I am deeply committed to our representative Democracy here in the United States. With the same passion I have fought for social and economic justice for decades, I am fighting for the future of our very nation right now - it is why I am running for the United States House of Representatives.
All I want is a fair shot as I move through this Democratic Party primary process in NJ’s Fourth District . Having a fair shot has not happened in Monmouth County (NJ), Ocean County (NJ), and now the same game is playing out in Mercer County (NJ).
I am sharing the emails below because I believe them to be a perfect example of what candidates like me are up against all over the nation - candidates who do not "play ball" with the power brokers and political elites. I am in this for the people, have the grassroots support of the people, and that scares the hell out of those who want to maintain the political status quo.
The first email below, filled with lies, was sent by Kevin Drennan, a former Hamilton Dem Club President, former Chief of Staff to State Senator, Steve Sweeney, and now serving as Executive of the NJ State Senate Democrats (this means we may now be tangling with the Norcross machine).
The firm response, that I cannot thank her enough for, is from JoAnne Bruno, the current Hamilton Dem Club President. We need more true leaders like JoAnne who are not afraid to speak the truth.
Give these a read and let me know what you think.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Mon, Mar 19, 2018 7:35 pm
Subject: Personal Message Regarding CD 4
Fellow Hamilton Democrats,
As you know, we will hold a convention on Wednesday to select a candidate for Congress. I hope you will give strong consideration for Josh Welle for Congress. I understand that the Committee/Club held a straw vote, but only a small number of people participated, so please keep an open mind.
Josh should not need much of an introduction, but he is a Naval Academy Graduate, and entrepreneur and grew up in the 4th Congressional District. I strongly believe he is the Democrats best chance at turning the 4th District blue this year.
I hope you give strong consideration to Josh.
Dear Hamilton Democratic Club Members,
It has come to my attention that an email has been sent out to the Hamilton Democratic Club/Committee people from former Club President, Kevin Drennan.
To clarify the information sent by Kevin to Club and Committee members, please read the following account of what actually happened last Wednesday at the HAMILTON DEMOCRATIC MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE CONVENTION.
There was a Hamilton Municipal Committee Convention on Wednesday, March 14 at the Hibernian. Approximately 50 people were in attendance. Some of those who attended were both Club and Committee members. However, no one who is just a Club member was allowed to attend OR VOTE, as was implied by Kevin’s email. Barbara Plumeri, our Municipal Chair, had a regular business meeting and then asked each of the Congressional candidates who attended the event to address the Committee members. Mike Keeling, Jim Keady, and Josh Welle all spoke to us.
Once they finished, we had a secret ballot vote using the ballot forms given to us in an envelope as we registered, not a “straw vote”. It was an OFFICIAL VOTE. We voted once and there was a tie between Jim Keady and Josh Welle. We then had another paper in our ballot envelope to vote again to break the tie. The second ballot vote was on a piece of gold tone paper. When those votes were counted, Jim Keady won the vote. Again, it was NOT a “straw vote”.
The Hamilton Municipal Committee endorsed Jim Keady as was stated in the article I sent all Club members that appeared in the NJ Insider. I sent everyone a copy of the article with Announcements and Updates the other day.
Please do not allow yourselves to be fooled by the way the vote was minimized in the email from Kevin Drennan. It was an OFFICIAL secret ballot vote by Committee members only. Feel free to share this with Committee members who are not members of our Club. All 3 candidates will be at the Mercer County Democratic Convention rescheduled for next Tuesday night. We will hear from them again next week before we vote AGAIN.
Hamilton Democratic Club
If you would like to help us rage against this machine, you can do four things:
4. If you live in NJ04, Vote for “Jim Keady” in the Democratic Primary election on June 5th. To vote in this election, you need to be:
A. A registered Democrat on the day of the primary.
B. An undeclared voter - you can declare as a Democrat at your polling location on June 5th and vote for me.
p.s. For any of my Republican friends who are reading this and thinking, "Yep, those Democrats..." Remember, it was Donald Trump who talked about "draining the swamp" on your side too. This cuts across party lines and hurts us all as NJ residents and citizens of the United States.