UPDATE: GOP Reacts to Gladden Camp's Statement

UPDATE, 5:20 p.m. 11/7: And "Mailergate" continues.

Mike Martin, campaign manager for the Gloucester Township Republican Party's slate in this year's Council election, issued a rebuttal Monday afternoon to an earlier statement issued by independent candidate Darren Gladden regarding two controversial mailers sent to township homes last week.

The mailers, apparently ordered by a Democratic Party political action committee, label Gladden "the only real conservative candidate" in this year's race, and have had both Gladden and the GOP crying political subterfuge on the part of Democrats since the middle of last week.

Martin indicates in his rebuttal that the local GOP has forwarded a complaint to the state Attorney General's Office regarding the mailers. That complaint accuses the Democrats, through the Gloucester Township Citizens for Responsible Government PAC, of "deliberately attempt(ing) to confuse voters and sway the election."

Martin's statement follows in italics:

The Gloucester Township Republican Council Candidates held a press conference to denounce the Democratic party in both the township and county. At no time did the GTGOP denounce the independent candidate, contrary to what he states. We have merely presented the facts about the mailers that were sent out by the Democratic PAC. Specifically, we state in our press release, “It is our position that the Democratic Party machine is using this independent candidate in an attempt to draw votes from Republicans.” We presented the facts. Another quote from the speech,“While it is unclear how this campaign piece was developed it is clear that the independent candidate has been funded, supported and went on to thank a PAC for the campaign piece.”

The GTGOP Council Candidates have withstood a barrage of attacks from this independent candidate publicly on this site and others. We have taken the high road throughout this campaign and have not attacked the independent. We will continue to take the high road. Let me state again that we have not, and will not attack or denounce the independent candidate as he has repeatedly done to us.

We have made our platform clear: an end to pay to play, term limits for council members, restore economic development, support for our police and firefighters by keeping them local and a more open and transparent government. I have included the text of our speech and YouTube link to the same. You can see for yourself that this is not an attack on the independent, but rather calling out the Democratic Party for attempting to confuse voters to retain control.

Additionally, the GTGOP is following up by filing a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General, which is also attached.

It is time to demand respect be restored to government and strong leaders are elected to office. 

The YouTube video Martin references in his statement is attached to this article.

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An independent candidate for Township Council has issued a statement in response to allegations by the township's Republican Municipal Committee that Democrats brought him into the race as a spoiler candidate in Tuesday's election.

The allegations stem from two campaign mailers sent to township homes last week dubbing Gladden as the "only real conservative candidate" in the race.

The GOP candidates, joined by Councilwoman Crystal Evans, who disavowed herself from the Democratic Party during Republican Gov. Chris Christie's successful 2009 campaign, held a press conference at the Camden County Republican Party headquarters on Saturday to link independent Darren Gladden to the Democratic Party.

The mailers indicate they were paid for by Gloucester Township Citizens for Responsible Government, a known Democratic Party political action committee.

In an Oct. 14 filing with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, the PAC lists two contributors: The Chairman's Club, based in Laurel Springs, which gave $2,000 on Sept. 15, and Remington & Vernick, Gloucester Township’s engineering firm, which gave $7,200 on Sept. 29.

Both of those donors also .

Several Democratic Party supporters posting comments on Patch have openly questioned why Gladden would attempt to separate himself from the mailers, if they do not in any way criticize him and, in fact, lay out his platform as a conservative candidate.

In addition to criticizing Gladden, GOP candidates accused their Democratic opposition of using cheap campaign tricks.

Council Vice President Orlando Mercado, who is running in this year's election, seeking his third term, denied knowledge of the mailer when contacted on Thursday.

The PAC's treasurer has not returned a message seeking comment on the mailers.

The Gladden campaign on Sunday night released the following statement in reaction to the GOP allegations:

I am Darren Gladden, independent candidate for Gloucester Township Council. Last week the Gloucester Township Democrats sent out two mailers in my name without my knowledge or approval. Let me be clear on this. I am independent of both the Democrats and Republicans. I am running for council because I am angry over the lack of forward progress in my town and watching as more and more people leave for a better life elsewhere.   

I decided to run for Council on my own without input from either political party or the watchdog group South Jersey Citizens. I am completely self-funded, spending a measly couple of hundred dollars and my own time on my campaign. I have no ties to either political party and will not owe anyone a favor once in office. I chose to run as a “conservative independent” because of my frustration with the Camden County and Gloucester Township Republican Committees in their lack of a clear platform with tactical deliverables and a lack of civic leadership. I feel frustrated they have not produced any new ideas.   

The mailers sent this past week were meant to serve two purposes: attack the Republicans and paint myself as a Democratic shill candidate. As a former volunteer for the (U.S. Rep Jon) Runyan campaign, I am familiar with this tactic.  I am my own candidate and not funded by either party.  

The first goal of these mailers is to drive any disgruntled Republicans to vote for me, thus siphoning votes from the GOP. This is clear because neither mailer attacked the Democrats. While I personally think the GOP is ineffective, I believes the Democrats are corrupt. Any mailer that originated from me would focus on the Democrats, or attack both parties equally. I would not send GOP attack mailers to Republican homes. My campaign strategy has been to target Democrats and independents who are fed up with business as usual by their own party but will not vote for a Republican.   

The second goal is to play to the “shill spoiler” candidate theory the GTRMC has been saying for months. Had I been an actual shill, I would have marked the mailers with my campaign or created a new PAC. By leaving the known Democratic PAC on the mailer, they expected the Republicans to discover this and cry foul.  A mailer I created would not have been that sloppy to include an obvious trail back to the Democrats. But by fueling the fires of the shill talk, they hoped to take votes away from me by garnering sympathy for the Republicans.  

Considering how both goals of these mailers are not plausible and do not fit my campaign, it is clear these mailers are not connected to me and are an attempt to create a link that does not exist. I have intentionally refused “big money” financing and decided to run a self-financed campaign to show it is possible to get a message to the people without selling myself out to the highest bidder. I am a man who “walks the walk” and lives up to the ideals of good government I preach.  

To illustrate why I am running as an independent, consider the reactions of the Republicans. Instead of focusing their energy on the Democrats who tried to trick the people, or investigate the alleged accounts of small business shake downs by the Democratic Party and their connected firms that I spoke about months ago, they chose to stage a “press conference,” reading from a prepared script denouncing me. This is an example of the lack of confidence in the GTRMC’s leadership that led me to run as an independent in the first place.  

As you make your choices as to who will lead Council for the next two years, I hope you will consider the disgusting actions of the Democrat Party and the response of the Republicans. These mailers are not just attacks on me but an insult to every citizen of Gloucester Township. It follows their documented behavior of using trickery, fear, and intimidation to govern this town. It is time we sent a message to both parties. Vote column 5 and no one else.