Blue 7th PAC, a grassroots political action committee from New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, called on Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-NJ7) to return or donate to charity the more than $54,000 he has received from the recently indicted Tom Delay (R-TX22).
"The people of the 7th District didn't elect Mr. Ferguson to be tied in with corrupt politicians like Tom DeLay," said Nathan Rudy, Blue 7th PAC's Chair. "We need someone who is representing our interests, and not those of the national Republican leadership."
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC)records, Ferguson has received more campaign contributions from Delay than any other member of Congress, and has accepted a $5,000 contribution as recently as June 27, 2005. DeLay's campaign contributions began in 1998 when Ferguson ran unsuccessfully in New Jersey's 6th district against Frank Pallone, and have continued steadily for the past seven years.
Delay was indicted for conspiracy to evade Texas state campaign finance laws and for money laundering. His state political action committee – Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) – is accused of sending $190,000 in corporate contributions to the national Republican Party and then sending his candidates for the Texas legislature the exact same amount in new checks. Under Texas law corporations and unions are forbidden to give directly to political campaigns or candidates.
As a result, Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) have already agreed to return the $15,000 and $10,000 they received from Tom DeLay's various entities. Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) has contributed an amount equal to the money he's received from Tom DeLay to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund. Mike Ferguson should demonstrate independence and do the same.
Ferguson is no stranger to the illegal use of campaign contributions. In 2003 the FEC fined him a record $210,000 for illegally using money his parents gave him for the 2000 election against Maryanne Connelly. Republican Tom Kean's campaign from 2000 has a complaint in front of the FEC against the so-called "Council for Responsible Government" for illegally spending money to assist Mike Ferguson's campaign. Tom Kean is currently a New Jersey State Senator from the 21st District and a Republican candidate for the United States Senate.
DeLay has been good to Ferguson, and Ferguson has in turn been good to Tom DeLay. Ferguson voted in 2004 to change the House Republican Caucus rules to allow DeLay to keep his Majority Leader position even if he were indicted, a vote the Caucus later reversed in embarrassment after public outcry. He also agreed with his leadership this winter to remove Hulshof and other ethics committee Republicans after they rebuked DeLay three times in 2004 for ethics violations. Ferguson subsequently voted to create a weaker House Ethics Committee after the Committee rebuked DeLay three times in 2004, a vote that was also later reversed in embarrassment after public outcry.
In addition to providing cover for DeLay's ethics problems, Ferguson has used his leadership committee – MIKE PAC – to send money to DeLay's candidates for Congress in Texas. After opening MIKE PAC in 2003, Ferguson contributed $27,000 to Republican candidates for Congress from Texas backed by DeLay, yet only gave $1,000 to Republican candidates for Congress from New Jersey. Ferguson's contributions to Texas were five times greater than to any other state, and represented 44 percent of MIKE PAC's total campaign contributions.
"Between the votes to protect DeLay from House sanctions and the wheeling of campaign contributions, Rep. Ferguson has proven himself a proud member of the DeLay team," said Paul Younghouse, Blue 7th PAC's Union County coordinator. "If Rep. Ferguson wants his constituents to believe he works for us and not his political bosses, he must give back the $54,403 they've paid him since he started running for Congress."
Ferguson is further tied in to the corruption scandal by Jim Ellis, the executive director of both TRMPAC and the national DeLay PAC Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) who was indicted on similar conspiracy charges as DeLay. The majority, $47,403, of the money from DeLay was funneled through the Ellis-directed ARMPAC.
Additionally, DeLay and Ellis coordinated a fundraiser project in 2001 for Ferguson and five other Republican House members that netted $132,000 for Ferguson alone. A February 21, 2001 The Hill article reports that Ellis selected and personally notified Ferguson that he would receive the campaign cash:
Jim Ellis, DeLay's director of Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC), said he informed the six members by late last week.
"These ones were chosen because they are going to face significant competition on this one," Ellis said.
Ferguson's MIKE PAC is further tied to the Texas campaign finance scandal. Mark Valente, a corporate lobbyist and treasurer for MIKE PAC, organized a golf outing on August 24, 2005 to raise money for Ellis' defense.
"Mike Ferguson's eight years of close financial, political and personal ties to the players in the Texas campaign finance scandal is troubling at best," said Rudy. "He can only disentangle himself from yet another campaign finance scandal by returning the money these indicted politicians gave him."
Blue 7th PAC is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to returning sanity and responsibility to the House of Representatives by acting locally. The organization meets every second Tuesday of the month at Panera Bread on Route 22 East in Watchung, and maintains a website tracking the votes and actions of Congressman Mike Ferguson at http://www.dumpmike.com.
