Party Unity

Based upon the voting results of the two Monmouth County political conventions that occurred on Tuesday evening, it would appear that the Monmouth Democratic Organization is united and the Monmouth Republican Organization is divided.

Vin Gopal’s margin of victory in the Democratic Chairman’s race was 73%-27%.  John Bennett scored a 50.24%-49.75% victory in the Republican race.

Both parties had extraordinarily high turnouts with over 600 committee members voting.  For a county party that has had no electoral success in recent years, the record turnout for the Democrats was an impressive showing. 

But all is not rosy for the Democrats.  Among Gopal’s minority opponents are his 3 county level candidates, Michael Steinhorn running for County Clerk and Freeholder candidates Bill Shea and Kevin Lavan.  Gopal, Steinhorn, Shea and Lavan were all general election candidates last year.  Gopal was an Assembly candidate in the 11th district.  Steinhorn and Shea were county level candidates, and Lavan was an Assembly candidate in the 13th district.  The divide is reportedly over Gopal’s relative (they all lost) success.  He raised more money, got more press and came closer to winning than Steinhorn, Shea and Lavan did in 2011.

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Republicans could be in for a long summer

In Chris Christie:The Inside Story of His Rise to Power, authors Bob Ingle and Michael Symons describe U.S. Attorney Christie’s reluctance to use Solomon Dwek as informant during the Operation Bid Rig investigation in 2006.  “Do I really want to get in bed with this guy?” Christie is described as asking his deputies who were pushing for approval to make Dwek an informant. 

Ironically given how Democrats and defendants have argued that the July 2009 arrests based on Dwek’s sting were politically motivated to help Christie, the Deputy U.S. Attorneys advocating the sting argued to Christie that he would have been acting politically if he did not approve Dwek’s cooperation.

If this Star Ledger article by Matt Friedman is an indication of charades to come this summer, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee will make Joe Oxley’s confirmation hearing for his Superior Court Judgeship nomination a payback for the unceremonious end to former House Speaker, Senator and Commissioner of Community Affairs Joe Doria’s career when he his home was raided during the July 2009 federal operation. 

Doria has been cleared of any wrongdoing.  He has a letter from the U.S. Attorney, just like John Bennett does, but his career in public service is over.   Maybe Doria can become Chairman of the Hudson County Democrats some day.

U.S. Senate nominee Joe Kryillos is in the Democrats sites as well.  Dwek is the ammunition.

Democratic State Chairman John Wisniewski Tuesday issued a list of questions for Kyrillos, including how often he met with Dwek, what was discussed, who else was in attendance and whether he was ever contacted by law enforcement about it. “If you deny this and suggest Dwek is lying, does that raise the possibility with you that Dwek’s testimony that convicted others should be questioned?” Wisniewski wrote.

Kyrillos campaign spokesman Chapin Fay did not directly respond to Wisniewski, instead repeating that Kyrillos did nothing to help Dwek.

During the trial of Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez it was revealed that among the diobalical schemes Dwek deployed in the 14 years leading to his 2006 arrest was a life insurance scam.  Dwek paid the life insurance premiums of people close to death who could not afford to keep their policies.  Upon the death of the insured, Dwek would give the deceased’s family 10% of the policy proceeds and pocket the rest.

Dwek’s father tried to get Soloman a pardon from President George W. Bush.  Maybe President Obama will pardon Dwek if he helps knock Chris Christie down a notch and helps keep Bob Menendez in the Senate.

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Happy Father’s Day

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Bennett’s Victory

Former Senate President John Bennett is the Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

Besting State Committeewoman Christine Hanlon by only 3 votes of the 615 cast an elated and magnanimous Bennett congratulated Hanlon on a hard fought race and announced that she was welcome to fill whatever role she liked on his team.

Bennett profusely thanked the Western Monmouth committee members and invited Manalapan Municipal Chairman Steve McEnry to nominate Mayor Susan Cohen as Vice Chair.  Cohen was elected by acclamation.

In what was described as a record turn out, over 700 Republicans, including guests, crowded into the Colts Neck High School auditorium.

Freeholder Lillian Burry placed Bennett’s name into nomination and launched into the theme of the evening’s speeches by attacking the Hanlon campaign for negative campaigning.    A more conciliatory Senator Jennifer Beck nominated Hanlon with an acknowledgment of negative campaigning on both sides and an impassioned called to build on the successes of the last four years by voting for Christine.

A handful of members of the Bayshore Tea Party Group attempted to nominate one of their own for Chair.  Outgoing Chairman Joe Oxley shut them down as they continued to shout from their seats.

Bennett, who gave his speech without a microphone, continued the theme of attacking the negative campaigning and attacked Hanlon for refusing to give up county legal work.  During her speech, Hanlon called the negatives and two way street and was booed by Bennett supporters when she called the conflict of interest charge unfair.

If there was an undecided vote in the auditorium prior to the speeches, Bennett probably won them over with a better delivery than Hanlon’s.

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Gopal Wins

UPDATED 11:10 pm

Vin Gopal is the new Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats.

Gopal won 73% of the Democratic County Committee votes with 434 votes to Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca’s 169 votes.

Sources told MMM that when word that John Bennett had won the Monmouth GOP Chairmanship reached the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands, the Democratic crowd erupted in celebration.

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Bennett Wins

John Bennett

John Bennett is the new Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

Update at 11.

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Kyrillos campaign’s statement on Dwek

“Senator Kyrillos has built a sterling reputation throughout his career, and this is a shameless oppo dump from the Menendez political machine. The fact of the matter is that Senator Kyrillos never did anything to help this man at any time.  And furthermore, the second it was clear that this man was a con man, Senator Kyrillos, unlike others, immediately gave his campaign contribution to charity and documented that with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.”

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Oxley Righted The Ship

Photo credit: Scarcini, Hollenbeck

When Joe Oxley was elected Monmouth County Chairman in June of 2008, by acclamation and with no opposition, he took over a party that had gone through six tumultuous years that left it in debt, fractured and on the verge of losing control of Monmouth County’s government for the first time in two decades.

Four years later, the Monmouth GOP holds all seats on the Freeholder Board, all Constitutional offices, all Legislative seats in the county and the vast majority of municipal offices throughout the county.  New Jersey has a Republican Governor who would not have been elected if not for the voter turnout in Monmouth County.

One year prior to taking on the Chairmanship, Oxley made the politically shocking and personally risky decision not to seek a fourth term as Monmouth County Sheriff.   Oxley had excelled as Sheriff.  He made a national name for himself and for the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department.  He was one of, if not the most, respected and popular elected officials in Monmouth County.  He was risking his career to lay the ground work for taking over the Monmouth GOP Chairmanship a year later in order to save the imploding  party from itself.

A hunger for leadership  and stability caused the various factions of the party to lay down their arms to acclaim Oxley the Chair without opposition.   Leadership, stability and winning is what they got, whether the faction leaders liked it or not.  Most often they didn’t as Oxley frustrated almost every party leader, ally or foe, during his two terms with an unorthodox but extremely effective leadership style that had nothing to do with building his personal popularity but everything to do with bringing leadership, stability and victory back to the party.  One could easily make an argument that he sacrificed much of his personal popularity for the good of the party. 

During his Chairmanship, Oxley earned his living as a municipal attorney.  He wasn’t greedy.  He didn’t abuse his political power for personal gain.  The level of work he took on was modest.  He and his new law partners lead the way in reducing legal fees on the county and municipal levels.

As Oxley moves on to the next phase of his professional life he still faces risks resulting from his 2007 decision to give up an office, Sheriff, that was securely his for as long as he wanted it, in order to provide a greater service to the county that he loves.   The obviously politically timed release of Solomon Dwek’s 2006 allegations against Oxley, allegations that had been released two years ago, albeit with less detail, will make Oxley’s confirmation as a Superior Court Judge more difficult.

As the Monmouth County Republican Party concludes a heated campaign to choose Oxley’s successor tonight, we should first lay down our arms, as we did in asking him for leadership in 2008, and thank him profoundly for a job well done.

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Little Files FEC Reports For Senate Campaign

Still No Reports For Her House Race

Friends of Anna Little filed an undated quarterly report for the period covering January 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 which disclosed contributions and expenditures for Little’s campaign for U.S. Senate.   The report was marked received by the Secretary of the Senate on June 5, 2012, coincidently the same day that Little won the GOP primary for the House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 6th district.   The report can be found here.

According to the report, Little raised $161,151.95 and spent $147,371.46 during the 15 month quarter while running for U.S. Senate.  The time bending campaign had $13,834.49 cash on hand on March 31.

Little has no records on file with the FEC for her campaign to unseat Congressman Frank Pallone.  Her previous campaign committee, Anna C. Little for Congress Inc, filed a termination report with the FEC on April 2, 2012, 9 days after she received the Middlesex County GOP’s endorsement for the 6th district nomination.

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Dwek smeared Oxley, Kyrillos and Handlin

Swarmy swindler Solomon Dwek  told federal investigators in 2006 that Joe Oxley, Joe Kyrillos and Amy Handlin were in his pocket, according to a Star Ledger report posted on NJ.com Monday night.

Dwek’s claims became public in an FBI report prepared in August of 2006 that was recently released after former Hudson County Assemblyman Louis Manzo unsuccessfully sued the U. S Attorney’s office to recover $100,000 in legal fees that resulted from his July 2009 Operation Bid Rig arrest.   Manzo had been indicted twice in the Bid Rig III scandal but all charges against him were eventually dismissed, according to Bob Ingle and Michael Symons writing in their just released biography of Chris Christie.

Dwek alleged that Oxley, while Monmouth County Sheriff, tipped him off about upcoming foreclosures two weeks before the information became public, thereby giving Dwek an advantage in purchasing the properties before the foreclosure auctions.  The FBI’s subsequent investigation of Oxley found no wrong doing.

Oxley is the Monmouth County GOP Chairman until Tuesday evening.  He has been nominated by Governor Chris Christie to be a Superior Court Judge.    Christie was U.S. Attorney during the investigation of Oxley.

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