Anti-war vets group is popular fundraiser

VoteVets.org has endorsed Ohio state Rep. John Boccieri in his race for the U.S. House .

COLUMBUS (AP) — Veterans opposed to the war in Iraq are banging at Jon Soltz’s door.

Soltz, co-founder and chairman of VoteVets.org, had to get creative this year to handle the barrage. His group, unveiled during the 2006 elections, is quickly becoming the fund-raising hot spot for veterans running for Congress who believe America’s military should be out of Iraq.

This week, Votevets.org is holding an online runoff for an extra $5,000 in campaign cash for one of seven candidates nationwide. The group raised $1.3 million in direct contributions in 2006, but simply can’t afford to give all the interested candidates as much as they want, Soltz said.

Heavy interest has also prompted another strategy shift: VoteVets.org is no longer endorsing only veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as it did in 2006. Veterans of other conflicts — or who didn’t serve in combat at all — are getting on the list.

“We’re here to help progressive veterans run for office,” said Soltz, an Iraq war veteran. “We are not anti-military. We believe America has been defeatist against [al-Quaida leader Osama] bin Laden. A lot of Republicans have a policy of surrender. We see Iraq as a distraction from the war on terror.”

Broadening its endorsement criteria has allowed VoteVets.org to endorse three congressional incumbents beyond Pennsylvania’s Patrick Murphy, Congress’ only Iraq vet and a Democrat they helped elect in 2006. Other endorsed Democratic incumbents who served elsewhere in the military are U.S. Reps. Chris Carney and Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

Among newcomer congressional candidates, some of VoteVets.org’s highest hopes are with John Boccieri, a Democratic Ohio state senator and veteran of the Air Force Reserve in Iraq seeking the seat being vacated by 18-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula. Regula is one of three GOP veterans vacating Ohio seats this year.

Other newcomers VoteVets.org has endorsed are Democrats Adam Cote in Maine, Ashwin Madia in Minnesota, and Rick Noriega in Texas.