Senate candidate in the GOP LD1 primary, former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, issued the following press release in response to a South Jersey Times editorial today:

Editorial Board Says Murphy Ignored South Jersey Because Of “Spat.” Fiocchi Says South Jersey Was Ignored Due To A Lack Of Leadership.

Fiocchi: “Governor Murphy is going to continue to ignore South Jersey for as long as there is a lack of leadership.”

VINELAND – Republican candidate for state Senate in the first legislative district, former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, said that an editorial published this morning “is only partially correct.”

At issue is an editorial published in today’s South Jersey Times (“Slight to South Jersey in Murphy message was petty”). The opinion piece takes Murphy to task for ignoring South Jersey in his State of the State address.

“It’s extremely rare I find myself agreeing with anything written in the opinion section of the South Jersey Times, but this morning they were partially correct.” Sam Fiocchi said, “The editorial board was likely correct when they wrote, ‘It seems obvious that the governor’s choice to ignore South Jersey was intentional, probably the latest incarnation of an intra-party spat with Senate President Stephen Sweeney,’ but it’s not the whole story.”

Fiocchi continued, “While Sweeney is the likely reason the western portion of South Jersey was ignored by the governor, the eastern portion of South Jersey, specifically LD1, was ignored by the governor because there is a lack of leadership in our district.”

“A perfect example of the lack of leadership in LD1 is the state budget,” Fiocchi added. “We know at least $1.2 million was removed from the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs in the state budget. This is not a figment of anyone’s imagination, two radio stations, one in Atlantic City and one in Vineland interviewed Bob Garguilo of the Brigantine Elks Veterans Committee at length on the issue. It doesn’t matter how the legislators from LD1 voted on the budget, what matters is they didn’t fight to keep that money in the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs. Even worse, that’s half the money the governor has set aside to help illegal immigrants with legal defense and we’ve had nothing but silence on this issue from our legislators in the district.”

Fiocchi asked, “Where is the leadership on this?”

“The bottom line here is Governor Murphy is going to continue to ignore South Jersey for as long as there is a lack of leadership,” Fiocchi said. “I’ve served this district as an Assemblyman, I know what’s needed and I intend to go to the state Senate and provide the leadership necessary to meet those needs and ensure no governor ignores South Jersey.”

# # #