March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Two advocacy groups said they would begin airing ads highlighting ethics questions surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, intensifying a campaign to force the Texas Republican to step down.

Campaign for America's Future, a group that includes labor union and civil rights leaders as advisers, said it will spend $75,000 on ads in DeLay's Houston-area district and in Washington calling on him to step aside. Public Campaign Action Fund, a group that seeks to curb corporate donations to campaigns, said it will spend $25,000 on ads in the districts of three Republican lawmakers who have supported DeLay.

``Tom DeLay can't be allowed to continue with his unethical behavior any longer,'' said Ellen Miller, deputy director of CAF. ``He needs to step down as majority leader.''

The ads are part of an effort by liberal groups including Common Cause and Democracy 21 to pressure rank-and-file House Republicans to remove DeLay. Judicial Watch, a conservative group, also has weighed in, calling on DeLay to leave his post as No. 2 House Republican after a series of admonishments by the House ethics committee.

Dan Allen, a spokesman for DeLay, said the attacks constitute a partisan effort by liberal groups and won't cause a drop in his support among House Republicans. He said CAF has received funds from donors who tend to favor Democratic causes, including financier George Soros, and the group also has ``clear ties'' to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

``This is just the latest in a well-organized and carefully orchestrated attack on the House Republicans,'' Allen said.

Soros once donated $300,000 to the group, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com, which tracks campaign finance. Pelosi spoke at a CAF conference in 2004, and the Washington Post reported that she serves on an advisory committee of a political action committee headed by Robert L. Borosage, who is also co- director of CAF.

Ethics Issues

DeLay was admonished three times last year by the House ethics committee for violations that included offering to endorse the candidacy of a lawmaker's son in exchange for a vote in favor of Medicare prescription-drug legislation. A Texas grand jury last year indicted three DeLay associates involved in his Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee for allegedly accepting illegal donations and money laundering. The Travis County prosecutor has not ruled out a DeLay indictment in the ongoing investigation.

Recent reports in the Washington Post raised new questions about trips DeLay took to South Korea and Great Britain, and on Monday the Wall Street Journal's editorial page said he has ``odor issues'' and is ``the undisputed and unapologetic master'' of a system of influence peddling in Washington.

`One Indictment Away'

House Republicans have continued to support DeLay as their majority leader and he still has an active role as a party fundraiser. The National Republican Congressional Committee's web site lists DeLay as a ``special guest'' this weekend at a Las Vegas weekend fundraiser for a political action committee controlled by Representative John Doolittle, a California Republican.

Further questions about DeLay's ethics could trigger a shift in support from fellow Republicans, said Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council and a former aide to Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican. DeLay is also required to step aside if indicted, under House Republican caucus rules.

``He's probably one indictment or one ethics finding away from losing his post,'' Wittmann said.

Rules Change

Some of the groups pushing for DeLay's removal were also angered this year when Republicans pushed through the House a rules change that allows probes to be triggered only after a majority vote by the ethics panel, which is evenly divided between the two parties. DeLay still has one ethics complaint pending before the committee, and Democrats are insisting the change be reversed before the panel can begin operating.

Groups pushing for DeLay's replacement say they are working to stir up their grassroots.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, was the first conservative leader to call on DeLay to step aside. He said he is detailing his concerns about DeLay in newsletters to about 180,000 supporters of his group. He said the Wall Street Journal editorial was ``tremendously significant'' because the newspaper's editorial page is regarded as conservative, undercutting DeLay's contention that his problems stem from liberal enemies.

House Republicans ``need someone else in there promoting the conservative cause if they actually believe in it,'' Fitton said. ``He's not doing us any favors.''

Petitions Drives

Other groups have begun petition drives. Common Cause has solicited about 70,000 petitions this year from members who want DeLay to step down, said Lauren Colletta, the group's director of campaigns. Public Campaign Action Fund has gathered 20,000 signatures in the last two weeks on petitions asking DeLay to resign his seat, said David Donnelly, the group's political director.

The ad that will run in DeLay's district shows a man wearing cufflinks and a watch washing his hands. He continues trying harder to clean his hands as an announcer runs through a list of ethics questions surrounding DeLay. Miller said the ad will run on four cable TV stations in DeLay's district.

DeLay won his last re-election with just 55 percent of the vote, his closest general election since he was first elected in 1984.

Targeting Republican Districts

Ads also are scheduled to run in the Washington district of Republican Representative Doc Hastings, the new chairman of the House ethics committee, and Representative Tom Reynolds of New York, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee. Representative Rob Simmons, a Connecticut Republican who recently benefited from a DeLay fundraiser and won his last election with 54 percent of the vote, is also targeted.

``We think more heat in a variety of districts will make a difference,'' Donnelly said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats' fundraising arm, is also ramping up its attacks on DeLay in fundraising letters. Bill Burton, a spokesman for the DCCC, said DeLay has been a useful lure in recent fundraising solicitations, including a series of e-mails to prospective donors.

``Tom DeLay is a lightning rod,'' Burton said. ``He has been for years, and now that there are all these ethics issues swirling around him, folks are really activated by this.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 30, 2005 12:58 EST