REVIEW-JOURNAL

Club for Growth, which Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller said spent at least $1 million on ads criticizing him during the two weeks preceding the Aug. 15 Republican primary election, received money and support from the family that owns the parent company of the Review-Journal.

Club for Growth, a national organization that supports candidates committed to lowering taxes and less government regulation, endorsed Heller's opponent, Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, in the 2nd Congressional District race.

Heller defeated Angle by 421 votes, and on Friday Angle said she will file a lawsuit in state court seeking a new election after her narrow loss to Heller. Heller said the race wouldn't have been close if not for Club for Growth's involvement.

In the past six years, members of the Stephens family have contributed more than $1.5 million to Club for Growth. Stephens Media owns the Review-Journal.

A major contributor to and board member of the Club for Growth, Jackson T. "Steve" Stephens, head of a Little Rock, Ark., bio-tech firm, has no ownership interest in the parent company of the Review-Journal.

His brother, Warren Stephens, who has an ownership interest in the parent company of the Review-Journal, has contributed $500,000 to Club for Growth over the past six years.

Sherman Frederick, publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media, said, "It is our policy to disclose appearances of conflict and conflicts to readers, even when it is once removed and involves third parties. We do this because reader trust is of utmost importance to us."

"Though the Club for Growth organization, which is made up of 36,000 members, spent money in the 2nd Congressional District race in Nevada, the Review-Journal did not endorse any candidate in the primary," Frederick said.

On a related matter, Frederick gave the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign $1,000 in 2004. He disclosed the contribution immediately to Review-Journal Editor Thomas Mitchell. The Review-Journal endorsed Bush-Cheney in 2000 and 2004, and Frederick wrote no columns or news stories related to the presidential campaign.