Look who's funding Governor Chris Christie's (R. NJ) campaign to attack State Senator Barbara Buono (D. NJ):
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Campaign finance reports filed this week by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) show he has collected $3,000 in donations since March from a lobbyist with the National Rifle Association.
The latest of those reports became public Monday, just as Christie’s Democratic opponent in the Garden State governor’s race, state Sen. Barbara Buono, has been hitting him for having a weak stance on gun control.
“We’ve seen really exceptional leadership across the river with Gov. Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg, but unfortunately, in New Jersey, Gov. Christie has not shown leadership,” Buono told TPM by phone on Monday evening.
Christie’s filing, his first of the general election campaign, included a $1,000 donation made on April 23 by NRA lobbyist Randy Kozuch. It also showed Kozuch gave $2,000 on March 5. Campaign finance records did not show any other donations to Christie from the NRA, or other gun groups prior to this year. Neither Christie’s campaign nor Kozuch responded to requests for comment.
The disclosure of the donations came as Buono has been increasingly focusing on the governor’s gun control policies. On Monday, she campaigned with Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker (D) and focused on guns.
Her criticism has centered on a task force Christie launched in January to address violence following the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Buono has repeatedly described the recommendations issued by that commission as “shallow” and accused Christie of using it to avoid the issue of gun control immediately after the shooting.
“He set up this commission right after Newtown. I’m not sure why he set up the commission considering Vice President Biden had already set up a commission,” said Buono. “It really appeared as though it was a delay tactic to delay and put it off hoping that people would calm down after the latest tragedy.” - TPM, 5/14/13
With this news breaking, I received this e-mail today from the Buono campaign:
Latest reports show that one of Chris Christie’s major donors is none other than a big-time NRA lobbyist.
Yesterday, Barbara Buono asked for your help to make sure New Jersey takes real action on common sense legislation to reduce gun violence. Christie has only offered shallow solutions that do not do nearly enough to prevent gun violence.
Now, we see dishonest ads on the air from Christie that will make his NRA supporters happy – we can’t let them win. It’s clear where Chris Christie stands.
We need to respond to these dishonest attacks, and these next 48 hours are critical. We can’t do it without you. Please rush a contribution to our campaign so that we can respond to Christie’s vicious attacks:
https://secure.actblue.com/...
Your support has built this campaign, and it’s obvious we're doing something right if Christie is already attacking Barbara. But we’ve got to respond if we want to Stop Christie.
It’s clear if we want real change for New Jersey – we need to act now.
Click here and please donate today:
https://secure.actblue.com/...
Thank you,
Stop Chris Christie 2013
You can click here to donate to Buono's campaign:
https://secure.actblue.com/...