Challenger calls Morella letterhead violation of ethics

The 8th District congressional campaign of Christopher Van Hollen Jr. accused his Republican rival yesterday of using her U.S. House stationery for campaign purposes.

During the weekend, Rep. Constance A. Morella distributed a campaign letter to the press with the words "House of Representatives" and a rendering of the Capitol at the top. The letter asked Van Hollen to join her in an agreement to keep their campaigns free of so-called "soft money" advertising funded by political party committees and other outside groups.

The letter appears to violate ethics rules against incumbents' using congressional resources to aid their campaigns, said Van Hollen campaign manager Steve Jost. But Morella campaign manager Tony Caligiuri said the letterhead is not the same as the one Morella uses for official business and that it indicates it was campaign-funded.