Scudiery Aggressively Out To See Pallone Defeated

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is

Victor V. Scudiery, the Monmouth County businessman and former 23 year Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats, is backing up his endorsement of Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the August 13 Special U.S. Senate Primary with an aggressive negative endorsement of Congressman Frank Pallone.

Scudiery is launching a personally financed campaign this morning designed to weaken Pallone’s support in his 6th Congressional district home base of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. Scudiery’s efforts are independent of and without the prior knowledge of the Booker for Senate campaign.

The $45,000 campaign includes a mailing to 75,000 likely Democratic primary voters, print ads in local weekly newspapers and a web based ad campaign on local websites.

“I might even spend more by the time the 13th (the August 13th primary) comes around,” Scudiery said this morning.

“He’s all about himself, not for the people,” Scudiery said of the congressman whose tenure coincided with his own marathon as party chairman, “When I brought him to events, non-political events, like for senior citizens, Italian-Americans or small businesses, people would always say, ‘Frank, you never got back to me, I need your help,’ He’s been an embarrassment.  He rarely followed through. When he did follow through, it was usually with excuses, not results.”

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Pallone’s Family Values

By Art Gallagher

Frank Pallone has been my congressman for almost twenty years.   Through ten election cycles, I don’t recall Pallone ever promoting himself as a family man.  I didn’t even know he was married (to a woman) until 2010 when, during Anna Little’s first campaign against him, triCityNews columnist Ernesto Cullari revealed that Pallone’s wife, Sarah had secured a six figure job in the Environmental Protection Agency.

So I was surprised to find the above Pallone family portrait on Frank’s Senate campaign website and facebook page.  In his video ad, Typical Jersey Story, Frank looks into the camera and says, “Sarah and I have three teenagers, which means that things are a little crazy at home, most of the time.”  Frank’s facebook introduction starts,”Husband, Father, Democrat, Public Servant.  Frank Pallone, Jr. has been fighting for the people of this state for over 2 decades.”

After wondering why Pallone’s eldest daughter isn’t squinting, the next question to occur to me upon seeing the portrait was, “Why after almost three decades of keeping his family life private, is Pallone trotting his family out on the campaign trail?”

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Q Poll: Booker winning primary and election. Lonegan has large lead in GOP primary

The good news for Congressman Frank Pallone is that he is no longer running last in the independent polls for the Democratic nomination to replace the late Senator Frank Lautenberg in Washington.  The bad news; he’s losing to Newark Mayor Cory Booker by 42 points in the Quinnipiac Poll released this morning.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1068 registered New Jersey voters from July 2-7.   The did not survey likely voters.

Booker leads the Democratic field with 52%.  Pallone has 10%, Congressman Rush Holt 8%, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has 3%.

In the Republican primary, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan leads Dr. Alieta Eck 62%-5% is 28% undecided.

Dr. Eck is virtually unknown, with 91% saying they haven’t heard enough about her to form an opinion.

In the October 16 special election, Booker is leading Lonegan 53%-30%.

Pallone beat Lonegan 38%-34%. Holt beats Lonegan 37%-36%.  Lonegan beats Oliver 37%-35%.

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Lautenberg’s Family Endorses Pallone

APP.com photo

The family of the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg has endorsed Congressman Frank Pallone to fill their loved one’s seat in Washington.

In a statement released by Pallone’s campaign, the family said, in part:

We are saying: Stick with Frank.

Frank Pallone, like Frank Lautenberg, has always looked out for working families in New Jersey and made them his top priority – in fighting for economic justice, healthcare reform, environmental protection, education and so many other issues.  Frank Pallone, like our Frank, will put in the hours and hard work necessary to fight for New Jersey in the Senate.  And Frank Pallone knows that gimmicks and celebrity status won’t get you very far in the real battles that Democrats face in the future.

Frank Pallone worked with Frank Lautenberg for many years.  He understands what it takes to take on and defeat Republicans and the special interests that attack the well being of working families.  While it may not always attract glamorous headlines, Frank knows that to be effective you must put New Jersey and your principles first, not your own glory.

In a veiled swipe at Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the front runner in the August 13 primary according to independent polls, the family also said:

When New Jersey Democrats examine the Senate candidates closely, they may be surprised to find out that not all of them share core Democratic values or loyalty to the party.  And one candidate stands out as the best hope of continuing the progressive legacy of Senator Frank Lautenberg – Congressman Frank Pallone.”

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Both GOP Candidates Favor Marriage Equality

The two candidates competing for the Republican nomination to complete the late U. S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s term favor same sex marriage being legal.

Reacting to the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said,

“Today’s decision is the unfortunate result of an activist, liberal court that has little respect for the Constitution and our nation’s founding principles. While I believe government should not be in the business of marriage, it is not the Supreme Court’s responsibility to make that decision. Laws should be made by legislatures, not by unelected judges. To do so is a usurpation of our democratic tradition at the heart of this country’s founding.”

I wonder if Lonegan would have called the decision “unfortunate” if the Court ruled that the government should not be in the business of marriage.

UPDATE  A few readers have mentioned that Lonegan’s statement does not make it clear that he favors marriage equality.  Here it is: While I believe government should not be in the business of marriage ….

If government doesn’t regulate marriage and who can get married, than same sex couples can be married.

Dr. Alieta Eck said,

“While I personally believe that traditional marriage is an important institution to defend, the Supreme Court was correct in rejecting a federal attempt to define it. Marriage is a religious institution. There was a time when the general consensus agreed with organized religion, but those times have passed. We must never abandon the Constitution in guarding equal protection and free association under the law.”

The four candidates competing for the Democratic Senate nomination, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Rush Holt and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver also support marriage equality.

The Democratic and Republican nominations for Senate will be decided in special primaries to be held on August 13.  The new senator will be elected in a special election to be held on October 16.

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The NJ Supreme Court Declines To Hear Special Election Challenge

The Special Senate Primaries will go forward on August 13 and New Jersey will elect a new U.S. Senator in a Special Election on October 16.

The New Jersey Supreme Court effectively upheld the Appellate Division’s ruling that Governor Christie acted legally in calling for the Special Election yesterday when they declined to hear an appeal of the lower Court’s ruling.

The Special Election had been challenged by Marie Corfield, Joe Grillo and  Joseph Danielson.   Somerset County Democratic Chairwoman Peg Schaffer was their attorney.

Corfield is a Democratic Assembly candidate from the 16th district (Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mercer and Somerset counties).  She lost a special Assembly election to Republican Donna Simon last November. Corfield first came into the public eye when the YouTube video of her exchange with Christie at a 2010 Town Hall meeting went viral.

Grillo is the Executive Director of the Monmouth County Democratic Organization.  Danielson is the Chairman of the Franklin Township (Somerset County) Democratic Committee.

The Appellate Division’s ruling can be found here.

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What the Eck!

By Art Gallagher

Dr. Alieta Eck

Now that she survived Steve Lonegan’s challenge to her petitions, it worth getting to know the political novice who was able to get 2,285 nominating signatures in three days, Dr. Alieta Eck.  That was a task that was too much for many seasoned politicians.

From the looks of how the Special Election Senate race is shaping up, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is going to win in a landslide anyway.  Booker has a huge lead over Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt in the independent polls for the Democratic nomination.  Lonegan is within striking distance of Pallone, Holt and Oliver in the Monmouth University Poll released last Friday, but loses to Booker by 16 points.

The only hope for a Republican to win the Senate seat in October is for someone other than Booker to be the Democratic nominee or for Booker to be badly wounded, politically, in a bloody Democratic primary.  That doesn’t look like it is going to happen.

So far, Pallone and Holt are playing nice.  Pallone is sending out emails asking people to recruit their friends to ‘Like’ his facebook page and volunteer for his campaign.  Holt is posting on facebook asking non-Democrats to change parties in order to vote for him in the primary. If Oliver is doing anything, we haven’t noticed.

No one is mentioning all the shootings in Newark this week, that, if they were happening in Marlboro or Newtown, CT would be making national news.  No one is asking Booker for his travel schedule or where he spends his weekends.   Pallone tried to make an issue of Booker’s relationship with Governor Chris Christie, but Democrats seem to like Christie more than they like Pallone.  No one is making an issue of Booker’s relationship with Wall Street, because Wall Street is investing a ton of money in Newark.

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Lonegan Challenging Eck’s Petitions

Steve Lonegan

Steve Lonegan, the GOP front runner in the August 13 Special U.S. Senate Primary has filed a challenge to the candidacy of his only opponent, Dr. Alieta Eck based allegedly invalid signatures.

Calling Eck a “prospective candidate,” the Lonegan campaign alleged that Eck herself claimed to witness signatures that she did not in fact witness.

Lonegan’s attorney, F. Michael Daily, said in the challenge that “numerous books contain signatures purportedly witnessed by Alieta Eck and investigation has disclosed that contrary to her affirmations she did not witness such signatures.”

Daily, who has been retained by the Lonegan for Senate campaign, also alleged in the objections that other witnesses, some of whom also claimed to have gathered hundreds of signatures, are similarly invalid.

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Monmouth County Prosecutor Actively Investigating 4am Robocall

Despite waking up thousands of Monmouth County voters at 4am on primary day, the Bayshore Tea Party Group and the Bellew Brigade have apparently not lost any sleep over their crushing defeat last week.  The architects of the 20%-80% defeat in the Monmouth County and LD 13 GOP primaries have endorsed Dr. Alieta Eck in the Special U.S. Senate Primay and are angling to run that campaign.

Congratulations Steve Lonegan!

Neither BTPG nor Leigh-Ann Bellew’s campaign have admitted to commissioning the 4am robocall on June 4 that announced it was being made on behalf of Senator Joe Kyrillos , Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon and faked the caller ID to a number belonging to the Monmouth County Republican Organization.  They are exercising their right to remain silent to the extent that they have yet to congratulate their opponents.

MMM first reported the call (click here to listen) and that it appears to have been recorded by the same person who recorded Bellew’s voice mail greeting. (Click here to listen to Bellew’s voice mail greeting.)

Kyrillos and O’Scanlon publicly accused the Bellew campaign of making the call. Monmouth County GOP Chairman John Bennett lodged a complaint with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Bennett said yesterday that he will not let up on pursuing prosecution of the dirty trick.

Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez complained about this website on facebook, saying she was going to report its owner to the FBI because he finds out, and acts on, what she is writing about on the social media site without the help of the NSA or the Obama Administration.

Charles Webster, spokesperson for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, confirmed that there is an active investigation into the 4am robocall.

Webster was not at liberty to discuss the investigation, so MMM’s investigative team got to work to find more evidence of the call’s origin.

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Bayshore Tea Party Blames Steve Lonegan For Primary Loss. Won’t Support Him For U.S. Senate

Steven Lonegan and Bayshore Tea Party Group Founders Barbara Gonzalez and Bob Gordan, 2010. facebook photo.

Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez blames her candidates’ landslide defeat in the GOP primary on Steve Lonegan.

In a post on faceback early Wednesday morning Gonzalez said that Lonegan, the former Bogota Mayor, former gubernatorial candidate and former Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity-NJ, promised financial support to Leigh-Ann Bellew and her team, only to renege.

“Steve Lonegan turned his back on Bayshore’s candidates after promising to help. He left us in the lurch and reneged….think about that before you get his petitions signed. Another blowhard. We would have won if we had the money/donations that he promised would come. We went on and did it ourselves and got 20% with NO money.! He can forget about our support!”

Wednesday afternoon Gonzalez wrote,

“Lonegan could have had some hard ass worker bees if he didn’t screw
Bayshore TPG. Oh well.”

Lonegan is so far the only Republican candidate of note to announce an intention to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the Special Primary on August 13.

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