Khanna, Honda's dueling attack ads in Congressional rematch

With the election two weeks away, one of the most closely watched races in the Bay Area if not the state is the congressional rematch between two Democrats in Silicon Valley.

Ro Khanna and incumbent Mike Honda are running for the 17th District seat. Experts said both campaigns are launching negative ads that are more aggressive and hard hitting this time around.

Honda has held his seat for eight terms but in the June primary, Khanna beat Honda by less than two points and in the last election he came within four points of unseating Honda.

In one TV ad from Honda, an actor plays his challenger Khanna who is seen taking a call from a Wall Street donor and drinking champagne. The ad suggests Khanna would offer tax breaks for the rich and outsource jobs.
   
"I was really hurt," said Khanna. "It had an Indian American actor playing me. I would never do that. Imagine a Japanese American actor playing Mike Honda. I thought it crossed a line."

Khanna called this ad and a more recent ad misleading. The other one calls attention to a federal lawsuit against Khanna's campaign manager for allegedly accessing Honda's donor database.

"What's sad to me is that they are false and they play on racial stereotypes," said Khanna. "It's not the Mike Honda I knew. He would not have done something like that."

"He can call it what he wants to," said Honda. "Just ask him if he didn't take the money from the people that are saying that he did."

At a campaign event Tuesday with actor Danny Glover, Honda pointed to Khanna's attack ads calling Honda an embarrassment. He accused him of sleeping on the House floor. The ad also brings up Honda's House Ethics investigation for using paid staff on his campaign.

"He really wants to go down that road saying I'm unethical as if i had broken a law or I have a faulty character," said Honda. "That's pretty offensive to me."

San Jose State Political Science Professor Melinda Jackson said while negative ads can provide new information about a candidate, it's a fine line given the attacks could backfire.

"Especially in this campaign year when we are seeing so much negativity in the presidential race," said Jackson. "I think voters are really tired of the mudslinging and they may get turned off."

Honda got help from actor Danny Glover Tuesday night. Glover has been active with the Democratic Party. Khanna is touting his recent endorsement from former president Jimmy Carter. Khanna interned with Carter's Foundation.