Johnson Error Said to Be Honest Mistake
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14–Rep. Nancy L. Johnson, R-Conn., said Wednesday that she made a mistake when she “inadvertently” voted in favor of a Republican measure that would have scuttled the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform legislation passed by the House early yesterday morning.
Johnson, a longtime supporter of the Shays-Meehan bill who has voted for it in the past, accidentally cast her vote in favor of an amendment that would have effectively killed the campaign reform for this year, according to David L. Boomer, Johnson’s campaign manager.
“[Johnson] did not realize that the vote was an incorrect vote until she left and was back in her office,” said Boomer in response to an accusation from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Rep. James Maloney, R-Conn., that she was using the vote as a way to benefit her upcoming election campaign while simultaneously killing the Shays-Meehan bill.
“She abandoned the people and joined with those committed to killing campaign reform,” said a spokesperson for the DCCC, pointing out that Johnson was the only member of the Connecticut congressional delegation to vote in favor of the Ney-Wynn substitute campaign reform bill.
The Ney-Wynn amendment, which the House voted on shortly before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, would have banned all unregulated “soft money” political contributions. It received only 53 votes including those of Johnson and 50 other Republicans.
However, after many hours of debate on Shays-Meehan and votes on more than a dozen amendments, Johnson joined 240 members of the House, including 41 Republicans in voting in favor of final passage of the Shays-Meehan reform legislation in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
The Shays-Meehan bill would ban most soft money contributions made by labor unions, wealthy individuals and corporations; it would increase the limited hard money contributions individuals can give from $1,000 to $2,000 per election and would prohibit special interest groups from running political ads that mentioned candidates in the 60 days prior to an election.
“She wanted to protect the fundraising sources on the one hand, and then come up with an excuse that somehow washed it all away with the voters of Connecticut,” said Maloney in an interview yesterday. “That,” he continued, “is fundamentally wrong.”
Maloney and Johnson will be facing each other in an election this November in the redistricted 5th Congressional District.
Boomer said Johnson anticipated Maloney’s reaction since “he has a history of running very negative campaigns.”
Maloney, however, said his campaigning goes beyond smearing Johnson, and that it is too “premature” to tell whether this episode will be a major issue during the campaign race.
“What I consider to be more pressing issues are budget deficits, and doing the right thing for Social Security, Medicare, education, and fiscal responsibility,” said Maloney
Rep. Robert R. Simmons, R-Conn., said Johnson “has multiple responsibilities as a leader,” and “the last 24 hours have been extremely hectic. When you have sequential votes and when the hour gets late and when there are multiple votes with different names on them – mistakes can be made.”
“I have found myself in that position on occasion and I am sure every member has at one point,” said Simmons.
After casting her vote in favor of the Ney-Wynn substitute bill, Johnson went to the floor of the House and told the clerk she “inadvertently voted aye” on the measure and “would like the record to show that I meant to vote no.”
According to a statement issued by Congressmen Christopher Shays, D-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass, the co-sponsors of the Shays-Meehan bill, they believed that it was an honest mistake on Johnson’s part.
“Nancy Johnson has been one of our closest advisors and staunchest supporters in this effort to reform our campaign finance system. She has been there from the very beginning and never wavered in her support. Any suggestion to the contrary is just plain wrong,” according to a statement issued by Shays and Meehan.
Published in The Waterbury Republican-American, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
