A not-so-subtle theme has emerged in recent Republican attack ads in battleground California congressional races: linking Democrats to pedophiles.

Take, for instance, the 30-second spot from the National Republican Congressional Committee attacking Democrat George Whitesides, the former NASA chief of staff who is challenging GOP Rep. Mike Garcia in the Antelope Valley in one of the nation’s most hotly contested races.

Melancholy piano music plays over images of an upturned bicycle and a set of empty playground swings. The camera cuts to a computer tablet displaying a messaging app.

“I’m literally the next block over. Come chill!” writes a user nicknamed SKTRDUDE293.

“ON MY WAY!!!” responds a girl, who looks about 12, with the user name SWIFFTIEE661.

The tablet is propped up in a cozy-looking bedroom next to a lava lamp, a mascara tube and a framed portrait of the girl and her dog. The camera lingers on the girl’s face before showing her photograph taped to a wall next to pictures of other kids in a dark, dingy-looking room where a laptop — apparently belonging to a child predator — has the same chat open.

“George Whitesides funded a group opposing pedophiles registering as sex offenders,” text on the ad says, referencing Equality California, one of the state’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations.

Another ad targeting state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who is running to fill the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County, says that, because of legislation Min supported, “sex predators, including the creeps that victimize children, roam free.” The ad says Min is “endorsed by a group that helps sex offenders” — another reference to Equality California.

Sponsors of the advertisements say the focus on child sex crimes, while uncomfortable, accurately portray Democrats — and those who endorse them — as soft on crime. But critics say the ads are both inaccurate and offensive, based on homophobic and transphobic misconceptions about LGBTQ+ people preying upon children.

“This is the same playbook that right-wing extremists and their allies have used for decades, perpetuating the harmless and baseless stereotype that LGBTQ+ folks are inherently pedophiles,” said Tony Hoang, the executive director of Equality California.

An unprecedented amount of money — with some projections as high as $17 billion — is being spent on political advertising nationwide in this election cycle, said Steve Caplan, an adjunct instructor of public relations and advertising at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

“Crime and immigration typically are issues that have been used on the Republican side to affect elections, particularly in highly competitive districts,” he said.

The ads — which Caplan called an “attempt to shock voters” — indicate that Republicans see these House races as must-win contests, he said, because “media costs in Southern California are hugely expensive.”

California is home to 10 competitive House races that will shape which party controls Congress, making the state a consequential battleground this year.

Whitesides is a first-time candidate with no voting record to scrutinize. So, Republicans have zeroed in on his hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to progressive candidates and causes, including Equality California. The group advocates for legislation advancing LGBTQ+ rights and works to elect candidates who support its mission.

Equality California, along with the L.A. County district attorney’s office, co-sponsored the controversial 2020 California Senate Bill 145, which was intended to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in sex crimes involving a minor and a young adult.

The law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, allows judges to decide whether an adult convicted of having anal or oral sex with a minor should register as a sex offender in cases in which the minor is 14 or older and the adult is not more than 10 years older than the teenager.

Before SB 145, an adult convicted under those circumstances was automatically added to the state’s sex offender registry, while an adult convicted of vaginal sex with a minor was not.

Proponents said SB 145 would address the disparity in state law that was a remnant of California’s old anti-sodomy laws, many since repealed, and that it would give judges more discretion to determine appropriate punishment when two people close in age — a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old, for example — are in a sexual relationship.

“SB 145 makes sure that everyone is treated equally under the law, nothing more or nothing less,” Hoang said.

The bill faced strong pushback from Republicans in the state Legislature, with some opponents using it to falsely claim that California was legalizing pedophilia. The recent attack ads have latched on to the controversy that roiled the state Capitol four years ago.

Ben Petersen, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement that Whitesides “might not like voters hearing he bankrolled soft-on-crime groups, but the facts are clear as day. From zero cash bail to lower penalties for criminals including sex offenders, Whitesides’ money backed it all.”

Equality California endorsed a 2020 ballot measure that sought, unsuccessfully, to end the use of cash bail in California.

Whitesides’ campaign manager, Emma Harris, said in a statement that “as a father of two kids, 12 and 14, George puts the safety of his family before all else.”

“It comes as no surprise that Congressman Mike Garcia and his far-right friends are lying once again — because he knows he’s losing this race,” Harris said, adding that “unfortunately for the GOP, these baseless attacks on Democrats up and down the state won’t work, and voters will see right through these lies.”

Whitesides’ new ad emphasizes his support from parents and families, with one woman embracing two children and saying, “The lies they’re telling about George are disgusting.” The ad closes with Whitesides standing beside his daughter.

In a statement, Garcia noted that his campaign “has no control over third party commercials, but voters are now finding out the real George Whitesides.”

“He doesn’t have a long history in our district,” Garcia wrote, “so follow who he supports to know who he really is.” Among those Whitesides has supported, he added, are “radical groups that put our kids in danger.”

Whitesides’ support for Equality California also was highlighted in a new ad by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that supports Republicans running for the House and has reserved $27 million for TV and digital ads in the L.A. area this fall.

The new anti-Whitesides TV spot features a woman who says: “I just learned today that he’s a major donor of a group that sponsored legislation to lower penalties for pedophiles.”

Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the super PAC, said in a statement that the ad is fair game.

“These California liberals may be upset they got caught funding extreme political groups and backing radical policies, but the fact remains — these measures weakened penalties for sex offenders, put minors at risk, and made it harder for law enforcement to do their jobs,” she said.

The Congressional Leadership Fund also paid for the anti-Min ad that blasts his endorsement by Equality California. Min is running a tight race in the 47th Congressional District against Republican Scott Baugh, a Huntington Beach attorney who served in the California Assembly from 1995 to 2000.

The ad criticizes Min for voting in favor of the controversial California Senate Bill 357, which rescinded misdemeanor laws against loitering in public for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. Advocates argued that it would stop law enforcement use of state loitering rules to disproportionately target Black, Latino and transgender Californians, while opponents said the bill would remove a crucial tool to stop sex trafficking, especially of children.

In the attack ad, a deep-voiced man, using a play on Min’s name, says: “Predators get minimal treatment. Abusive partners? They get the min. Child sex offenders? They get the min, too.”

Democratic state Sen. Dave Min, left, and Republican Scott Baugh, right, are running for California’s 47th Congressional District in Orange County

(Rich Pedroncelli / AP, Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Min said in a statement that he was endorsed by police officers and deputy sheriffs and is “proud of my strong record on public safety as a State Senator, including authoring more than a dozen bills to protect survivors of sexual assault and abuse.”

He said Republicans were “lying about my legislative record, which is one of the toughest on crime in the State Senate” and that the advertisement was “especially odious in that it uses my endorsement from Equality California … to propagate the bigoted and hateful myth that gay people are child predators and groomers.”

Jon Fleischman, a spokesman for Baugh’s campaign, declined to comment on the ad, noting that “we do not control outside group spending.”

In Riverside County, an attack ad against Democrat Will Rollins says he is “backed by radicals who gave billions in taxpayer-funded stimulus checks to convicted felons including terrorists and pedophiles.” It, too, includes images of an empty swing set.

Rollins, a former federal prosecutor, is trying to unseat Republican Rep. Ken Calvert in another extremely competitive race.

The ad is a reference to Democrats in Congress who voted for pandemic-era relief bills that resulted in stimulus checks being sent to prisoners. (Republicans supported such bills, too, but later tried to stop payments to inmates against Democratic opposition.)

The “radicals” referenced in the ad are Congressional Democrats who endorsed Rollins, said a spokesperson for the Americans 4 Security PAC, which paid for the spot and is largely funded by the oil and gas industry.

Coby Eiss, Rollins’ campaign manager, accused “Republican super PACs in Washington” of lying about Rollins’ stance on criminal justice.

“As a federal prosecutor, Will had a 99% conviction rate and worked hand-in-hand with law enforcement on a daily basis,” Eiss said in a statement.