Russell attached documents of Sipprelle's voting history to his statement that both confirmed that Sipprelle was a Republican in 1988 when he voted in a primary in Hudson County and that he wasn't a Republican from December of 2001 through March of 2007 while he was registered to vote in Mercer county.
Russell demanded that Halfacre issue an apology to the Middlesex County GOP screening committee and to all media outlets that received the original press release about Sipprelle's 2007 registration as a Republican.
Halfacre spokesperson Tom Fitzsimmons responded with the following statement:
“I’d like to thank Chris Russell for confirming what our campaign has been saying all along: that sometimes Scott Sipprelle is a Republican and sometimes he isn’t.
The fact remains that for a number of years- including from the time he registered to vote in Mercer County in 2001 up until 2007-Scott Sipprelle was not a registered Republican. He made donations to Democrats like Chuck Schumer, when he was in between Republican phases, and donated to five House Democrats last year even when he was registered as a Republican. He has been evasive about those donations, which have led voters to have their doubts about Mr. Sipprelle. This checkered voting registration history will only generate more doubt.
Finally..in the documents the Sipprelle campaign released, there seems to be a curious absence of any of Mr. Sipprelle’s voting history between the June 2001 primary and the November 2004 general election. Perhaps some enterprising reporter can dig up those records and see if they’re of any interest to the public.”
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29 comments:
Halfacre's ego is so big he can't even admit a mistake.
Man, Sippy is pissed about losing that convention vote huh?
Just what we need in Congress, another lying lawyer like Halfacre.
No Tom, what your Breaking News press release of 5:06pm last night said is(and I quote):
"Scott Sipprelle, who is running in a Republican primary in NJ-12, was not even a registered Republican until 2007."
Just admit that you and your boss lied and got caught. Voters will understand that better.
Art: Nice effort at damage control, but it's not going to work. The specific claim made yesterday by the Halfacre people was that “before 2007, Mr. Sipprelle was not a registered Republican.” This specific quote from Halfacre's spokesman appeared on your blog (as well as other blogs) yesterday. You trumpeted this on your blog under a headline claiming that Sipprelle first registered as a Republican in 2007 and that he had a "recent conversion" to the Republican Party. It was all lie. Halfacre lied. The documents provided by the Sipprelle campaign show that Sipprelle registered as a Republican as early as 1988 in Hudson County, reffiliated as a Republican in Bergen when voting in the 2000 GOP Primary, and then re-affiliated again as a Republican in Mercer when voting in the 2007 GOP Primary. As I understand it from reading the press release from the Sipprelle campaign, Sipprelle was never registered with any party other than the Republican Party, and that when Sipprelle initially moved to Mercer County, his Republican affiliation from Bergen was not automatically picked up and he was listed for several years as unaffiliated. This was corrected when he voted in the 2007 GOP primary.
To repeat, Halfacre lied and you trumpeted the lie on your blog. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't knowingly publish the lie on your blog. In either event, however, Halfacre's credibility is now gone and yours is seriously damaged. I don't see how Halfacre can continue to go forward with his campaign after having been exposed as a baldfaced liar. I also hope you would issue a retraction and an apology to Sipprelle.
Art: Nice effort at damage control, but it's not going to work. The specific claim made yesterday by the Halfacre people was that “before 2007, Mr. Sipprelle was not a registered Republican.” This specific quote from Halfacre's spokesman appeared on your blog (as well as other blogs) yesterday. You trumpeted this on your blog under a headline claiming that Sipprelle first registered as a Republican in 2007 and that he had a "recent conversion" to the Republican Party. It was all lie. Halfacre lied. The documents provided by the Sipprelle campaign show that Sipprelle registered as a Republican as early as 1988 in Hudson County, reffiliated as a Republican in Bergen when voting in the 2000 GOP Primary, and then re-affiliated again as a Republican in Mercer when voting in the 2007 GOP Primary. As I understand it from reading the press release from the Sipprelle campaign, Sipprelle was never registered with any party other than the Republican Party, and that when Sipprelle initially moved to Mercer County, his Republican affiliation from Bergen was not automatically picked up and he was listed for several years as unaffiliated. This was corrected when he voted in the 2007 GOP primary.
To repeat, Halfacre lied and you trumpeted the lie on your blog. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't knowingly publish the lie on your blog. In either event, however, Halfacre's credibility is now gone and yours is seriously damaged. I don't see how Halfacre can continue to go forward with his campaign after having been exposed as a baldfaced liar. I also hope you would issue a retraction and an apology to Sipprelle.
1) I post all Halfacre press releases as I receive them. I used to do the same for Sipprelle. He know what needs to happen in order for that to happen again.
2) Even Sipprelle's documents show that he wasn't a registered Republican from 2001-2007.
The rest is all spin and semantics on both sides.
Sipprelle was stung badly in Middlesex. They are trying to change the story. It might work.
Art you really crapped in your pants on this one. You've acknowledged that you are a longtime friend of Halfacre, but letting him use you as a shill for his campaign has eroded your credibility badly, and the value of your site. Halfacre lied and was caught in a lie. He should immediately apologize to Sipprelle, withdraw from the campaign, and resign as mayor. He's despicable and a cancer on our party.
Ok, piercing through all the nonsense, here's what we have. It's a foolish defense by the Sipprelle martinets, if you think about it. Sipprelle was a Republican in 1988, WHEN REPUBLICANS WERE IN POWER. Then, when the Democrats took over, he changed to Democrat.He stayed a democrat until 2007 when it was clear to everyone that Corzine was going to bring the Democratic party to its knees in NJ and the future was going to be with the Republicans. In other words, the problem isn't whether Sipprelle was a democrat and saw the light; it is that Sipprelle has no moral compass whatsoever. He is a pure opportunist in the mold of Robert Kennedy, Arlen Spector and Hillary Clinton. He'll be whatever you want him to be. I believe the last time I heard "What would you like me to be" was from a prostitute. Fitting. THAT's what Sipprelle is. THAT is far more important than whether he was a Republican or a Democrat on any given Tuesday.
Art: Sorry, it's not just spin. The Halfacre camp claimed that “before 2007, Mr. Sipprelle was not a registered Republican.” This was simply false. Anyway you spin it, this was a lie. Because you now know that it was lie, you should issue a retraction of your previous article.
I just heard that at Middlesex, Halfacre stated that Sipprelle had not registered as a Republican until 2007. If this false statement was in fact made by Halfacre at Middlesex, I wonder if this impacted the voting?
we will see who is stung after the middlesex convention and after halfacre loses the monmouth convention in his own backyard. those who know halfacre the most like him the least. him and bill spadea are only going to win the contest for the largest egos.
Ok, piercing through all the nonsense, here's what we have. It's a foolish defense by the Sipprelle martinets, if you think about it. Sipprelle was a Republican in 1988, WHEN REPUBLICANS WERE IN POWER. Then, when the Democrats took over, he changed to Democrat.He stayed a democrat until 2007 when it was clear to everyone that Corzine was going to bring the Democratic party to its knees in NJ and the future was going to be with the Republicans. In other words, the problem isn't whether Sipprelle was a democrat and saw the light; it is that Sipprelle has no moral compass whatsoever. He is a pure opportunist in the mold of Robert Kennedy, Arlen Spector and Hillary Clinton. He'll be whatever you want him to be. I believe the last time I heard "What would you like me to be" was from a prostitute. Fitting. THAT's what Sipprelle is. THAT is far more important than whether he was a Republican or a Democrat on any given Tuesday.
Sipprelle being a Dem has not been documented. The document...savejersey has them posted...do not indicate if he was affiliated with a party or not from 2001-2007 in Mercer.
From the documentation he can prove that he was an R in 1988, 2000 and 2001.
If he was ever a Dem he didn't vote in a primary in Hudson, Bergen or Mercer. It would be a very bold move to have released these docs if he were ever actually a Dem.
I think what happened was that when he registered in Mercer he did not declare his party. He did declare in March of 2007. I'm pretty sure his father was running for office in Princeton in 2007.
As I read the documents on the Save Jersey blog, Sipprelle was never a registered Democrat. Initially, after moving to Mercer, the documents show no party affiliation. As I interpret Sipprelle's press release and the documents, this was the result of the Mercer County clerk not picking up Sipprelle's party affiliation (Republican) from Bergen. It appears that this was discovered by Sipprelle when he was going to vote in the Republican primary in 2007. So there has been no shifting party allegiance. Instead, Sipprelle was a registered Republican since at least 1988, but there was a period of a few years in the early 2000s where the records show no party affiliation (apparently not by design but due to oversight).
The bottom line is that Halfacre's claim that Sipprelle was never a registered Republican before 2007 has been exposed as a falsehood. Either Halfacre is a liar or he is just plain stupid to make this kind of claim without making sure he had the evidence to back it up. Hard to believe he could be that dumb, but maybe I'm giving him too much credit.
Art,
Do you really believe this is a lrgitimate issue?
As I interpret Sipprelle's press release and the documents, this was the result of the Mercer County clerk not picking up Sipprelle's party affiliation (Republican) from Bergen. It appears that this was discovered by Sipprelle when he was going to vote in the Republican primary in 2007.
That is what Sipprelle's press release implies, but that is not how it worked then. Having been a registered voter in both Bergen and Mercer I have some experiance with changing registrations.
When registering after a move within state you still have to fill out a registration form that includes a party declaration. For whatever reason, call it an oversight if you want to give Scott the benefit of the doubt, he didn't declare when he registered in Mercer.
Also, something had to prompt him to declare in March of 2007 which is what the documentation indicates. Somehow he knew he wasn't registered as an R in March of 2007. He could have simply gone to the polls to vote in the primary in June and declared at the polling place...I've done that...but he chose to do it in March for whatever reason. (If he's interview with me I'd ask him)
The bottom line is that Halfacre's claim that Sipprelle was never a registered Republican before 2007 has been exposed as a falsehood. Either Halfacre is a liar or he is just plain stupid to make this kind of claim without making sure he had the evidence to back it up.
Not quite. The documents that Sipprelle himself provided clearly indicate that he was not registered as a Republican from 2001-2007.
Should the Halfacre campaign have worded their release more carefully? Probably so. I'm guessing that they received the documentation from Mercer and ran with it without checking all other counties for prior history.
Sipprelle was asked about this at the screening last night. He dismissed it.
If he is blaming his loss at the convention on the press release that was only published on blogs he's avoiding interviewing with, perhaps he's underestimated the impact of those blogs and should interview with them.
If he's blaming the press release for his loss, he obviously was not convincing in how he handled the question when asked before the screening committee.
His release demanding the apology did not come out until about 4 this afternoon. Obviously someone in his camp spent the day frantically calling county clerks in Bergen, Hudson and Mercer to document what happened and hit back.
Art,
Do you really believe this is a lrgitimate issue?
No. The registration issue in and of itself is not a serious issue in my mind. Not anymore than Chris Christie's driving record or mamograms were legit issues in last year's governors race.
The gamesmanship that both sides are playing with it may decide the who gets the lines.
Boy, you lose one little screening committee vote and there goes the 11th Commandment!
"Sipprelle was asked about this at the screening last night. He dismissed it."
Sipprelle didnt just dismiss it...he said outright that he has been a Republican for the last 20-something years, which as we now know is not true.
Wonder if the Halfacre people are going to do a press release saying "Sipprelle lied" and ask him to apologize to the screening committee?
Art: In response to your 8:53 p.m. comments, Halfacre’s spokesman claimed yesterday that “before 2007, Mr. Sipprelle was not a registered Republican.” This is a direct quote. We now know from the documents that this claim was unequivocally false. Sipprelle was registered as a Republican as far back as 1988. I'm troubled that you are continuing to try to defend Halfacre on this. Halfacre clearly misstated the facts. Either he knew his claim was false when he made it, or he didn’t adequately investigate before making the claim. Either he's a liar or a reckless incompetent.
Also, I believe you are wrong about the change of address issue. My recollection is that 10years or so ago (around the time Sipprelle moved to Mercer) the change of address form that Sipprelle would have filled out when he moved to Mercer from Bergen would not have had a spot on it to indicate party affiliation. (I believe the form has since been modified.) As I recall, back at that time there was a separate form that needed to be filled out to identify party affiliation. Sipprelle would have had no reason to fill out the party affiliation form when he moved to Mercer because he was already registered as a Republican. If I'm right about this (and I'm pretty sure I am), that would explain why Sipprelle ended up being registered as unaffiliated when he moved to Mercer. The Mercer clerk didn't pick up Sipprelle's prior Republican registration from Bergen. This is what I glean happened from Sipprelle's press release.
You may be right that something occurred around March 2007 to alert Sipprelle to the fact that he hadn't been registered as a Republican in Mercer County. Whatever it was that alerted him, what motivation would he have had to register as a Republican in 2007 other than because he knew he was a Republican and should have been registered as such? Clearly, he didn't update his registration in 2007 because he was thinking about running as a Republican candidate three years later.
Thank you for confirming that Halfacre did in fact repeat at the Middlesex screening the false claim that Sipprelle was not a registered Republican before 2007. So we now know that Halfacre not only lied through his spokesman yesterday on various blogs but also lied directly to the screening committee at Middlesex. Clearly, Halfacre timed his false claim about Sipprelle never having been registered as a Republican prior to 2007 to coincide with the Middlesex screening and to not allow Sipprelle sufficient time to gather the registration documents that would refute Halfacre’s false claim. Pretty sleazy.
In response to the comment of Anonymous at 10 PM that "Sipprelle didnt just dismiss it...he said outright that he has been a Republican for the last 20-something years, which as we now know is not true," your comment is nonsense.
The documents show that Sipprelle has been a Republican since at least 1988. The fact that the Mercer County clerk didn't pick up Sipprelle's Bergen County Republican registration when Sipprelle submitted the change of address card following his move to Mercer County doesn't mean that Sipprelle wasn't a Republican when he moved to Mercer County. A clerical error by a government bureaucrat doesn't change the party that you believe you are affiliated with.
Wonder if the Middlesex County Screening Committee, now having this corrected information and realizing they were duped, are considering a 'do-over'?
This little blunder could change minds.
Also, obviously one can vote Republican without being a registered Republican. If Sipprelle just let his re-registering slide, it does not mean he did not vote Republican.
Gentlemen,
I am 70 years old and have been a Republican all my life. If Halfacre wins the primary I will not vote in the general election.
I watched this sites interview of Halfacre on his converson to "pro life". I don't think anyone can feel good about his integrity after the interview. He is clearly lying about the issue and squirms in his chair like Clinton being deposed over Monica lewinsky.
Now this registration issue. Halfacre will say and do anything to get elected. I find him despicable. I think many other Republicans will decide that as well.
Art, Your obfuscating can't hide the fact that you are twisting reality to defend your candidate. If you actually did your own research (instead of relying on the incompetent Halfacre staff)you would know that the Voter Registration Application that Mercer County used in 2001 DID NOT have a place to show party affiliation. So someone registering to vote at a Mercer address from somewhere else in the state would unknowingly lose their voter affiliation. I am certain that Chris Rusell could supply that form for you. Will you issue an apology?
Halfacre is pro-choice. He said so himself just a year ago when he announced. Who the hell does he think he's kidding.
Well, it is put up or shut up time. Sipprelle must show us his voter registration for 2001 – 2007. If he will not show us his voter registration, we know the Halfacre campaign is right. So go back to your buddy Sipprelle and tell him to post it on his web site…. Then the issue will go away for Sipprelle.
This dirty Sipprelle campaign is probably one reason the Middlesex Co Republicans voted for Halfacre rather than the RINO, Wall Street millionaire, Sipprelle... I guess they did not like the champagne dinners Sipprelle gave them.
Folks should look into the donations of both Scott and Dwight Sipprelle.... Al Gore, Chuckie Schumer, Baron Hill (who called Tea Party members "Political Terrorists") and the others.
So, show us the Voter Registration… or get tarred and feathered, jersey style.
Disclaimer: we are not paid for or supported by any candidate or candidate's Committee. Can you folks make the same statement.
For Anon 11:51am
About your disclaimer;
You can make that statement, but like everything else about the Halfacre campaign, you can't make that statement honestly.
I don't really care what the guy was registered as. All I care about is the positions of the candidates TODAY. This whole thing is stupid.
"I don't really care what the guy was registered as. All I care about is the positions of the candidates TODAY."
Of course this is what SHOULD be the conversation, but Halface can't afford that! Which is why he and his RINO 'old boys network' are trying to divert your attention away with a virtual smokescreen of distractions, 'running the clock' as Art might say, to keep your questions from being answered, to muddy the waters, and to steer the conversation. They've succeeded in distracting the Tea Party activists who, like it or not, don't have the political accumen to see through this tactic. I actually feel sorry for those good folks, many of whom are just getting their feet wet in the ways and means of this dirty little game of NJ politics. They can't see through Halfacre, and they haven't been around long enough to know this guy's game. He is a narcissistic opportunist who is just using them, saying what they want to hear.
As a long time republican, the same thing happened to me. I moved from Ewing to Hopewell, and never checked the box to "declare" and went to vote in a primary and was told that I had to declare. The Ironic thing was that I was a challenger for the Bush campaign in the very primary I had to declare for. It is a flaw in the system. And the ironic part is that I never left mercer county and they lost my affiliation
Gooch and her husband gave a lot more dollars to democrats then Republicans including Coumo, Dodd and Pallone!
Not to mention the liberal PAC Actblue
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