Eileen Donoghue's [photo at lower left] campaign is accusing a Washington, D.C., group of trying to buy Tuesday's 5th Congressional District election for Niki Tsongas [shown at right]'. It's the same group Donoghue once asked for support.The Lowell city councilor is crying foul after Emily's List, a women's pro-choice political network, sent out three oversized, expensive mailings for Tsongas in the past week - reaching some 18,000 women in the district.
Emily's List refused to say how much it spent on the mailings. But the group filed a report with the Federal Election Commission on Aug. 27, reporting $39,120 in mailing services, postage and printing expenses paid to the Mack Crounse Group - a Democratic direct mail firm - in support of Tsongas' campaign."Emily's List has been trying to buy this election from the start," Donoghue spokesman Scott Ferson said. "They are desperate. They know their expensive candidate is going to lose. Now they're doing whatever it takes to win this election.
"Eileen doesn't need outsider groups from Washington telling her how to vote or behave," he said. "Niki Tsongas has relied on her powerful friends from Washington to craft positions and put words in her mouth."
But Donoghue tried to gain an endorsement from Emily's List at the beginning of the campaign, according to the group's spokeswoman. They are calling this attack a case of sour grapes... (Source: Crystal Bozek's article of September 2nd in the Eagle-Tribune, Massachusetts)
