Eck says Lonegan is not a viable candidate. Says the former Bogota mayor and his team are “angry white men”
During last night’s Democratic U.S. Senate debate, a racially insensitive tweet was sent out from former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan’s campaign account, @Lonegan.
Politico captured an image of the tweet which depicted Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s foreign policy prep notes as a map of Newark with Guaya, West Africa, Portugal and Brazil noted as parts of the city and the Middle East as Afghanistan, Pakistan PLUS Bangladesh and Trinidad.
The tweet was quickly deleted and Lonegan spokesman Rich Shaftan told Politico that Lonegan did not find it funny or reflective of how he thinks.
Shaftan told The Star Ledger that the staffer responsible had been discipline but probably would not be fired.
“It’s not Lonegan’s tweet. It’s not from his personal account,” Shaftan said. “Sometimes things happen in political campaigns. People put things out that are not reflective of what the candidate thinks.”
Shaftan declined to say who was responsible for the twet and said the individual had been disciplined but would likely not be fired.
“Everyone does stupid things,” Shaftan said. ” Steve’s not a believer in throwing people over because they make mistakes.”
Lonegan press contact Jon Meadows referred MMM to Shaftan. Shaftan did not respond to a message via facebook and said he would call back when reached on the phone.
Lonegan’s opponent in the August 13th Republican primary, Dr. Alieta Eck said the gaffe is indicative of Lonegan’s world view. Eck said the Lonegan and his campaign staff are “angry white men.”
In a statement released by Eck Campaign Manager, Thomas Roberts, the campaign said that Lonegan’s candidacy is “unviable”
“Steve Lonegan just continues to demonstrate how uncomfortable he is addressing people other than his own acolytes,” said Eck campaign manager Thomas Roberts. “From his English language debacle in Bogota, to his refusal this week to meet with the NAACP in Newark, and finally last night’s horrifyingly racist tweet, how on earth is he supposed to ‘represent’ a state as culturally rich and diverse as New Jersey in the Senate? He is completely unviable as a candidate, and I think he owes a lot of people an apology.”
Eck told MMM that Lonegan did not reply to the Newark NAACP’s invitation to a debate earlier this week.
Booker’s campaign spokesperson said, according to the Ledger,
“The Lonegan campaign’s tweet is inappropriate, offensive and fundamentally out of step with New Jersey values. It’s also not surprising,” Booker campaign manager Addisu Demissie said. “This is the same misguided person who was offended by an advertisement simply because it was in Spanish. We need leaders who will lift up our communities, not tear them down — leaders like Cory Booker.”
Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery and Newark Mayor Cory Booker
Newark Mayor Cory Booker will be New Jersey’s next U.S. Senator if the results of the Quinnipiac poll of likely voters released this morning hold true through October 16.
Booker is leading Congressman Frank Pallone by 54%-17% in the August 13 Democratic primary with Congressman Rush Holt garnering support from 15% of the respondents and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver with 5%. 65% of Democratic voters say their choice is firm. 8% are undecided.
In the Republican primary, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan leads Dr. Alieta Eck 74%-10%.
In the October 16 special election, Booker is leading Lonegan 54%-29% among registered voters.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the runaway front runner for the Democratic nomination to replace the late U.S. Senator Frank Launtenberg, opened a campaign office in Victor Scudiery’sAirport Plaza in Hazlet today.
Booker has a commanding lead against 49% to 12% lead over Congressman Frank Pallone in the Monmouth University Poll of likely voters released earlier this week. Congressman Rush Holt gets 8% in the Monmouth Poll and Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver has support of 3% of the likely voters. 28% are undecided. Pollster Patrick Murray classified Booker’s lead as “impregnable.”
If Booker prevails in the August 13 primary, he will face off against the winner of the Republican primary on the same day in a special election to be held on October 16. Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan is the heavy favorite to win the Republican primary over political novice, Dr. Alieta Eck of Piscataway.
Booker’s Hazlet office is having a grand opening celebration this evening from 6-9. The office will be open and staffed from 9-9 daily through the 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%.
Are you a Republican not satisfied with Steve Lonegan or Dr. Alieta Eck as your only choices in the special primary for U.S. Senate?
Maybe you’re a Democrat who has never tweeted with Cory Booker, don’t like the big government approach that Frank Pallone and Rush Holt espouse and can’t figure out why Sheila Oliver is running.
Maybe your devastated that Joe Ruddy Rullo decided not to run as an Independent after all, so far, as of now.
Plumsted Township Committee Jack Trotta has a solution for you. Write him in on August 13 in whichever primary you vote in.
Trotta, a Republican, is running with the support of Assemblyman Ron Dancer and Plumsted Mayor David Leutwyler, according to Tri-Town News.
Trotta’s platform? He’s middle-class and thinks there should be a middle-class vote in the Senate.
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.
Congressman Frank Pallone has the weakest support of the four candidates vying the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, according to a Kean University poll released yesterday, three weeks into the ten week campaign for the nod.
Of the 366 likely Democratic voters Kean surveyed, only 6% say they will vote for Pallone of August 13. 49% say they favor Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Congressman Rush Holt and State Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver each are supported by 9%. 5% favor an other candidate and 22% are unsure.
In a June 10 Quinnipiac poll that did not include Oliver, Pallone came in last with 9% to Booker’s 53% and Holt’s 10%.
Pallone had $3.7 million in campaign cash as of his March filing with the Federal Election Commission. Booker had $1.6 million and Holt had $797 thousand.
Steve Lonegan is leading Dr. Alieta Eck, 45%-15% among the 321 Republican voters Kean surveyed.
Governor Christie’s approval rating is 70% and wins reelection over State Senator Barbara Buono by 30 points, according to the Kean poll.
Dr. Alieta Eck is not likely to be a U.S. Senator come October 17. She’s yet to choose a campaign manager for her primary race against Steve Lonegan in the August 13 special primary. She does not have a fundraising base nor the personal wealth to pay for a statewide campaign.
Lots of New Jerseyans lost personal wealth when Jon Corzine was governor. Eck told me she lost $200,000 to Corzine in the MF Global debacle. Fortunately she got $180,000 back, but that won’t fund a statewide primary or general election.
Based upon my interview with her, I don’t think she is quite ready to debate Lonegan, or the eventual Democratic nominee, most likely Cory Booker, on any issue other the healthcare, yet. But that could change. Eck is smart.
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.
Congressman Frank Pallone has the weakest support of the four candidates vying the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, according to a 