Putting a Popular Political Ad Through a Truth Test

By Kirsten McIntyre, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY – There are only a few days left before Tuesday's primaries and many races are heating up. The race for attorney general is getting a lot of attention, especially a recent ad about candidate Scott Pruitt, so NEWS 9 put it through the truth test.

"I think anytime you can use humor in which to disseminate some of the negatives of your opponent, I think that was a very successful tactic," said Bill Shapard with SoonerPoll.com.

Ryan Leonard put out a political ad about his qualifications versus Scott Pruitt's.

So, what's true and what's not:

"He's tried for Congress and Lt. Governor," the ad says.

True: Scott Pruitt has tried for Congress and Lt. Governor.

As for his opponent Ryan Leonard, the ad claims Pruitt has no political experience. On this claim, it depends on who you ask. There's one federal case under debate.

The Leonard campaign hired an attorney who says he reviewed the official court docket and it shows "Mr. Pruitt was not an attorney of record in that case and did not participate in trial." But the attorney who tried the case says otherwise. Joe Fears says he recalls "distinctly that Scott Pruitt was my second chair in that trial."

"And worse Pruitt's never put a criminal behind bars," says the ad.

True: Pruitt has never claimed to be a prosecutor. Leonard is a former state prosecutor who now works in private practice.

"He voted to give taxpayer subsidy to illegal aliens," says the ad.

True: In 2003, Pruitt supported Senate Bill 596 which allowed high school graduates to qualify for scholarships and student aid regardless of their immigration status. Pruitt now says he'll sue the government over illegal immigration, if elected.

"I will say negative campaign isn't really designed to get people to vote for you. Negative campaigning is really designed to suppress the soft support of your candidate," said Shapard.

According to the latest poll numbers, Scott Pruitt is leading by a 2 to 1 margin, but those numbers were figured before the commercial was released. A new poll comes out on Sunday and those numbers will reflect whether the ad has had any impact on the race.

Read Pruitt's response to the ad.