Richard Dressell

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's PAC has contributed $5,000 to 5th district Democratic congressional candidate Dennis Shulman: Getty Images Photo
PARAMUS -- Sitting at a conference table at IBEW Local 164's headquarters with congressionalcandidate Dennis Shulman, several labor officials and two reporters this morning, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) was asked whether he planned to back up his visible support of Shulman with a significant amount of cash.

Hoyer, smiling, pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Shulman.

"Here's another $2,500. Talk is cheap, right?" said Hoyer. "It's not in the mail. It's in his pocket now."

It was the second $2,500 check that Hoyer's political action committee, AmeriPAC, had given to Schulman's campaign - something he said would be a taste of things to come if Shulman continues to run a vigorous campaign against three-term Rep. Scott Garrett in the fifth congressional district.

IBEW Local 164 out of Paramus issued a statement today in support of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, calling him a working people’s champion.

“I have spoken with labor leaders and rank and file union members from across the state who want Senator Lautenberg back in the U.S. Senate,” said business manager Richard Dressell.

One of the biggest financial supporters of the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO), IBEW Local 164 last year maxed out with a $37,000 contribution in addition to contributions to individual Democratic Party candidates, according to Dressell.

“At this juncture I’m getting pretty fed up,” he said of BCDO chairman Joseph Ferriero, who has not yet publicly declared his support for Lautenberg.