A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Wednesday that, while it did accidentally air an ad accusing Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Merkley of trying to get rid of the kicker tax refund, the outraged reaction from the Merkley campaign is only an attempt to distract the public from Merkley’s economic record.

“Jeff Merkley is a tax and spend liberal with an abysmal record of depriving Oregonians of their hard earned money,” NRSC spokesman John Randall said. “The Merkley campaign’s supposed outrage is nothing more than an attempt to distract the public from Merkley’s disastrous record on economic issues.”

On Tuesday, the ad from the NRSC appeared on Oregon television accusing Merkley of sponsoring a bill to get rid of the kicker tax refund, which requires that surplus tax dollars be returned to taxpayers. The ad aired with no legislation cited, causing the Merkley campaign to accuse the NRSC of trying to sneak in an attack with nothing to back it up.

According to Randall, the ad is no longer on TV, but that is not because of the Merkley camp’s outrage.

“This ad is no longer running simply because it was not supposed to air at the current time,” Randall said.

EARLIER on PolitickerOR.com: NRSC accidentally airs ad