Sunday, October 25, 2020

Statement: Middletown Republicans Failed to File 4 Years’ Worth OF NJ ELEC Campaign Finance Reports

For Immediate Release: 
10/24/20

 A Statement from Middletown Democratic Chairman Michael Morris concerning the failure of the Middletown Township Republican Executive Committee to file 4 years’ worth of campaign finance reports.

 Middletown –In response to the recent Asbury Park Press article, “Middletown GOP says they’ve filed campaign finance reports. NJ says they haven’t”, which uncovered a serious violation of NJ campaign finance law by the Middletown Township Republican Organization. The Organization has failed to disclose campaign financial records to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) for the last four years. 

 The last report on file with NJ ELEC on behalf of the Middletown Republican organization is from the 3rd quarter of 2016 and showed over $39,000 on hand. Since that time the Middletown Republican organization has made contributions to others in the amount of $22,650, all of which has gone unreported and there is now no way to tell who campaign contributions came from, to whom the Middletown Republicans donated funds to or what amount of money changed hands during this period.

New Jersey pay-to-play laws are very specific and are designed to end the practice of “wheeling”, which is when an entity channels money through different political committees to avoid contribution limits.

 Chairman Morris states:

 “It’s said that if you want to uncover the facts all you need to do is “follow the money”. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible here. There is no way for the public to know who campaign contributions came from, to who the Organization directed funds to or what it spent money on over the past four years. Apparently, the Middletown Republicans must think they’re above the law.

 “In addition, we find out the Treasurer responsible for filing these reports is none other than the Mayor’s wife, Alannah Perry who also happens to be the daughter of former mayor, now NJ State Assemblyman, Gerry Scharfenberger. You would think she’d know better."

 “When you combine this with the release of thousands of private email addresses from the township’s emergency alert database, that Tony Perry’s 2018 campaign used to make false and misleading accusations against a Democratic rival in 2018, you have to wonder about the ethics of not just the Perry family but the entire Middletown Republican Organization”.


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