Ads to run targeting Reps. Simmons (R-CT), Reynolds (R-NY), and Hastings (R-WA) to call on DeLay to resign Washington—Television ads urging Republican congressional leaders and a rank-and-file member of Congress to call for Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s (R-TX) resignation will begin airing Thursday as Public Campaign Action Fund’s campaign to “Clean up Congress without DeLay” extends to targeted districts around the country. The ads will air in the congressional districts of Reps. Rob Simmons (R-CT), Tom Reynolds (R-NY), and Doc Hastings (R-WA). They can viewed at http://www.pcactionfund.org/resign/ The organization has already collected nearly 20,000 signatures on a petition calling on DeLay to resign from Congress, with each message passed along to individual members of Congress. The petition can be found at http://www.WithoutDeLay.org. “Tom DeLay is a walking scandal and a national embarrassment,” said David Donnelly, political director of Public Campaign Action Fund. “These three members of Congress should stand up for the American people and join our call to clean up Congress, without DeLay.” The members were chosen for a variety of reasons, and are the first three on a longer list of 12 to 15 potential Republican members of Congress who could be targeted with future advertising and in-district organizing. Rep. Hastings, for example, is the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, which under a former chairman, rebuked DeLay three times last year for ethical transgressions. In addition to Public Campaign Action Fund ads, another group, Campaign for America’s Future began running a television advertisement in Washington, DC and DeLay’s suburban Houston congressional district calling on DeLay to step down as Majority Leader. The combined ad buy of the two groups was approximately $100,000. “DeLay is the worst embodiment of the pay-to-play culture in Washington,” added Donnelly. “His pattern of abusing power and thinking he is above the law undermines faith in our political system. Republican members should call for his resignation.” Public Campaign Action Fund is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to hold elected officials accountable for the favors they give to political donors, and to advance comprehensive public financing of elections that levels the playing field for average Americans.