Johnson Fundraising Mail Goes Outside District, Staffer Blames Database Error

Some Republican political donors got a surprise when they opened their mail recently - solicitations from 15th district Congressman Tim Johnson, even though Johnson isn't their representative.

People in Carbondale and Peoria were among those who received letters from Johnson's campaign asking for their help. But Johnson's chief of staff said the letters are not related to a potential upcoming shuffle of Illinois' congressional districts. Mark Shelden said the people who compiled one of the Johnson campaign's fundraising databases are to blame.

"For some reason in their database, some of these people were marked and flagged as being within our district and because of that, they received mail that we hadn't intended," Shelden said. "But we did manage to get a few contributions from outside our district, so obviously we're happy about that."

Shelden said it is highly unlikely that either Peoria or deep-southern Illinois would become part of Johnson's district once reapportionment is done later this year. Shelden said Johnson doesn't solicit campaign funds from adjoining House districts, though he sometimes receives outside donations because of his role on the House Agriculture Committee.