Rep. Mack Defends Mass Mailing Mistake

In an embarrassing foul-up, Rep. Connie Mack IV, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, has acknowledged his congressional office wrongly sent out a statewide mass mailer at taxpayer expense, a mailing that bears hallmarks of a political campaign mailer. Mack blamed the mistake on a New Jersey-based direct-mail firm that worked for both the campaign and for Mack's congressional office. He has now fired the company.

The company, William McClintock Associates, is a Republican-oriented political direct mail and voter-targeting firm, according to its website.

The firm...sent the mailer to the wrong list of recipients against his office's instructions