November 7, 2006

8 Nov 2006 // Washington, DC – Ethics scandals impacted over a dozen races last night, resulting in the House of Representatives turning over and a potential power switch on the Senate side. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) announced today that at least seven lawmakers included in its report, Beyond DeLay: The Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch), lost their seats last night over corruption issues.

Voters named corruption as their number one concern in exit polls last night.

Since its inception, CREW has been targeting corruption by drafting and filing complaints against members of Congress whose egregious conduct has violated ethics rules and federal law. Several of the members who lost their seats last night have been the focus of complaints by CREW including Reps. Curt Weldon (R-PA), Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Charles Taylor (R-NC), as well as Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). Other members were forced to resign over their corrupt activities, including Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), who was admonished by the House due to a CREW-drafted ethics complaint, Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL). Several other members are in danger of losing their seats due to scandals, including Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) and Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH).

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today, “The Republicans, to their detriment, failed to heed the lessons of the 1994 congressional elections when the Democrats lost control of the House.” Sloan continued, “The voters have sent Congress the message that they will not tolerate corruption and it is past time for members to wake up to this fact. The Democrats first order of business should be to implement true ethics reform. If members continue to turn a blind eye to the unethical conduct of their colleagues, their constituents will undoubtedly react accordingly in 2008.”

Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor, is available to discuss the impact of corruption on today’s results and the ethics legislation that should be enacted in the 110th Congress. Please contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.556 or press@citizensforethics.org.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/press@citizensforethics.org.