In the lead-up to both states' primary contests last week, California and New Jersey were hotbeds of political attack ads as candidates for local and national offices dug up dirt in last-minute efforts to win over voters.

While vying for the Democratic Senate nomination in New Jersey, incumbent Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rob Andrews traded TV ads about clean energy and the Iraq war that, as the Cherry Hill Courier-Post put it, "stretched veracity." Lautenberg easily held off Andrews' challenge in Tuesday's election.

And in Atlantic City's Democratic mayoral primary, "spin, distortion and half-truths... seeped into last-minute campaign advertising," the Press of Atlantic City wrote.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, California state Assembly candidate Richard Holober complained that Philip Morris, Chevron and Blue Cross were funding a "last minute smear campaign" against him in the Democratic primary. At the same time, however, the San Mateo County Times reported that Holober's opponent, Jerry Hill, was also targeted with "below the belt" attack ads funded by the California Nurses Association, which supported Holober. Hill prevailed in the three-way primary.

In another Assembly race, former Rancho Cordova Mayor David Sander sent out a flier publicizing opponent Paul Hegyi's 2004 arrest for "prowling" at a state capital post office, the Stockton Record reported. Both Republicans were defeated in the primary by former Lodi City Councilman Jack Sieglock.

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., noted that candidates for local posts produced numerous "ugly and mean" ads during the primary season, including one depicting a politician as a pig at a trough.

And the Los Angeles Times reported on 11th-hour "attack brochures" exchanged among candidates for the 2nd District seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

In other advertising news:

-- The Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a Washington state law requiring PACs to disclose donors behind ads critical of candidates. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

-- The court also declined to hear a case challenging a Montana Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce violated state campaign finance laws by contributing to a PAC that launched attack ads against a state attorney general candidate. (AP)

-- New York City and the Motion Picture Association of America have launched new ads in the city's subways as part of their joint anti-piracy campaign. (CongressDaily's Tech Daily Dose)

-- Companies are advertising free gas card promotions in an attempt to boost business. (Mediapost)