Weldon announced the group's steering committee: Stuart Bowie, a Media lawyer who ran for Congress in the early 1970s; Mike Bortnicker, former president of the Haverford Township Board of Commissioners; Elmer "Chip" Miller 3d, chairman of the Edgmont Township Board of Supervisors; Mary McLaughlin, president of the Rose Valley Borough Council; Peter O'Keefe, a former Democratic state representative; Richard Kearney, a Pennsylvania State Education Association union representative, and Robert Moran, a former congressional candidate.
Landau responded that the group reminded him of the old "McClure Democrats," the county Democrats who were loyal to former county GOP boss John J. McClure.
During a news conference at his Baltimore Pike headquarters, Landau said he had received numerous complaints from voters about Weldon's latest congressional newsletter, which has been sent to district households in the last week.
Landau said it was the third newsletter, printed at taxpayers' expense, that had been sent from Weldon's office to voters since Labor Day. "People are outraged," Landau said.
Weldon deferred questions about the matter to his Washington aide, Doug Ritter, who said the newsletters conformed to House rules.
They were ordered before the cutoff deadline 60 days before the election, Ritter said, but they have been backed up in the House mailroom and were not
sent out until recently.
Printing each edition of the newsletter costs about $2,500, Ritter said.
The most recent newsletter, called "7th District Report from Congressman Curt Weldon," lists numerous awards and accomplishments from Weldon's first term.
Landau called it "self-promotion for campaign purposes. It doesn't belong in a congressman's newsletter."
Ritter said that aspect accounted for a small portion of the two-page newsletter.
