Wake up call
Dirty Trick Alleged in LD 13
A robo call went out to Republican primary voters in the 13th Legislative District at 4am this morning urging people to vote for Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon.
“You have four hours to get out and vote…” the call said. The obvious impression was that the call was supposed to go out at 4PM.
The Monmouth GOP did not order the call. Kyrillos, Handlin and O’Scanlon did not order the call. Both campaigns say they had no calls scheduled for 4PM.
The caller ID was a secondary number of Monmouth GOP’s, yet the call did not mention the county candidates, Sheriff Shaun Golden or Freeholders Tom Arnone and Serena DiMaso.
O’Scanlon said the call looks to be a dirty trick.
Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett is furious. He said the call was a crime. He’s gathering data and plans to file a complaint with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office this afternoon.
“We’ve never had this from the Democrats and they have not had it from us,” Bennett said, “I’m not accusing anyone, but we will get to the bottom of it and file a criminal complaint. This was a dirty trick and attempted voter suppression, pure and simple.”
Both Bennett and O’Scanlon said they became aware of the call before 4:30 this morning when they received phone calls from friends who had been woken up by the call.
MMM left a voice mail and a text with Bayshore Tea Party Group cofounder Barbara Gonzalez asking if she knows anything about the 4am robocall. Gonzalez has yet to respond. The Bayshore Tea Party Group is supporting the slate of challengers running against the LD13 and Monmouth County Republican incumbents.
More from my site
Monmouth County Prosecutor Actively Investigating 4am Robocall
Bayshore Tea Party Wants Bennett To Change The By-Laws
Bayshore Tea Party Preparing Primary Slate for LD 13, County Offices
Bennett: “We’re fighting this primary as if we’re down 25%”
O’Scanlon On Offense
Bayshore Tea Party Group Boasts of 1000 Members, Staunch Backers of Anna Little
Bellew, Gonzalez, Boracchia Attack LD 13 Incumbents, Blogs
NJ Right To Life Defends Kyrillos And Handlin Against Bellew’s ‘Misinformation’
Bennett: Tea Party Primary Challenge Is “Ludicrous”
Bayshore Tea Party Promises Primaries
Oh what a change of heart. Didn’t Bennett just say yesterday at the pre-election rally that he plans to make peace with BSTP and bring them back into the party as early as Wednesday?
Peace? Not now. This is a matter for the FBI and federal prosecutors. This mirrors the case of Kevin Collins who was running a state legislative race in Passaic County. He did something similar (a robo-call under false pretenses) and was prosecuted by the State AG. The law has got tougher since then and the FCC runs the show now. That means the FBI does the questioning and it is a felony to lie to them (ask Martha Stewart).
Whoever pulled this stunt is screwed.
A new low for Bayshore!
Brooklyn Man Guilty in Political Robocall Ruse
PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — A political consultant from Brooklyn has admitted responsibility for a robocall campaign that made it seem like it was coming from the rival camp during a 2009 legislative election.
Kevin Collins, a former Wood-Ridge resident who now lives in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act. He was then sentenced to a year of probation and fined $1,000.
Collins targeted more than 12,000 voters with automated calls attacking Republican incumbent Assemblymen Scott Rumana and David Russo. The calls were made to appear as if they originated from Rumana’s own chief of staff, and Collins admitted Tuesday that he had obtained that person’s cell phone number and used it to arrange the calls.
Collins was a paid consultant for two Republican challengers who were defeated by the incumbents.
February 23, 2012 – 11:00am
This is what is becoming more of the norm for republicans sticking it to republicans and opening the door for democratic challenges . I support the candidacy of anyone who wants to put their name on a ballot.God Bless America where we can do that. The front door is the way to go though.When you cheat to get your way it tells all when your time comes they will cheat you and the people also. A sad ,sad day for us!!
A good and decent man, I hope we get a chance to get him on our Board in the near future.. we had a saying years ago: “God save us from fellow Republicans!” How unfortunately true it seems to be, again today.. I’d like to blame young, brash, over-zealous and overpaid consultants, but any candidate is ultimately responsible for what goes out during the total time of their campaign, so they can claim no knowledge, but that doesn’t excuse a broken law or immoral tactic..wish and hope that we can raise the level of our party’s discourse, and soon, we are again defeating ourselves in the long run, with this childish stuff going on.
[…] first reported the call (click here to listen) and that it appears to have been recorded by the same person who […]