Merkley camp: Smith is ‘the real hypocrite’

The Merkley campaign hit back at Gordon Smith’s latest television ad Thursday, by saying that the state capitol remodel that Smith’s commercial disparages was actually approved by Smith’s state director, Kerry Tymchuk.

“His top aide and representative, Kerry Tymchuk, voted for the renovation,” Merkley spokesman Matt Canter said.

Tymchuck serves as Smith’s state director, and is ranked fifth on PolitickerOR.com’s Power List 2008. He also served as a member of the public commission that approved the remodel for the capitol.

According to minutes of a public commission meeting that occurred on Nov. 13, 2006, Tymchuck asked for a 15-minute recess to review the remodel proposal. When he came back from that recess, the minutes say, “Tymchuk supports the report as a thoughtful, innovative document.”

“Tymchuk is a surrogate and a representative for Gordon Smith when he’s not in Oregon, which is often,” Canter said. “The real hypocrite here is Gordon Smith.”