Robert Whittel says the funds are linked to a group whose fundraising is drawing scrutiny.
By RAGHURAM VADAREVU
Published October 19, 2004
For the second time in the race for Florida's 5th Congressional District, Democratic challenger Robert Whittel has invoked the name of embattled Texas U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay.
On Monday, Whittel called on his opponent, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, to return $14,000 in campaign contributions from DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee because of recent controversy surrounding DeLay and a former aide.
Whittel, a Hernando County lawyer, said in a statement that Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, should return the funds because keeping them would mean that she "condones" the actions of DeLay and his associates.
Brown-Waite "doesn't have any plans to return that money," said her spokesman, Bob Honold, on Monday afternoon. "Let's face it. What he (Whittel) is doing is what Democrat challengers in losing races all around the country are doing."
Whittel's call follows similar requests made by Democrats in races across the country over the past month when Jim Ellis, DeLay's former aide and the political action committee's executive director, was indicted on charges of illegal political fundraising.
The indictment, which also included two other DeLay associates, stems from an investigation into alleged illegal corporate contributions to DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority.
DeLay also has problems of his own. Earlier this month, the bipartisan House ethics committee chastised DeLay, saying he created an appearance of giving special access to contributors on energy legislation and raised "serious concerns" when he used the Federal Aviation Administration to intervene in Texas' 2003 redistricting dispute.
In a separate case, the committee also admonished DeLay for offering support to a Michigan congressman's son who was running for his father's seat in return for his vote for a Medicare prescription drug benefit.
"It is hard to believe that my opponent can accurately represent this district when her largest contributor is one of the most noted right-wing extremists in the House," Whittel said in his statement.
It's a theme he has repeated since he won the Democratic primary in August. Whittel has said Brown-Waite's record in her two years in Congress has been "far right" and does not represent the views of her constituency.
"She has a voting record which is almost in unison with the right-wing Tom DeLay section of the (Republican) Party," he told the St. Petersburg Times.
Honold dismissed Whittel's characterization, saying his attempts to link Brown-Waite to DeLay - who is "innocent until proven guilty - was "a desperate ploy."
