A candidate for District Attorney and a principal at an elementary school in Carlsbad are facing scrutiny over a political ad shot on the campus of a school.
In the ad, Kelly Elementary principal Tressie Armstrong endorses incumbent District Attorney Summer Stephan. Both can be seen on school grounds.
The Carlsbad Unified School District says the principal never received permission to shoot the ad on campus, and said it violates district rules.
Stephan told NBC 7 Wednesday that when she announced she was going to run, the principal wrote a letter in support of the campaign and wanted to make sure the community was aware of Stephan's platforms.
“It’s an accurate commercial,” Stephan said. "The technicalities about the location, how it was used, those are not things that I arrange. I hope they were done according to the correct standards. I would expect that from my campaign."
The school district released a statement about the ad.
"While any employee may exercise their rights of free speech, and may endorse or oppose candidates for public office as an individual citizen, the District prohibits employees and officials from using District resources in doing so. The District has taken steps in an effort to ensure that this does not happen again," the statement read in part.
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It also said, "The video and photos should not be viewed as an endorsement of any candidate/measure by the school, District, or its governing board."
Watch NBC 7 on Thursday at 11 p.m. to hear more from Stephan and her opponent, Genevieve Jones-Wright, on general District Attorney race issues.
