Nichols: Opponent 'might as well have just pulled down my pants'

Del. Paul F. Nichols fumes about a controversial campaign mailer sent by his opponent, Rich Anderson.

By: | Times-Dispatch
Published: October 13, 2009

Del. Paul F. Nichols was in Occoquan on Monday to talk about small business issues, but he also addressed a controversial campaign mailer his opponent sent out Friday.

Republican Rich Anderson, who’s running against Nichols in the House of Delegates’ 51st District, announced his opponent’s arrest in North Carolina in 2006 in the direct-mail piece.

Nichols was charged with assaulting a police officer while on a golf trip. But he has said he was wrongly accused, and the charges were dismissed.

To respond to the mailer, his campaign placed a recorded “robo” telephone call to district voters Sunday.

It featured former Washington Redskin Curtis Jordan, who was on the 2006 trip to the Outer Banks with Nichols.

“Rich Anderson is lying about what happened instead of focusing on issues that matter, like transportation and getting our economy moving again,” Jordan said in the call.

Besides spreading misleading information, Nichols said, Anderson’s mailer, which contained an image of his arrest record, released his personal information, including his Social Security number.

“He might as well have just pulled down my pants in public,” Nichols said, adding that he’s considering legal action on the matter.

But Anderson campaign manager Reece Collins said Nichols’ story is just “hearsay,” which wouldn’t stand up in court. The Anderson campaign wants to see documentation.

“If he has a version of the story,” Collins said, “we ask him to produce something.”

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.