Today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie announced he would begin airing three ads centered on his biography and plans for Virginia’s economy.

New Ads, Old Tricks: Ed Gillespie Leaves Out Key Details in Snake-Oil Sell To Virginians

Gillespie Cherry Picks Economic Numbers and Biography to Prop Up Stale Pitch To Voters

Richmond, Va. — Today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie announced he would begin airing three ads centered on his biography and plans for Virginia’s economy. In a disingenuous effort to paint himself as a small businessman, Gillespie glaringly omits key details about his long career as a Washington lobbyist for special interests, the success of which often came at the expense of hardworking Virginians. The pitch to voters also leaves out the record economic development the commonwealth has experienced under Governor Terry McAuliffe’s administration.

Northam for Governor press secretary, Ofirah Yheskel, issued the following statement in response to the announcement:

“Only in DC would being a lobbyist for a corporation like Enron qualify you as a small business owner. Instead, Ed Gillespie’s career of economic accomplishments have included fighting for tax breaks for corporations, tax breaks for the wealthy, stripping health care away from potentially millions of Americans and putting student loan company profits over students. These ads are nothing but audition tapes for Ed Gillespie to be Donald Trump’s lobbyist in Virginia.”

CLAIM: Gillespie: “I Worked My Way Through College, And I Started Three Small Businesses.”

FACT: Gillespie “Turned His Relationship With President Bush Into An $18-Million Business”

Ed Gillespie “Amassed Millions Of Dollars Hawking Special Interests In D.C., The Trump-Labeled ‘Swamp.’” “Gillespie, who could charitably be described as aloof from Trump, is quite literally the practiced professional talker. He amassed millions of dollars hawking special interests in D.C., the Trump-labeled ‘swamp’ in which Gillespie qualifies as a well-fed alligator.” [Schapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 12/3/16]

• Gillespie “Turned His Relationship With President Bush Into An $18-Million Business.” “Edward Gillespie, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. The Democrats may have won Congress, but the White House is still in Republican hands, and this former RNC chair has turned his relationship with President Bush into an $18-million business…. His blue-chip client list includes AT&T, Sony, and big drug companies. Some of his largest fees have come from Canadian lumber producers seeking access to US markets.” [Washingtonian, 6/1/07]

• Congressman Dick Armey Said Gillespie’s “Favorite Line Was, ‘Dick, I Make More Money By Knowing You Than You Make By Being You.’” “Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, on whose staff Mr. Gillespie worked for a decade, is among them. ‘His favorite line was, ‘Dick, I make more money by knowing you than you make by being you,’’ Mr. Armey said.” [New York Times, 5/16/04]

2009: Ed Gillespie Founded Ed Gillespie Strategies LLC. According to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Ed Gillespie Strategies LLC is a domestic limited liability company in Alexandria, Virginia. The registered agent is Ed Gillespie, located at 915 Prince St. Alexandria, Virginia. The entity was created February 26, 2009. [Virginia State Corporation Commission, accessed 12/7/16]

• Gillespie Said His Firm Consisted Of “Himself, His Rolodex And An Assistant.” “For now, Gillespie said his new venture will be a stripped-down affair. The Old Town, Alexandria-based consultancy consists of himself, his Rolodex and an assistant, and he’ll add staff only ‘if business warrants.’ ‘I wanted to be the person who serves the clients and keep it small,’ he said. ‘That’s my initial business model.’” [Roll Call, 4/28/09]

• Gillespie Said His Firm Worked On “Public Relations And Strategic Communications Advice” For Trade Associations And “Corporate America.” “In a question-and-answer session on Oct. 30 with students at the University of Chicago, Gillespie said about his firm: ‘What we do mostly is just public relations and strategic communications advice and guidance for a lot of different clients, trade associations and corporate America.’” [Edsall, New York Times, 12/31/13]

CLAIM: “Our Current Governor’s Failed Policies Are Hurting Working Families.”

FACT: The McAuliffe Administration Has Been One Of Virginia’s Best In Economic Development

Under The McAuliffe Administration, Virginia Has Added Nearly 200,000 New Jobs And Attracted Over $16 Billion In Capital Investment. [Governor McAuliffe, Accessed 7/25/17]

Under The McAuliffe Administration, Virginia’s Unemployment Rate Dropped From 5.4% To 3.7% — The Lowest In Nearly A Decade. “ Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage point in June to 3.7 percent after holding steady at 3.8 percent the previous three months. Today’s announcement was the lowest rate since the April 2008 rate of 3.7 percent.” [Governor McAuliffe, 7/21/17]

Under The McAuliffe Administration, Average Hourly Earnings Have Increased 8.2 Percent And Personal Income Has Increased 13.3 Percent. “ Additionally, since the beginning of the McAuliffe administration, average hourly earnings and personal income in Virginia have increased by a total of 8.2 percent and 13.3 percent respectively, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.” [Governor McAuliffe, 7/21/17]

CLAIM: Gillespie: “As Governor, I’ll Cut Taxes”

FACT: Gillespie’s “Phony Math” Will Help The Rich, And It Brought Cuts To Public Education And Transportation, Not Job Growth, To Other States

Gillespie’s Plan Would Give The Richest One Percent $3,200 A Year, While Giving A Minimum Wage Worker With Two Children Just $42 A Year. “ The Gillespie campaign’s proposal would give the top 1 percent almost $3,200 a year, while a family of four with an income of $50,000 would get just $246 and a minimum wage worker with two kids just $42.” [Commonwealth Institute, 3/16/17]

Republican Frank Wagner Said Gillespie’s Plan Relied On “Dishonest, Phony Math,” And “Washington Insider Math.” “State Sen. Frank Wagner opened up with both barrels this week on fellow GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ed Gillespie’s tax plan, saying Gillespie’s pitch is based on ‘dishonest, phony math.’ Pressed to show its math, the Gillespie campaign pointed to a think tank in the Boston suburbs and a computer model using ‘thousands of equations solved simultaneously’ to look into the future of Virginia’s economy. It predicts a boost in household wealth and, thus, higher impact for Gillespie’s promised income tax cut. ‘Quite frankly dishonest,’ Wagner said. ‘It’s Washington math. Washington insider math.’” [Daily Press,5/1/17]

• Kansas Republican On Tax Cuts Creating An Economic Utopia: “That’s Not How It Works, As It Turns Out.” “[Stephanie Clayton, a Republican state representative] criticized what she said was a desire by her party to be more faithful to the principle than to the people Republicans were elected to help. Mr. Brownback and many conservatives, she said, overpromised on the tax cuts as a ‘sort-of Ayn Rand utopia, a red-state model,’ citing the author whose works have influenced the American libertarian movement.  ‘And I loved Ayn Rand when I was 18 — before I had children and figured out how the world really works,’ Ms. Clayton added. ‘That’s not how it works, as it turns out.’” [New York Times, 7/2/17]

Ed Gillespie Relies On Math From The Beacon Hill Institute To Estimate That His Plan Would Create 50,000 New Jobs.  “Modeling conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Institute and economists that built its tax model at the Beacon Hill Institute shows what this needed plan will do. Lead to $1,285 in additional disposable income for a household of four when fully phased in. Lead to more than 53,649 new full-time private-sector jobs – an expected 25 percent increase over current job growth projections.” [Gillespie for Governor, Accessed6/15/17]

• Beacon Hill Institute Predicted Kansas’ Tax Plan Would Create 41,690 New Jobs. “Standard Model predicts 41,690 new jobs created, $85 million more business investment and $1.8 billion in additional disposable income.” [Beacon Hill Institute and Kansas Policy Institute, July 2012]

• Washington Post: “The Fast Growth That The [Kansas] Tax Cuts Were Supposed To Generate Never Appeared.” “The state limited eligibility for welfare and instilled a lifetime ban on welfare recipients who broke certain rules. It dramatically lowered taxes, by reducing the number of income tax brackets in the state from three to two and slashing rates on both. It also exempted small-business income from taxation entirely — creating what analysts described as a pernicious loophole when individuals started representing themselves as small businesses to qualify. Yet the fast growth that the state’s tax cuts were supposed to generate never appeared. In each of the past five years, the pace of economic expansion in Kansas has been below that of the country as a whole.” [Washington Post, 6/14/17]

• Instead, The Plan “Blew A Substantial Hole In The State’s Budget, Turning Long-Standing Budget Surpluses Into Yawning Shortfalls.” “The policies also blew a substantial hole in the state’s budget, turning long-standing budget surpluses into yawning shortfalls. To pay its debt, the state government delayed payments to school boards and local agencies, canceled or delayed road maintenance and put off payments to pension funds.” [Washington Post, 6/14/17]

• The Plan Forced Cuts To Transportation And Public Education. “In 2015, Brownback and Republicans in Topeka increased the sales tax to raise more money. Sales taxes are disproportionately paid by the poor, who spend more of their money on everyday goods that are subject to the tax. Last year, with the reserves all but exhausted, the state drew down $400 million from other sources, the bulk of it from the highway fund, and put off making payments totaling about $200 million. It wasn’t enough. This March, Kansas’s Supreme Court ruled that the lack of support for public schools violated the state’s constitution, and ordered the government to increase funds. ‘That’s essentially lawmakers shaking the couch cushions for change,’ said Duane Goossen, the state’s former budget director.” [Washington Post, 6/14/17]