Syracuse, NY - Ursula Rozum, the Green Party candidate for the 24th Congressional District, said she has received several large donations from her Republican opponent's supporters and plans to give them to charity.
At a news conference this morning, Rozum said a Palm Beach, Fla., family that supports incumbent Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle recently made several large donations.
The chief donor, Carolyn Grace, gave the maximum legal donation of $2,500 to Rozum -- the same amount she gave Buerkle in 2012. Her husband, Oliver, also gave to Buerkle in 2010 and 2011, according to Rozum campaign research.
Three Grace children also donated to Rozum, with checks of $1000, $500 and $250. The children, who are in their 20s, have given to Democrats in the past.
Over the past decade, Carolyn and Oliver Grace have contributed more than $450,000 to conservative candidates and political action committees, including Karl Rove's American Crossroads and the Club for Growth.
Carolyn Grace also contributed to Democratic presidential candidates Howard Dean and John Kerry in 2004.
Rozum said her campaign is looking into a fifth donation, of $250, from someone from Florida with a different last name.
The Graces are descended from the founders of W.R. Grace, a major multinational chemicals and materials company since the 1890s, and the Grace National Bank, according to Rozum. That bank was started by W.R. Grace in 1914, then merged into Marine Midland Bank in 1965, which HSBC acquired in 1980, she said.
"Given their previous maximum donations to the Buerkle campaign, it is apparent that these donations are intended to help me win votes that might otherwise go to Dan Maffei and help Ann Marie Buerkle win the election," Rozum said.
She said she intends to donate the money to community service and electoral reform organizations rather than returning it to the donors.
"This is our way of saying, 'Don't mess with us,' " she said.
Rozum donated the money to a variety of groups, including $750 to the Dunbar Association, $750 to the Workers Center of Central New York and $750 to the Friends of the Ida Benderson Center, a group seeking to reopen the senior center in downtown Syracuse.
She gave $500 each to the groups Fair Vote, Move to Amend, Election Defense Alliance and No More Stolen Elections.
She said she has between $1,000 and $2,000 left in her campaign, with more donations coming in.
Rozum's place in the race for the 24th Congressional District presents an interesting dynamic. Some liberal voters fear that support for Rozum would hurt Democrat Dan Maffei. Buerkle and Maffei have been tied in most polls and Rozum is taking about 7 percent. In 2010, Buerkle beat Maffei by only 648 votes in a two-person race.
David Ray, campaign manager for Buerkle, said he does not know anything about the donation.
"That is not something we would direct any donor to do nor would we encourage it," he said.
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