The Times Union reports how national political action committees are running misleading local attack advertisements in the 19th Congressional District election. The National Republican Campaign Committee, for instance, is running an attack ad against Josh Riley, the Democrat running to replace Pat Ryan as local Congressperson. The ad quotes Riley saying "help not handcuffs," claiming that he is saying that is what violent criminals deserve. But in the original clip of Riley used in the ad, he is actually talking about people undergoing mental health issues, and the phrase "help, not handcuffs" Riley uses is a quote from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Riley's campaign website says he is for additional funding for law enforcement, and that the candidate "is adamantly opposed to proposals to 'defund the police.'” The Times Union also looked at an attack ad against Riley's opponent, Republican Marc Molinaro. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been running an ad locally attacking Molinaro's opposition to abortion, saying "Marc Molinaro supports taking away a woman’s right to choose, turning it over to politicians." Molinaro's campaign attorney wrote a letter to television stations and cable providers demanding they stop running the ad, saying it "falsely represents Marc Molinaro's position regarding abortion." Molinaro has not said he wants abortion to be illegal, but does support a ban after 17 weeks of pregnancy. He has not weighed in on Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's national proposal to ban abortion after 15 weeks. Voting in this year's Congressional election begins Oct. 29 and ends Nov. 8. Read both stories in the Times Union.