PART IV

Russo Jr. Defeats Speirs By Wide Margin As Democrat Leaders Fail In Goon Squad Campaign To Disrupt Republican Primary Election

Teamster Convoy, Led By Democratic County Chairman Fred Potter And Mayoralty Candidate John Furey, Spearheaded Last Minute Smear Effort With Attack Fliers, Telephone Banks And A Bogus Hudson County Poll

Mayor Russo Wins GOP Primary In Government Change Year By Three To One Margin

Dover Township: Mayor John Russo Jr. has defeated insurgent GOP candidate Van Speirs by a wide margin to win the Republican Party nomination to run for mayor in the change of government election.

Russo had 1996 votes and Speirs had 726 votes, a margin of nearly three to one, with 53 out of 55 districts reporting at 10pm, two hours after the polls closed.

The primary election campaign featured a last minute attempt by a group of Teamsters Union members, led by Democratic County Chairman Fred Potter and one member of the New Jersey Chiropractor’s Association to encourage support for Speirs with a last minute smear campaign attacking Russo.

Three Separate Mailings To Republican Voters

Three separate mailings to Republican voters and a weekend negative telephone effort linked Russo to Democratic governor James McGreevey and suggested Russo was pro-abortion and favored more gun control laws, issues which have little to do with a local election dominated by issues connected with development, traffic and taxes.

Speirs confirmed over the weekend that he had nothing to do with the anti-Russo smear effort, and apparently the teamster campaign and the release of a questionable six month old poll by Furey had very little effect on Republican voters who overwhelmingly backed the GOP slate which included Russo, a former Democrat.

Furey’s “Poll” Part Of Anti-Russo Smear Campaign?

Furey said the “poll”, supposedly completed in January, showed Russo Jr. left the Democratic party because he (Furey) would have beaten Russo by 15 points in a Democratic primary election.

The "poll" was conducted over the telephone by a Hudson County “firm” without a listed telephone number to 300 unidentified Dover Township respondents.

Republican leaders suggested over the weekend the $4500 “poll” was released by Furey as an organized part of the attack campaign launched by Potter and the Teamster group which has offices in our nation’s capital.

It’s Russo Jr., Furey And Brush In November

Russo Jr. will face off against Furey and Independent Paul Brush, a former Freeholder, in the November election, when voters will select a mayor and members of a township council.

Who Dunnit? Part V will include more on these issues, a post mortem on the primary election and the latest facts emerging from the clumsy Democrat/Teamster effort to bend and batter the election laws in a botched and bungled attempt to intrude on the GOP primary election.

Click here for Who Dunnit? Part I

Click here for Part II

Click here for Part III

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