GOP Candidate’s Ad Attacking Danica Roem Pulled from Comcast

metroweekly.com:

must be included on candidates’ signs, on mailers, and in television ads, in order to inform voters of who, or which entities, are sponsoring or funding certain political messages.According to the statute, a candidate or candidate campaign committee that seeks to air a television advertisement must include a “visual legend” constituting “20 scan lines in size” in the ad reading, “Paid for by [name of the candidate or campaign committee sponsoring the ad].”If the ad references another candidate by name — as Woolf’s does, specifically mentioning Roem — the candidate must include a disclosure statement spoken by the sponsoring candidate, saying: “I am” or “This is” followed by their name, the office for which they are running, and disclosing that the candidate or their campaign “paid for this ad.”Because Woolf’s ad lacked notification about the office for which he is running, it technically violated the law.

The law does not deal with the content of any ad or mailer. Still, if candidates are missing a disclosure, they can see television stations refuse to air their ads or can be fined for violating the law — especially if an official complaint has been filed with the Virginia Department of Elections.A source from Comcast with knowledge of the ad confirmed to Metro Weekly that the Woolf advertisement on girls’ sports had been removed from the airwaves in response to a complaint alleging violation of Virginia campaign laws.

It was unclear which person or entity had first alerted the company to the alleged violation.According to a spokesperson from the Virginia Department of Elections, the department has received no complaints alleging that the Woolf campaign violated the “Stand By Your Ad” law — even though Woolf’s disclosure.