"U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th District, said Saturday afternoon that controversial contributions to his campaign might soon be in the hands of nonprofit organizations.

Goode has received more than $89,000 in donations from MZM Inc.’s political action committee, its company employees and immediate family members since 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending.

“I will not be inclined to give (the money) back to the MZM PAC, I would prefer to give it to charity,” Goode said.

He said he is currently looking into how to legally give the money away.

Goode has already returned $600 sought by two MZM-linked donors in response to a letter he mailed out offering refunds.

The defense contracting company has been in the headlines since California Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham resigned from Congress for accepting $2.4 million in bribes, and implicated former MZM president in his guilty plea.

The ties between Goode and Cunningham are casting a shadow over the early days of the 5th District congressional race.

Bern Ewert, who announced his plan to run against Goode on Saturday, said he thinks Goode should give the money away.

“If it doesn’t look right and it doesn’t smell right … he ought to put it behind him,” Ewert said earlier this week.

Al Weed, who is also campaigning for the Democratic ticket, has spoken out about Goode’s campaign donations from MZM.

Neither candidate has accused Goode of wrongdoing.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-North Carolina, returned more than $6,000 she received from MZM in her 2002 campaign earlier this year.

MZM opened a branch in Martinsville in 2003 for database and information technology operation.

It was sold to Veritas Capital this year. “I know the people that are working in Martinsville have done nothing wrong,” Goode said. “They have worked hard.”

Goode’s statement came in response to Ewert’s weekend kickoff speech in which he calls MZM “corrupt.”" (Blair Goldstein, Lynchburg News and Advance, December 4, 2005)

Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Peter Hardin and Winston-Salem Journal staff writer Mary M. Shaffrey contributed to this report.