Chris Brown

Garganio and O’Brien Nothing but Incumbent GOP Rubber Stamps

Brown and Reinhart led the fight to save jobs for 52 hard-working men and women of Burlington County.  52 families, dedicated to our shared vision for making Burlington County better, can sleep easier tonight thanks to the tireless efforts of Chris Brown and Mary Anne Reinhart.

Burlington County Democratic Freeholder Candidates Kimberly Kersey and Jim Bernard today called Incumbent Republican Freeholder Director Donnelly’s budget proposal a blatant slap in the face to every taxpayer in Burlington County.

The major upset of the 2009 non-partisan municipal elections was the defeat of Carl Block, who has served as Mayor of Stafford (pop. 25,819) since 1983.  Block lost by fifteen percentage points, 57%-42%, to John McMenamin, a former police lieutenant.  Four incumbent Councilmembers allied with Block also lost their bids for re-election.

This is a stunning defeat for Republicans in a town where John McCain beat Barack Obama with 59% of the vote last year.  Block is also the Ocean County Clerk, and an insider within the Ocean County GOP organization.  McMenamin had the backing of Democrats, who backed GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie's proposal to ban dual officeholding.  Christie attended a fundraiser for Block in Stafford just days after announcing his plan, which would have forced Block to choose between his two jobs.

The Democratic Party’s slow march to momentous Burlington County victories started in Evesham in 2007 when they won control of the council in the traditionally Republican town, which they used as leverage to seize two seats on the freeholder board in an Obama election year.

Humiliated by those losses and the success of U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) and Obama, the Republicans read this town of 50,000 once again as the first line of battle for reclamation of what they consider their territory. They see a crucial opportunity to try to wrest the council away from their rivals, who are still overjoyed by the advance of Chris Brown from his municipal victory to his Freeholder Board romp with Mary Anne Reinhart of Shamong in 2008.

For the Democrats, incumbent Councilman Mike Schmidt is running with Councilwoman Alicia Marrone who replaced Brown on the Evesham Council, and newcomer Jill Whipple.

Democrats Chris Brown and Maryanne Reinhart have ousted Republican Freeholders Aubrey Fenton and Stacey Jordan in Burlington County, and Democrat Timothy Tyler defeated Republican Gary Woodend in the race for County Clerk by a 54%-46% margin.  The GOP majority on the Burlington Board of Freeholders is now reduced to 3-2, and Democrats now have a County Clerk and Surrogate.

Democrats stormed Burlington County Republican headquarters in Mount Holly earlier today, demanding to know how Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton and Freeholder Stacey Jordan are funding their campaign with one week to go before Election Day.

Evesham Deputy Mayor Chris Brown and Shamong Committeewoman Mary Anne Reinhart wonder how Fenton and Jordan can pay for a barrage of Philadelphia network television advertising when the GOP candidates reported just $44,000 in the bank in their latest ELEC report.  

Ask Voters to Reject GOP Scorched Earth Campaign; Fenton Has Well Documented History of Running Malicious, Bush-Rove Campaigns

Mercer County Executive Hughes Affirms Plan will Eliminate Waste, Fraud and Abuse in County Government

It’s getting acrimonious in what Democrats hope will be Battleground Burlington.

The minority party in that county today stung their rivals with a video on their website detailing what party chairman Rick Perr says is a misuse of taxpayer dollars to further a bloated and beleaguered Republican Party.

"There is one fact that is undeniable," said Perr. "Taxes and spending in Burlington County have risen dramatically in the past five years. It is unacceptable that while Burlington County residents continue to pay more in taxes, these insiders are living off of the public trough."

In less than a year, 19 or 20 of what Perr calls "Paulsen’s 20 Republican Investment Team" (a nod to former Burlington County Republican Chairman Glen Paulsen) have each guaranteed $30,000 in campaign loans to the Burlington County GOP, according to the Democrats.