Anna Little’s Response

As part of a fundraising email sent this evening, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little issued the following statement in response to today’s news about the lawsuit that accuses her of failing to perform the work she was hired to do and advising her client to pay undocumented workers in cash:

“Every citizen has the right to seek legal redress if they believe they have been wronged.  The other party also has the right to defend themselves, and be judged by a judge or a jury of their peers.  The pending legal action is an allegation.  There is no final money judgement (sic) in the matter.  It has just come to my attention that Default has been entered, a technicality which occurs when one party doesn’t answer on time.  I have filed an Answer and have sought legal counsel to defend me.  I intend to seek to vacate default, defend myself, and make motion for the complaint to be dismissed as we deem appropriate after thorough review of the matter.”

The subject/title of the email was,”What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…”

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Just A Little White Oversight

Anna’s Little campaign has finally addressed the missing FEC paperwork.

Politickernj reports that a campaign volunteer told them that the paperwork had been filed nine months ago and that a paperwork backlog at the FEC was to blame.  A spokesperson for the FEC denied there was a backlog and said that everything filed by Little had been processed by the agency.

Finally, Rob Little, the former mayor’s husband, admitted to Politickernj that the required paperwork for her congressional campaign has not been filed.

A spokesperson for the campaign said the failure to file the required paperwork was an oversight that would be corrected immediately and Rob Little said it would be filed before Tuesday’s primary, according to Politickernj.

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Sam Thompson on Anna Little’s FEC Reports: “I have no idea”

Middlesex County GOP Chairman, Senator Sam Thompson, is as puzzled as the rest of us as to why Anna Little has not registered with the Federal Election Commission as a candidate for congress.

Little has the Middlesex GOP endorsement in her primary battle with Ernesto Cullari, the Monmouth County GOP endorsed candidate for the nomination for the 6th congressional district seat in the House of Representatives.

Asked why Little would have terminated her congressional campaign account, “Anna C. Little for Congress Inc.,” with the FEC, which she did on April 2, while maintaining her U.S. Senatorial candidate status through her “Friends of Anna Little” account, Thompson said, “I have no idea.”

Asked why her “Termination Report” would indicate $71 thousand more in receipts than expenditures yet show a zero balance, Thompson said, “I have a hard enough time keeping my own campaign finance reports straight.”

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Cullari Challenges Little to First Debate of Primary Season with No Response

Press release

Asbury Park, NJ – On Friday, May 25th and again on Saturday, May 26th, Ernesto Cullari, Republican Candidate for Congress, personally invited former Freeholder and Mayor Anna C. Little to a debate scheduled for May 31st at 7pm. This marks the first time that either campaign has directly contacted the other to seek approval on terms and format. The debate, as proposed by Cullari, will be held at a prominent local university with a moderator, who is a well respected journalist. Members of the press are encouraged to attend.

The invitation to the Little Team clearly lays out the format of the event being proposed. This is in stark contrast to an event, which was to be hosted last week by Democratic Tea Party Leader and Little endorsee, Mark Falzon. Cullari agreed to attend Falzon’s Candidates Forum more than eight weeks prior to the event. Only through third party sources as the event neared, did the Cullari Campaign learn that the format had been changed to a debate without any communication or agreement from Cullari or his surrogates.

Every aspect of the debate proposed by Cullari is to ensure that each candidate has an equal opportunity to be heard by the voters and that no one candidate has an unfair advantage over the other. If any facet of the venue, format, or the stipulations surrounding the debate changes, the Cullari Campaign pledges to notify all involved parties to discuss the proposed changes immediately.

The Little Team has not responded to Cullari’s debate request.

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Little still not registered as a candidate for Congress

“Terminated” campaign committee report has a $71K discrepancy.  Where did that money go?

The primary is one week from today and former Highlands Mayor Anna Little, the Middlesex County GOP candidate for the 6th district GOP congressional nomination, has yet to file as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission.

MMM first reported that Little’s FEC paperwork was not in order on May 7th.  Jane Frotton, her former treasurer said she never had anything to do with the FEC reports. Brett Rappaport, the treasurer listed on Little’s web site, has not responded to a request for comment.

Little’s Anna C. Little for Congress Inc. campaign committee was opened for her 2010 race and continued to be active in the 2011-2012 election cycle.  A “Termination Report” was filed with Frotton’s electronic signature on April 2, 2012.  No other reports, statements of candidacy or statements of organization have been filed by or for Little, despite the fact that she is on the primary ballot and received the Middlesex County GOP endorsement on March 24, 2012.

The Termination Report indicates total contributions from 2010-2012 of $485,364.57 and expenditures of $414,295.70.  Despite that $71,068.87 surplus, the report indicates a zero balance in the Little account.  Frotton could not explain the difference and Rappaport has not responded.

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Cullari Issues A Debate Challenge to Little

Ernesto Cullari, the Monmouth County GOP candidate for the 6th Congressional District of New Jersey has issued a debate challenge to former Highlands Mayor Anna Little, the Middlesex County GOP candidate for the nomination.

The Cullari campaign has arranged for a prominent academic venue within the district to host the debate and a prominent member of the New Jersey news media to moderate the debate, subject to Little’s acceptance of the challenge.

If Little accepts, the debate will be on Thursday, May 31, 7 PM, and open only to the press.  It will be live streamed on the Internet and recorded for later viewing online.

Cullari issued the challenge via email yesterday, May 25.  Little has yet to respond.

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Little: Highlands Voters Unsophisticated

Fresh off her 2010 defeat at the hands of Congressman Frank Pallone, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little blamed the fact that she lost in her hometown by 55* votes on the lack of sophistication of her constituents and colleagues on the borough’s governing body.

Little told Politickernj her Highlands loss “was likely to involve some borough employees” who would could be effected by a layoff plan she had agreed to support.  One month after the election, lame duck Little killed the layoff plan by voting with the Democrats on the governing body over the objections of her fellow Republicans.

“The council is not politically savvy,” Little said, “They were running too.”

“I think there’s some feeling that I left them behind, too,” she said. “I’m their mayor, and I’m off doing something else. (But they don’t understand), everything I do outside of Highlands will relate back to Highlands.”

Little was the only Republican on the ballot in Highlands who lost in 2010.  Republican Frank Nolan was elected Mayor to replace Little.  Shaun Golden was elected Sheriff.  Rob Clifton and Tom Arnone were elected Freeholder.  We’d give you their numbers in Highlands, but the County Clerk’s Office hasn’t gotten around to posting the official election results of 2010 and 2011 on their website.

* News reports at the time indicated that Little lost Highlands by 76 votes.  When mail in and provisional ballots were counted the loss was by 55 votes.

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Little Still Not Registered With FEC As A Congressional Candidate

It’s been over two weeks since MMM reported that Anna Little has not filed as a candidate for Congress with the Federal Election Commission.  She still hasn’t.  As far as the Federal Election Commission knows, Little is a candidate for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary.

Little, who is making her second run for congress, terminated her campaign committee, Anna C. Little for Congress, Inc, on April 2, nine days after she received the endorsement for the 6th congressional district nomination from the Middlesex County GOP.  The termination report was approved by the FEC on April 12.  She filed the Friends of Anna Little campaign committee as a candidate for U.S. Senate on February 13.

Newcomer Ernesto Cullari, the Monmouth County GOP choice for congress and Little’s opponent in the June 5th primary, appears to be in compliance with his reporting to the FEC.  Cullari filed a Statement of Organization on March 26 and his pre-primary report on May 21.

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Bait and Switch: “Meet and Greet” turns into “Debate”

Asbury Park, NJ – When Jersey Shore Tea Party president, Mark Falzon, invited conservative Republican congressional candidate Ernesto Cullari to speak to his organization on Wednesday, May 23, Falzon said the event would be a “meeting with his members”.   

Now Anna Little, Cullari’s opponent in the June 5th primary, and the Bayshore Tea Party Group, which is supporting Little, have created a Facebook invite that hypes the event a little differently:  “Debate!  Anna Little vs. Ernesto Cullari!”  

“I’m happy to go anywhere to meet people, but this is the wrong venue for a debate,” said Cullari, who is seeking the nomination in New Jersey’s 6th congressional district, now held by liberal Democrat Frank Pallone.  “Mark Falzon is one of Bayshore founder Barbara Gonzalez’ closest allies.  I look forward to a debate, but on neutral territory.”

“We have a lot of questions we want to put to Anna Little,” said Cullari manager Kelly Hart, “Like why Little is running on the Bayshore ticket with Bader Qarmout.”  Little, an immigration attorney, is on the Bayshore Tea Party Group “ticket” with U.S. Senate candidate Bader Qarmout.  Qarmout is the author of a controversial amnesty plan for illegal immigrants.  For a nominal fee of $19.25 a week, Qarmout’s plan would allow an illegal immigrant to remain in the United States, work here, open a bank account, and obtain a driver’s license.

“The Qarmout-Little team would let illegals stay in the United States for $2.75 a day – less than the price of a Big Mac,” said Hart.  “It is the most liberal amnesty plan being pushed by a Republican candidate anywhere in America.”

Hart noted that conservative columnist and Ron Paul enthusiast Paul Mulshine published a column today that links to a story on this:  http://conservativenewjersey.com/tpath-joins-effeort-to-give-drivers-licenses-to-illegals

Hart said:  “Let’s have a debate, but let’s have one on the level, with a neutral moderator and a neutral venue.”

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Cullari: Little Blew It Against Pallone

Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini Endorse Cullari in CD-6 Primary

In an interview with Politickernj, the Monmouth County GOP nominee in the primary for the 6th Congressional District, Ernesto Cullari, said that Anna Little,  the 2010 GOP nominee in the 6th district and his primary opponent this year, was focused on herself and not the task at hand, defeating Congressman Frank Pallone, during the 2010 general election,

“What I saw was a candidate unwilling to go after (incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank) Pallone – like the fact that he got his wife a job at the EPA where she works while most people suffer an economic downturn,” Cullari said. “Frank Pallone and a slew of other leaders have been looking out for just themselves. I’ll make that case. I’m not ashamed to make it. 

“What I witnessed in Anna was someone deeply focused on herself instead of the task at hand – namely advancing the small government ideology,” he added. “She missed that opportunity.”

Cullari went on to define himself as the true Tea Party conservative in the primary,

Read the rest of this entry »

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