Postman reports that eastside Republican Congressman Dave Reichert is donating to charity the $5,000 he received from Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, who today agreed to plead guilty to charges related to the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.

But Ney’s money is also washing around in another Washington State Congressional race that I wrote about in this week’s Stranger: the Eastern Washington contest between freshman Republican Cathy McMorris and populist rancher Peter Goldmark.

The Goldmark campaign says McMorris received $2,500 from Ney (along with $5,000 from indicted former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay that she has yet to return). Will McMorris return or donate the Ney money?

Following the lead of the Reichert campaign, McMorris spokesman Dan Beutler just told me that a check for $2,500 has already been written and that details on its charitable destination will be announced soon. As for the $5,000 in DeLay money, Beutler said he would be sending me an old press release about the matter later this afternoon.

UPDATE: Beutler says McMorris is sending her Ney money to the Inland Northwest Red Cross.