PORTLAND, Ore. -- Republican congressional candidate Mike Erickson has broken his silence over accusations he paid for a pregnant girlfriend to have an abortion in 2000.

MikeEricksonforCongress.org

The businessman says he dated the woman for a couple months and gave her some money to help with financial problems.

But he says the woman never mentioned anything about being pregnant.

He added that he has never asked any woman to have an abortion and has never knowingly paid for one.

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With polls showing Mike Erickson and opponent Kevin Mannix in a tight race in the Republican primary, Mannix unleashed the accusation in a letter to 60,000 5th congressional district voters.

It is particularly explosive because Mannix and Erickson have told voters they don't think abortion should be legal.

The claims initially surfaced when Erickson ran against Rep. Darlene Hooley in 2006. The allegations remain unsubstantiated.