Jerry Moran became a big shot in Kansas political circles when elected to the U.S. House in 1997.
He hopes that congressional foundation is solid enough to earn him a promotion to the U.S. Senate.
Still, the guy suffers from a problem of name recognition — even when it involves scandal.
There’s a flap in Washington, D.C., over potentially corrupt political contributions by the lobbying firm PMA Group. FBI agents have raided PMA’s offices. The organization donated piles of cash to House and Senate members, with most of it going to Democrats. In return, millions of dollars in federal earmarks were secured for the firm’s clients.
There are reports Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., received $27,000 over the years from PMA’s political action committee. There are accounts of Moran accepting $14,000 from the same outfit.
The numbers are noteworthy since Tiahrt and Moran are both seeking the GOP nomination for a Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Sam Brownback, a Topeka Republican.
Problem: Moran received only $1,500 from PMA.
The vast majority of contributions attached to the Kansas congressman actually were steered to another House member named Moran.
Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., pocketed more than $168,000 from PMA. The firm’s offices were located in the Virginia lawmaker’s district.
“There has been some confusion,” said Aaron Trost, Moran’s campaign manager. “The Federal Elections Commission is correcting all that.”
Moran, the Kansas guy, said he would donate $1,500 to charity. Tiahrt said his policy is to return donations only if the PMA crowd is convicted of a crime.
