Counsel for the Gloucester County Republican organization issued a cease and desist letter to EffeeTV on Friday seeking the removal of an LD3 attack ad launched by Democrats Steve Sweeney, John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro.
“The Democrat trio of Steve Sweeney, John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro are running misleading ads against our third legislative district candidates Ed Durr for Senate and Bethanne McCarthy-Patrick and Beth Sawyer for Assembly,” said GCGOP Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante. “In the case of Beth Sawyer, the allegations are provably false.”
–
One of the two ads in the $61,000, two-week buy accuses Assembly hopeful Sawyer of a history of unpaid property taxes, unpaid medical bills, and having held a government paying job.
“The Advertisement’s claims are provably false. Ms. Sawyer has never had a government paying job, as your ad claims,” wrote attorney Russell DePersia. “The reference to unpaid medical bills is also false and misleading. The medical bill in question was the responsibility of her ex-husband pursuant to their divorce decree, even though Ms. Sawyer paid the bill in full in 1997. As to the claim of unpaid property taxes, Ms. Sawyer was no longer the owner of that property when the tax bill accrued. Again, these are all completely false allegations.”
“I completely understand the Democrats have to spend their millions of dollars to feed the South Jersey political machine’s consultants, but Sweeney, Burzichelli and Taliaferro should all know better than to intentionally deceive South Jersey voters,” the chairwoman added. “Last year we came within less than one percent of the vote in the commissioners race. The Democrats know we’re gaining ground and are running scared this year. Apparently, that fear has led to misleading campaign ads. We will not tolerate provably false attacks on any Gloucester County Republican candidate and will fight back any way we can with all the resources available to us.”
LD3 has been represented by an all-Democrat legislative slate since January 2002 and Democrat voters decisively outnumber Republicans; nevertheless, President Trump raised eyebrows when he carried the deep South Jersey district in 2016. Republicans last made a serious play for the district in 2013 when the NJEA threw millions into a quixotic attempt to dethrone Steve Sweeney.
–
