South Jersey Political Machine Is Putting The Partisan In Non-Partisan Haddonfield

I got a call Thursday last week from a friend in Haddonfield about a mailer they received that was paid for by Committee for Responsible Governance. I told the caller to email me a picture of the piece and I would write about it Monday.

My friend never sent me the picture of the piece probably because Politico’s Matt Friedman wrote a piece about dark money working its way into Collingswood’s non-partisan election tomorrow. He does an excellent job connecting the dots to show how the dark money group Committee for Responsible Governance is connected to South Jersey Democrat power broker George Norcross by way of a guy named Dennis Culnan.

It was a well-written piece and it makes sense that Machine Democrat and Progressive Democrat dark money would work its way into Collingswood. It is the town the progressives managed to win county committee in to take over the town’s committee.

What jumped out at me, and probably my friend, was the brief mention of Haddonfield in the piece. Haddonfield is another town with non-partisan elections taking place tomorrow in Camden County.

The residents of Haddonfield were proud of their non-partisan elections. The town has held non-partisan elections since 1913, two years after the Walsh Act was passed giving municipalities the power to establish non-partisan elections.

The town had a tradition of not using campaign signs. Folks in Haddonfield were proud of the unwritten no signs rule. The local Patch in 2013 released a video to show voters what color ribbon each candidate was using. The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2009 published a piece about the tradition of ribbons in lieu of signs.

Because of the pride in their non-partisan elections, dark money in Haddonfield is big news!

And, who is the dark money (connected to George Norcross) backing in Haddonfield? According to Politico, incumbent Commissioner Colleen Bezich:

“Culnan Sr.’s nonprofit has not disclosed how much it’s spent and where, but it’s currently active in at least one other town, nearby Haddonfield, where it recently issued a mailer in support of Commissioner Colleen Bezich.”

It is my understanding that Bezich has stated she is not part of the Camden County Democrat Machine. I am not sure I believe that considering she is an elected member of the Camden County Democratic Committee.

On top of that Bezich, by her own admission, is the person responsible for breaking the long-standing no campaign sign tradition in Haddonfield.

So, to all the folks in Haddonfield complaining about your municipal elections becoming partisan you might want to consider it was Colleen Bezich who decided it was time to end the unwritten no campaign sign rule. By campaigning for and getting elected to the Democratic County Committee she by definition is a politician and a part of South Jersey’s political machine – so much so she is being supported by “one of [George] Norcross's closest advisers and friends.”

You don’t have to take my word for it, here’s a screenshot from the Politico article:

Tomorrow is Election Day! It’s your choice Haddonfield, let South Jersey’s political machine be part of your government or throw the machine out.

It’s A Norcross Trifecta!

Congressman Donald Norcross

A year ahead of his next primary election and a year-and-a-half before his next general election matchup Democrat Congressman Donald Norcross is getting a $2,900 a head fundraiser.

That’s right! The undisputed political boss of South Jersey, “George E. Norcross, III and Philip A. Norcross cordially invite you to join them in honoring United States Representative Donald W. Norcross.”

I erased the 3-digit code next to the union logo to protect the innocent

For $2,900 bucks I would expect, at the very least, a good steak. I doubt attendees are going to get a steak, or any meal, because the event is being held outside, on the terrace at noon. So, $2,900 finger food. Must be some awesome hors d'oeuvres!

The event’s special guest is House Majority Leader Congressman Steny Hoyer. This is a guy who can raise some money!

Maybe, just maybe, Hoyer on his travel from Maryland to Tavistock will look out the car window and take notice of the area where the retaining wall at the I-295 Direct Connection project collapsed. And, considering Donald Norcross has been taking credit for getting this project going since his days in the state legislature, Hoyer might talk Norcross into kicking some of the money raised at the event back to the state to pay for the repairs.

source: https://www.donaldnorcrossforcongress.com/dn4c/

But since we all know there is no way any of the insane amount of money that gets raised May 24th at Tavistock will help pay to repair the collapsed wall maybe this event will motivate Republicans to donate to local candidates.

Folks, this is Jersey, Republicans are in the minority, which makes it tough to raise money. For us, these $2,900 a head fundraisers are few and far between. As such, we aren’t going to match the Democrats dollar-for-dollar, but we can raise enough to compete – at least enough to help our candidates get their messages out. Palm cards, mailers, signs, they all cost money!

Hopefully, the Norcross brothers raising $2,900 a person for the other Norcross a year and a half before his next general election is enough to motivate everyone to kick-in a little bit to our candidates.

PRESS RELEASE: Race-Baiting Norcross Super PAC Mailer Invades LD-1 Campaign

The Republican candidates in LD1, Mike Testa for state Senate and Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen for Assembly hit back at a mailer sent by a Democratic PAC. Their press release follows:

September 16, 2019, First Legislative District – Republicans slammed a negative attack mailer against GOP Assembly candidate and Ocean City Councilman Antwan McClellan today, alleging the shadowy Super PAC funded by allies of George Norcross darkened and distorted McClellan’s photo, placed it inside a yellow circle reminiscent of Aunt Jemima syrup branding and used racially-charged language in a desperate attempt to hang on to a district that is slipping away. 

The Republicans demanded Democrat incumbents Bob Andrzejczak, Bruce Land, Matt Milam, and Cape May County Democrat Chairman Brendan Sciarra to immediately disavow the mailing, and call on the Norcross-linked General Majority PAC to cease and desist from spending in support of their candidacies.

“The Democratic party claims to be the party of inclusion; however, the moment a person of color like me disagrees with their narrative, they launch an ad hominem attack, whip out their best ‘Aunt Jemima’ photograph and purposefully darken my complexion in order to suppress dissent,” said McClellan.  “This attack ad launched against me isn’t just tone deaf, it’s totally deaf to the economic struggles that faced all the people of South Jersey in the recent trying economic times. I am a Republican because we support job creation and real opportunity not just giveaway programs. I know about that struggle firsthand and promise to diligently represent South Jersey to increase economic opportunities.”

“The Cape May County GOP has worked hard to reach out to the African-American community and Antwan is without a doubt one of our brightest stars.  To see him subjected to these kinds of racist attacks is extremely distressing,” said Cape GOP Chairman Marcus Karavan. “Unfortunately, these are the kinds of attacks you would expect from District 1 Democrats, who, to my recollection, have never run a woman or a person of color for the state legislature.”

“People that buy into this race-baiting narrative being advanced by the Democrats are just asking for more of the same lackluster representation and cronyism,” said Erik Simonsen.  “I suggest that everyone, not just people of color, look closely into the thinking that spawned this attack ad and ask themselves if this is the representation they want.

“It’s no surprise that the very first mailer sent out by the Democrats was a negative attack. They can’t defend their party’s radical liberal agenda and the insane policies of Phil Murphy, so they turn to personal smears,” said Senate candidate Mike Testa, Jr. “But to see Antwan depicted in this way is beyond offensive. We are not going to sit by and let the Democrats hide from this one. The days of Bob Andrzejczak and running mates dutifully staying silent, while George Norcross’ shady PAC – funded by companies who got suspect tax breaks – does their dirty work, are over.”