Still a Little Paperwork To Do

6th congressional district GOP nominee Anna Little has yet to file as a candidate for Congress with the Federal Election Commission, according to an FEC spokesperson who spoke to MMM this morning.

Little’s husband, Rob, told PolitickerNJ last week that all required reports would be filed with the FEC prior to the primary.

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Little Thanks Her Supporters, Endorses John Bennett For Monmouth GOP Chair

6th congressional district nominee Anna Little sent the following email to her supporters this afternoon, thanking them for her victory and encouraging them to support John Bennett for Monmouth GOP Chair:

Congratulations on your decisive victory in Congressional District 6! You sent a clear message to your Republican leadership that We The People are in charge, and WE will direct our government. Your hard work paid off. It is my honor to work side by side with you as we take back the people’s seat in Congressional District 6, replacing a liberal progressive incumbent with a true representative of the people this November.

Defeating Frank Pallone is serious business. We must present a unified front if we are to accomplish our goals. I urge each and every one of you to reach out to someone who did not vote in this Primary election, or who may have voted for someone else. Encourage them to work with us as We The People defeat our common enemy, Frank Pallone. Working together, grass roots organizations, Independent voters, Unaffiliated voters, Conservative Democrats, and Republicans will send a people’s representative to Washington from New Jersey. The General Election Campaign begins today.

Within the Republican Party in Monmouth County we have the opportunity to select a new Republican Chairman on June 12. It is urgent that all County Committee members in Monmouth County attend this Convention and select a chairman who will return Monmouth County’s Republican Organization to an open convention candidate selection process. Former State Senator, Former Governor John Bennett will lead the Monmouth County Republican Organization in this manner. When Monmouth County’s selection committee chose an unknown, unvetted candidate to face Frank Pallone in District 6, John Bennett courageously took a stand supporting Anna Little, the candidate chosen by the people of Monmouth County in both the 2010 Primary and General Elections. John Bennett’s leadership will unite Monmouth County Republicans, Independents, and Unaffiliated voters working with grass roots organizations to defeat Frank Pallone and Bob Menendez in November. We must ensure that John Bennett becomes the new Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

As I write this email we are assembling a list of Republican County Committee members in Monmouth County. Please consider visiting these folks door to door to remind them to attend the Convention on June 12 and to vote John Bennett for Chairman. In this way we can ensure Monmouth County Republican support for our campaigns against Frank Pallone and Bob Menendez this fall.

Thank you for all you do for your families, your county and your nation. You are an inspiration to me. God Bless you and God Bless America. Let’s go win an election!

 

Sincerely,

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Little Wins Big In CD-6

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little won the GOP nomination in the 6th congressional district and another chance to take on Congressman Frank Pallone in general election.

By a margin of 70%-30% percent Little defeated newcomer Ernesto Cullari.  Cullari had the Monmouth GOP endorsement yet 59% of Monmouth voters chose Little.   In Middlesex County, where Little had the organizational support, she earned 83% of the votes cast.

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Anna Little Wins GOP 6th District Nomination

MoreMonmouthMusings is projecting that former Highland Mayor Anna Little as the 6th congressional district primary winner.

With 76% of the districts reporting in the Monmouth County portion of the district, Little leads Ernesto Cullari 61% to 39%.

With 30% of the districts reporting in Middlesex County, Little has 85% of the vote to Cullari’s 14%.

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Little Leads In Monmouth County With A Wide Margin

With 76 % of the Monmouth County 6th congressional districts reporting, former Highlands Mayor Anna Little is leading Ernesto Cullari by a margin of  60.30 % to 39.47%.

Little has 2,869 votes to Cullari’s 1878.

Middlesex County has not reported any Republican results yet.

At this point, it is very very likely that Anna Little will be the 6th district Republican nominee.

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Little leading in Middlesex mail in count

MMM has learned that Anna Little is ahead of Ernesto Cullari in the Middlesex County mail-in votes by 124-32.

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Clean Up

A 2 man DOT crew picking up Cullari and Little signs on Route 36 in Belford this afternoon. The crew said they were not members of the Bayshore Tea Party Group

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Asbury Park Press Laments Lack Of Competitive Primaries Yet Fail To Do Their Part

Yesterday the Neptune Nudniks ran an editorial lamenting the lack of competition in the primaries.

This morning The Star Ledger reported that there are five candidates seeking the two major party nominations for U.S. Senate, 44 candidates for 13  congressional seats (they should have said 12 seats or 24 nominations) and 8 candidates for three special election primaries for State Assembly.

There are two GOP primary races in The Asbury Park Press’s coverage area.  The CD-6 race between Monmouth GOP candidate Ernesto Cullari and Middlesex GOP candidate Anna Little, and the CD-4 race between incumbent Congressman Chris Smith and Terrence McGowan of Howell.

A search for “Anna Little” reveals that the former Highlands mayor’s name has not appeared on the site since February. “Ernesto Cullari” produced no results in a search of the site.   On May 14 a letter to the editor in support of McGowan in CD-4 was published.  Nothing else.  Congressman Smith has made international headlines recently for his work to secure Chen Guangcheng’s release from China.  Yet the APP is interested only in what Smith is doing for Lakewood’s schools, an issue that Smith’s office has no authority over.  APP.com also reported that a 71 year old Manchester woman drove her car into the side of Smith’s Whiting office last November.

This is not to say that the press should cover every candidate that collects signatures to get on a primary ballot.  Earned media should indeed be earned and so-called “fringe” candidates should be challenged to earn their coverage.  MMM is aware that it could have made the CD-4 race more competitive than the rout it will be with Smith getting over 80% of the vote.  However, McGowan did nothing to earn coverage on MMM.  The first we heard from anybody in the McGowan campaign was last week when we were invited by a reader to a meet and greet a couple of hours before it started.

But there is no excuse for the APP’s lack of coverage of the CD-6 race where the competing candidates each earned the endorsement of a county Republican organization.  That is a story.

One could argue, and the Nudniks do as an excuse for their lack of coverage in their editorial, that the gerrymandered congressional districts make the CD-4 and CD-6 races uncompetitive and the end result of each election is a fait accompli. 

Where were they during the redistricting process?  They ran an editorial lamenting the gerrymandering after fact, but provided little coverage that would have increased public awareness before or during the process.

How do the Nudniks think that voters will get their information about the electorial process?  They are very supportive of pay to play restrictions that make it more difficult for candidates and parties to get their messages out, yet the APP does little to pick up the slack or provide coverage to to the electoral process.

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Gonzalez denies stealing signs. Threatens legal action

Bayshore Tea Party Group founder Barbara Gonzalez said “I have never done that and I never would” regarding the report on MMM on Saturday that a Cullari for Congress volunteer said she and BTPG activist Joe Abbruscato were spotted stealing Cullari’s signs in Middletown.

In an email to MMM Gonzalez said her attorney advised her to request a retraction and an apology or proof that she stole the signs.

On facebook Gonzalez threatened to sue Cullari’s Middlesex County coordinator Peter Carrol, campaign manager Charles Measley and “a certain blogger” unless proof of the allegations is produced by 9PM.

MMM contacted the campaign volunteer who says he witnessed the theft at about 7:40 PM on Friday.  He said he “definately saw Joey with the signs.  Barbara’s Jeep was pulled over so she was likely around.”

Rob Little, the former Highlands Mayor’s husband, called MMM shortly after our report was posted to say that Gonzalez was with him all night on Friday and that she could not have been involved in the theft.  MMM immediately updated the report with Little’s story.

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Patrick Murray predicts that Cullari will defeat Little

Monmouth University Polling Director Patrick Murray says on PolitickerNJ that Ernesto Cullari will defeat Anna Little in the CD-6 GOP primary based on Senator Joe Kyrillos coattails and “the bigger issue” that some of Little’s key supporters have fallen out with her since the 2010 race.

I wonder who Patrick is referring to.

CD6 GOP
2010 nominee Anna Little hopes lightning strikes twice and she knocks off the Monmouth County organization’s preferred candidate – this time, Ernesto Cullari.  But it just ain’t gonna happen.  It’s not because the party has gotten any better at GOTV.  Fewer than 14,000 Republicans voted in the last primary – and the only reason more will vote this year is that native son Joe Kyrillos is running for Senate.  The bigger issue is that some of Little’s key supporters have fallen out with her since the last race.  Winner:  Cullari

Murray predicts that 15% of partisan voters will come out on Tuesday statewide.   If the turnout is higher in Monmouth because of Kyrillos’ favorite son status, that should favor Cullari.  Little benefits from Kyrillos’s coattails in Middlesex where she appears under the senator on the ballot. 

Despite Murray’s swipe at the Monmouth GOP get out the vote effort, the real key to this race is will be the turnout in Middlesex.   If Sam Thompson’s team gets 5000 or more voters to the polls, Little should win.   In the 2010 race less than 3800 Middlesex Republicans voted.  However the Middlesex portion of the district is much larger now since redistricting.  If less than 5000 voters come out in Middlesex and 6000 come out in Monmouth, Cullari wins.   If 10,000 come out in Monmouth because of Kyrillos, Cullari wins handily.

MMM’s prediction:  In a repeat of 2010, the race will go to a recount. 

Unlike 2010 the race, the recount won’t be resolved before the Monmouth GOP convention.  Little will get up at the convention and endorse John Bennett for Chair as a payback for headlining her $10 per head spaghetti dinner fundraiser in Keansburg.  Cullari will get up and endorse Christine Hanlon because she’s Christine Hanlon.

Little will be forced to concede on June 15 in order to pay her fines from the FEC.  She won’t have enough money to pay her recount team and the fines.  John Bennett, fresh off his defeat in the Chair’s race, will be in Florida and unable to host a spaghetti dinner to pay Little’s fines and pay the recount team.

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