SALEM — Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith has been airing TV ads accusing Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley of cutting funding for a program that provides home care for seniors.

However, Merkley and others in the Oregon Legislature actually voted to increase spending on the program, known as Oregon Project Independence.

“It’s wrong, and Gordon Smith knows it,” Merkley campaign spokesman Matt Canter said of Smith’s TV ad, which says Merkley “cut home care for seniors by $4 million.”

Smith’s campaign stands by the ad, saying Merkley and other Democrats in the Legislature trimmed $4 million from the amount that Gov. Ted Kulongoski had recommended for the program in his 2007-09 budget.

“Gov. Kulongoski requested the money necessary to fund the program. Jeff Merkley said ‘no,’ and as a result Oregon’s seniors are toiling on waiting lists and not getting the care they deserve,” Smith spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride said Wednesday.

It could be a potent issue in the Senate race, given that older Oregonians represent a significant bloc of voters. In Oregon’s May primary election, 72 percent of voters over age 50 turned in ballots, compared with a 42 percent turnout among voters under 50.

“With his TV ad, Gordon Smith is targeting the most consistent voters that we have — older citizens,” said Bill Lunch, a political science professor at Oregon State University.

Smith’s TV ad says Merkley, as Oregon House speaker, and the 2007 Legislature voted to spend an additional $4 million for legislative staff while cutting funding for Oregon Project Independence by a similar amount for the seniors program.

“That’s right ... $4 million more for staff, $4 million less for seniors,” the ad’s announcer says.

But the Merkley campaign said the Smith ad is misleading and that trimming a proposed increase is not the same as cutting the budget for any program.

The 2007 Legislature approved spending $12.6 million for the senior program in the 2007-09 budget, which was $4 million less than Kulongoski wanted but $600,000 more than the previous two-year budget. Plus, lawmakers at their February session provided an additional $400,000 to the program.

“Gordon Smith is trying to scare seniors and mislead voters about Jeff Merkley’s record,” said Canter, the Merkley spokesman.