The GOP primary in the 6th district just keeps getting uglier. The race is between Ernesto Cullari, a newcomer in New Jersey politics, and Anna Little, a name we have all come to know very well in the last few years.
Little won a shock victory in 2010 over Diane Gooch in the same district. Known as a “Tea Party darling,” Little lost to longtime Congressman Frank Pallone by 11 percent.
Last week, the Cullari camp began to attack Little for property tax hikes and fee increases that took place during her tenure as Highlands Mayor before her congressional run. A statement also appeared in a PolitickerNJ post blasting Little’s conservative credentials:
It’s very hard for me to understand how one can call oneself a conservative when they have a history of raising fees and taxes. You can’t expect to raise government productivity when the weight of government is around your neck. We’ve reached a point where it’s just obvious.”
Little, from what I can tell, has given little in the way of response. However, some of her supporters (I have blocked out the names and contact information to preserve their privacy) in her home county of Monmouth, where Cullari has the party line, aren’t staying so quiet.
I recently received a copy of what appears to be one of the worst pieces of campaign literature I have ever seen (click to enlarge). Not worst in a tasteless sense (that is a hard mark to hit), but just worst in terms of effectiveness. It is a full page of black text of varying size and typeface. The most positive thing that I can say about the letter is that it is difficult to read at any fluid pace. And while, as I said, it is not the most tasteless political literature I have ever seen, it certainly makes an attempt.
The piece claims that Cullari cannot know anything about our county, its history, or its needs because he was “born in the Philippines.”
First, I would love the author of this piece to enlighten me on why someone born in another country who has come to the United States and made a successful life for himself here could not know about history of the 6th district or the challenges we face in government at this time.
Second, and perhaps the most important, Cullari was born in New Jersey and lives in Asbury Park. So the statement is not even true! In an attempt to appeal to the worst in people, the author couldn’t even be bothered to fact check.
In the interest of accuracy, I called the Cullari campaign to get their side of the story, and they put Ernesto on the phone immediately. Cullari explained that he was born in New Jersey and grew up in Ocean County. In 2001 he moved to Asbury Park and has lived there ever since. So the claim that Cullari is not a natural born citizen (which by the way is not a requirement for run for Congress anyway) is patently false.
Finally, and this was the only thing in the letter that really raised a red flag to me, it is alleged that Cullari is registered to vote outside the 6th district. This would be something the Little campaign could really strike at, and something the Cullari campaign would have to explain. Luckily I had Ernesto on the phone to do just that.
According to Cullari, it was a tradition in his family to vote together. As the “Kuya” of his family, which I have been informed means “elder,” it was Cullari’s responsibility to get all of his younger siblings and older family members out to the polls on election day. Although Cullari has lived in Asbury Park for the last decade, he maintained dual residency back home to maintain this tradition. Then he was asked to run for Congress:
I had to do the right thing when [the GOP] asked me to represented the place I have lived for ten years. I did not ask to run for Congress, people of the district came to me. It is an honor to do it and I am passionately taking up the fight.”
So after he was tapped to run for the GOP nomination in the 6th, Cullari dropped his dual residency in Ocean County and registered to vote at his Asbury Park address. So in a way, the letter is correct that Cullari has never voted in the 6th district. However, seeing as he was not personally seeking to run for Congress until he was asked to do so, he would have had no reason to either.
I should stress that nothing in this letter suggests that Little endorses its contents or the people who drafted it, which is a good thing for the party. In fact, I have not received any information showing that they even know it exists.
As we get closer to the June 5th primary, I hope these two camps continue to take the high road and avoid these types of attacks. This primary should be about who is the best conservative to take out Frank Pallone in 2012 and nothing else.
Anna Little, The ONLY Birther Endorsed Candidate in the 6th District
Brian McGovern: I’m happy to learn of your dedication to fighting for a ‘freer and more affordable’ New Jersey. Thank you for publishing the ‘tasteless and worst pieces of campaign literature you have ever seen’. The ‘piece’ was written as a Flyer, by me, to explicitly express my displeasure in the method and criteria used to select a Congressional District 6 Candidate for the Republican party Line in the Monmouth County June 5th Primary Election. You have elaborated with distortion and misinterpretation my intention as clearly written.
Second paragraph of the original document reads: “Those ‘few Republicans’ who voted selfishly and carelessly, selected an opponent born in the Philippines, lives in Asbury Park, knows nothing about you, me, our history, our needs, or our County.” For more gory and sensational reading, you’ve chosen to change ‘COUNTY’ to ‘COUNTRY’. Wording was changed in the original piece, immediately after my long-time friend, Art Gallagher, had the professionalism to call and question me about the birthplace. Therefore, the corrected paragraph reads: ‘Those few Republicans who voted selfishly and carelessly, selected an opponent who lives in Asbury Park, proudly boasts of his Philippine heritage, BUT knows nothing about you, me, our history, our needs, or our COUNTY..!’ This information culled from his speech before the Steering Committee – the ONE and ONLY time I have seen him or heard him speak!
Thank you also for your research on his Ocean County voting record as officially documented. That seems rather confusing as well.
You wrote, ‘In the interest of accuracy, I called the Cullari campaign to get their side of the story’. The fact that I received NO Call whatsoever from you shows a blatant lack of your ‘interest of accuracy’.
Brian, I would hope while wearing the ‘hat of Voorhees Township GOP Municipal Chairman’ (contributor biography), that credibility between you and Township Residents is respectfully earned and strengthened, while protecting their principles during the method and selection of candidates to represent them.
I also received this message from the future. The letter I just found on my doorstep is dated May 18, 3012. Is Edith Nowels a new John Connor sent from the future to warn us about the doom that Cullari will lead us into?