PART II

Speirs Finally Returns Our Calls: Disclaims Any Connection With Smear Mail Or Russo Bashing Telephone Campaign Originating In Iowa

Furey Shows Up In Massive Coincidence On The Same Day As Attack Mail With Six Month Old Poll Supposedly Showing He Would Win The Democratic Primary By 15 Points If Russo Was His Opponent

OceanCountyPolitics Has Big Questions About Mystery Election Law Perps Who Remain Hidden On Serious Election Law Violations On The Eve Of June 3rd Primary

No Comment Yet On Role Of Democrat Russo Bashers “Doctor” Jack Moriarty And Chairman Jeff T. Horn On Undisclosed And Unreported $12,000 “Republican” Campaign Fliers Backing Speirs

Dover Township: Republican Mayoral candidate Van Speirs has denied any connection with attack fliers being mailed out to thousands of Republican voters, ostensibly in his behalf.

Speirs also denies any connection with a telephone campaign attacking Mayor John F. Russo Jr., Speirs' opponent in the June 3rd GOP primary election.

Failure to make required disclosures of  large contributions and expenditures needed to fund the attack mail and telephone campaign, as required by state election law, has put Speirs in the middle of a burgeoning controversy two days before the GOP primary election on Tuesday.

For two days, Speirs failed to pick up the phone to answer questions about the source of up to $12,000 in contributions and expenditures on three last minute attack fliers and an expensive organized telephone campaign.

This eroded some of the credibility Speirs might have in his June 3rd GOP primary election quest to replace mayor John F. Russo Jr. on the Republican ticket in the November change of government election.

Other questions surfaced about the accuracy of some of the claims in the Speirs fliers and telephone calls which Speirs now claims he had nothing to do with.

"We’re Inundating The Town With Them"

Speirs said Friday, supposedly regarding the first flier, but before the appearance of the second and third fliers, “we’re inundating the town with them”. But he now says he was talking about a flier which he printed on his home computer, and has been distributing himself.

No Comment Yet From
“Doctor” Moriarty Or Chairman Horn

The mystery, now compounded by Speirs demurral, and the apparent violations of the law  led to immediate speculation by Republican leaders that the attack fliers were the work of local Democrat bosses, “Doctor” Jack Moriarty and Chairman Jeff T. Horn, both of whom have been previously identified with serious election law violations.

The first flier, a letter size card which landed in mail boxes on Friday, accuses Russo Jr. of being a “liberal Democrat”, and claims the mayor is for “higher taxes”, is “pro-abortion”, and favors “more gun control laws”.

No Evidence Given To Support Flier Charges

The flier does not offer any evidence to support its ideological claims, but asks “do you support the liberal Democrat McGreevey-Russo agenda?”

The premise of the question is a little off the mark, since Speirs knows perfectly well (and so do Moriarty and Horn)  that Russo has been a critic of the Democrat governor, and has strongly criticized McGreevey’s budget priorities, both before and after he became the official GOP candidate for Mayor.

The second and third fliers contain similar allegations, some of which are of highly questionable accuracy.

Ironically, the attack fliers coincide with a “poll” released Thursday by Moriarty mayoral candidate “Doctor” John Furey.

Furey’s Poll Is Six Months Old, But He Trots It Out Anyway Just Before The GOP Primary

Furey said the “poll” showed Russo Jr. left the Democratic party because he (Furey) would have beaten Russo by 15 points in a Democratic primary election, a revelation that would probably not be important even if it were true.

The timeliness of the poll results were immediately questioned by Russo Jr., who pointed out the poll, which Furey said was done by “Dub Inc. for the local organization”, was conducted last January.

A search by OceanCountyPolitics disclosed reports filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission that showed an “in-kind” contribution of $6000 from the Ocean County Democratic Committee on February 25th to the “Dover Chairman’s Fund”, of which $4500 was a “poll”.

The County Democrats Actually Paid For The “D.U.B.” Poll
Verizon Says Firm Does Not Have A Listed Telephone Number

A check of the county Democrats’ filing disclosures show $4500 was paid to “D.U.B. Inc.” on February 25th. The “company”, which has a post office box in Bayonne in Hudson County, does not have a listed telephone, according to the Verizon information 411 operator. Rub a  D.U.B., D.U.B.

The appearance of “Doctor” Furey and his January poll on the same day as the Speirs attack fliers were mailed out may qualify as one of the cosmic coincidences of the primary election season.

Click here for Who Dunnit? Part I of this primary election story and wait with breathless anticipation for Who Dunnit? Part III, appearing next.

More Election Law Violations With Iowa Based
Telephone Campaign To Toms River Voters?

Who Dunnit Part III will include information on more unreported expense and more possible election law violations for the expensive telephone campaign conducted by an Iowa firm to Republican voters in Toms River, supposedly  on behalf of Speirs, a contingency which Speirs now denies.

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