendments." He said letters would go out quickly to attempt to pull the ads, which have run on a number of stations, including WRAL-TV.
Stop Deceptive Amendments is a referendum committee and will file paperwork with the state in October identifying donors, Guillory said. He declined to identify them before that.
While Democrats have expressed concerns with all six amendments, including one to require photo identification to vote, they've particularly criticized the wording of the two appointments amendments, saying the language voters will see on the ballot is vague or misleading enough to confuse people about what the proposals actually do.
The state courts agreed recently, forcing the Republican-led legislature to rewrite the ballot language. Those changes were an improvement, McCrory has said, but not enough for him to support the two amendments in question.