GOP Candidate Claims Sen. Gopal Used Non-Profit For Politics

FREEHOLD, NJ — Lori Anetta, the Republican challenger to Sen. Vin Gopal's NJ-11 seat, has accused the incumbent of using his non-profit organization for self-promotion close to the Nov. 2 general election, namely for adding his name and title to promotional materials.

Anetta has sent letters to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Attorney General and IRS, arguing that the Vin Gopal Civic Association put out mailers for a Community Fair & Family Day benefiting veterans with "not just the organization's name, but also 'Senator Vin Gopal' with the top billing on the flier.'"

The event happened last weekend at Joe Palaia Park in Ocean Township.

"Vin Gopal is using his charitable organization as a political organization to curry favor with and promote himself to voters within his legislative district so that he does not have to utilize campaign funds or disclose donors to his campaign," Anetta wrote in a letter the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Gopal said that these were "unfounded accusations."

"My 501c3 has existed for many years and has always done community events all throughout the year, every year," the senator told Patch. "Everything from a Christmas toy giveaway to families in need, Trunk or Treats and various fundraisers for charities and community groups in Monmouth County. We alone have done seven or eight events in 2021 alone, as we do every year."

Anetta also claimed in a previous letter to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission that the organization promoted Gopal and other Democratic candidates on social media, for example by sharing a post congratulating Democratic Mayor of Howell, Theresa Berger and New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy, likening them to "in-kind political contributions."

"The Vin Gopal Civic Association engages in partisan political activity by only promoting Republicans who will not appear in the ballot," she wrote.

She also claimed that donors who contributed to the non-profit had simultaneously donated the limit allowed by law to Gopal's campaign and questioned whether a candidate for office should be able to use a charitable entity with the name of the candidate to "jointly sponsor events or promote causes or to awards 'grants' and scholarships to the candidate's constituents."

Gopal said that the candidate's accusations were false and that would harm those whom the organization benefits.

"Attempting to cast doubts and score political points by lobbing false accusations at a legitimate organization created solely to help community families can only serve to reduce resources for those same families," he said. "People will suffer so that my opponent can try and grab a headline, and it is hard to imagine something worse than that."

Besides programs that benefit Central New Jersey Communities, the organization also lists on its website a campaign to support India with dealing with the second wave of the pandemic by providing respiratory equipment and resources.

Gopal was first elected to State Senate in 2017 beating Republican incumbent Jennifer Beck by a margin of 7.12 percentage points.