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Carney spot rips incumbent over his legal woes with woman he had an affair with.
Carney
Sherwood
After months of avoiding direct mention of Don Sherwood’s former mistress, Chris Carney has sponsored a TV ad focusing on the congressman’s legal tangle with the 30-year-old Maryland woman.
It stars a former Sherwood supporter who says the incident “just cuts right at the core values of our district.”
In the campaign spot, which began airing Thursday night, Wyoming County pharmacist Joseph Lech holds a framed photo of his 26-year-old stepdaughter Lindsey, and asks:
“How can I tell her I support Don Sherwood and feel good about myself?”
Sherwood, who is married, was sued last year by Cynthia Ore, who claimed he repeatedly assaulted her during their five-year relationship. The 65-year-old congressman, who admitted to the affair but denied the assaults, agreed to a confidential, out-of-court settlement last November.
Until now, Carney’s campaign had avoided direct reference to the suit, but repeatedly alleged that Sherwood had failed to uphold his district’s “values.”
G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, said it was “inevitable” Ore would become an issue in the campaign because it was her lawsuit that made the four-term Republican vulnerable.
“We wouldn’t even be talking about this race if it wasn’t for that incident.”
Sherwood spokesman Jake O’Donnell said the ad shows Carney “wants to make this the central issue in the campaign despite his pronouncements otherwise.”
O’Donnell pointed to a story published Friday in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette in which Carney was quoted as saying he and his campaign “really don’t need negative campaign ads.”
“I think most viewers would view this as a negative ad, an attack ad,” O’Donnell said.
In a phone interview Friday, Carney said: “The ad is not an attack ad. It’s an issue ad. …
“It just gets to the heart of Don Sherwood’s problems. This is based on decisions he made and choices he’s made and it just all comes down to values.
“If you want to see an attack ad, look at the ones Sherwood’s been doing the past two weeks.”
Carney said a series of spots sponsored by Sherwood distorts his positions.
He said he decided to go ahead with the ad referencing the suit against Sherwood because he has repeatedly been asked about it by voters in the sprawling and largely rural 10th Congressional District, which includes northern Luzerne County and all or part of 12 other counties.
Carney said Lech, “like virtually every constituent I’ve spoken with, wants a representative he can be proud of. This is about good government and values matter.”
In a phone interview Friday, Lech said he was an early supporter of Sherwood and helped with fundraising when Sherwood first ran for Congress in 1998.
Lech, a 47-year-old registered Republican who owns five pharmacies in Wyoming, Sullivan and Bradford counties, gave $3,250 to Sherwood’s campaigns between 1998 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission data. He has made an additional $13,000 in political donations on the federal level, with all but $250 going to Democrats. He and his wife have donated $6,100 to Carney’s campaign.
Lech, who is active with the National Community Pharmacists Association, said he became disenchanted with Sherwood during the debate over the new Medicare prescription drug program, which Sherwood supported. The program allowed the drug and insurance industries to reap large profits at the expense of consumers, he said.
“They could have done a much better job and it wouldn’t have cost more money.”
He said Sherwood and other Republicans have stifled debate in Washington.
“Right now, I think the Republican Party does not allow conversation among themselves, much less with the Democrats.”
He said the Sherwood lawsuit “is not the main issue, but it’s a fact and it did happen.”
“My opinion is that it wouldn’t have happened if it was Chris Carney.”
Sherwood’s seat in his heavily Republican district was once considered so safe that he faced no Democratic opponent in 2002 and 2004. In the May primary, a little-known challenger managed to poll 44 percent of the votes despite spending less than $5,000.
That drew the attention of national Democrats, Republicans and interest groups who have already spent $2 million on TV ads in support of either candidate.