Sarah Lueck reports on Congress.
The reverberations from Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Steven’s seven count indictment Tuesday were quickly felt on Capitol Hill, with at least one Republican colleague already announcing that she wouldn’t keep $10,000 in campaign contributions from the scandal-tainted Alaskan .
A spokesman for Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s campaign said the North Carolina Republican would contribute the funds to the Society of St. Andrew, a Christian charity. The decision came after Dole’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kay Hagan, released a statement calling on Dole to return $21,000 in contributions.
“First there was Jack Abramoff, and now Ted Stevens is this cycle’s scandal-prone Washington insider—it’s a habit they just can’t help themselves break,” Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said.
Dole spokesman Hogan Gidley fired back: “It’s silly for her to be playing politics on something like that.” The $21,000 figure used by the Hagan campaign represents funds Stevens gave to Dole since 2001, but Gidley said funds from the last cycle “don’t exist anymore.”
Similarly, Kentucky Democratic candidate Bruce Lunsford offered a similar challenge to Senate Republican Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell to return Stevens’s money, as did New Hampshire Democratic candidate Jeanne Shaheen, who is challenging Republican Sen. John Sununu, and Minnesota Democratic candidate Al Franken, who is challenging Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
Sununu’s campaign manager, Paul Collins, said in a statement that the campaign will be donating the $10,000 they received from Stevens for Sununu’s 2008 race. “The campaign had previously donated to charity contributions received from VECO employees who pled guilty to wrongdoing,” Collins noted.
Senate Republican leaders avoided immediate comment. McConnell told reporters earlier Tuesday that senators “like you, just learned of this news. We’ll no doubt have more to say about it later.” He declined to comment further. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona also declined to comment.
Senate Democratic leaders were careful not to show any satisfaction with the news that one of the Republicans they were already trying to unseat now faces an even tougher climb.
”It’s a sad day for [Stevens], for us,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said. “I believe in the American system of justice that he’s presumed innocent.”
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois said Democrats had a “somber” reaction to the news. “We fight like cats and dogs over issues and amendments, but you can’t wish ill to your colleagues and Sen. Stevens and his family are going to face a very difficult time,” Durbin said. “I believe in the presumption of innocence, and if you do, then at this point you just let the courts do their part.”