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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chenoweth Newsletters Create Frank Opposition

Associated Press

Don Clarke, who says he is a political independent, complained Thursday that material sent out by Republican Rep. Helen Chenoweth at taxpayer expense this month was blatantly political.

Chenoweth, running against Democrat Dan Williams for Idaho’s 1st District congressional seat, has sent out two mass mailings.

One, “Senior News,” was sent out to 125,000 senior citizens in the district, Williams told a Boise news conference.

Chenoweth’s “Summer ‘96 Newsletter” went out to 212,098 residential addresses in the district, he said.

Clarke, who moved to Idaho from Texas, said he’s used to getting “franked” material from elected officials, sent out for informational purposes at taxpayer expense.

He said Chenoweth’s material, which talked about her efforts on Social Security and Medicare, were pure politics.

“I know the difference,” he said. “I’m a little bit angry. It’s time to stop. It’s being drastically abused.”

Williams had a poster-sized check for $57,500 on hand, which he urged Chenoweth to sign. That represents the amount of taxpayer expense to print and mail the Chenoweth material, he said.

Keith Rupp, Chenoweth congressional chief of staff, said Williams was exaggerating the number and cost of the material. He said 50,000 letters were sent out to senior citizens in the district and about 180,000 items went out to all households in the district.

The total cost was about $47,000, he said.

Rupp said Chenoweth had the material reviewed beforehand to determine it was proper.

“Mrs. Chenoweth has complied with both the letter and the spirit of the law,” he said. “Both newsletters were reviewed by the House Franking Committee for content to assure there was nothing that was campaign-related.

“She has complied with the rules.”

Williams said technically, the Chenoweth mailings were legal, although they were not very ethical. “It is not illegal. I just think it’s wrong and contrary to what she said in the last election,” he said.

“It is pure political propaganda.”

A law forbids candidates from mailing material at taxpayer expense 90 days before an election, Williams said, and the Chenoweth material was mailed out 91 days before the election.

“It was sent out at the last possible minute,” he said. “When I’m elected, in an election year you will not see anything like this coming from dan Williams.”

Clarke said he does not belong to either party, and votes for Republican and Democratic candidates. He said in November, he plans to vote for at least one Republican.

“But I’m going to work on this election,” he said, referring to Williams.