Tea Party groups in New Jersey are outraged over ads that have mysteriously surfaced in support of a supposed Tea Party candidate.  The sponsored ads on Google are being served up all over the web, in places like BlogTalkRadio, in support of one Peter DeStefano, and direct viewers to the website of njteapartycoalition.org.

The problem is, the NJ Tea Party Coalition, the owners of that website, did not purchase any such ads.

“I find this ad extremely troubling,” Brian Baldwin of the NJ Tea Party Coalition told local press. “We did not authorize this nor are we supporting Mr. DeStefano.”

What’s worse is that the group – and every Tea Party group in NJ that I’ve communicated with – has been denouncing DeStefano as a “fake” Tea Party candidate for months now.  They’ve all been complaining about this to the appropriate authorities for some time now.  After seeing these latest ads, Tea Party leaders in NJ are urging their members and other like-minded leaders to contact the local election officials and the Secretary of States’ office to look into DeStefano’s candidacy.

After hounding the press about their suspicions, some in the media had taken notice of the Tea Party’s claims in NJ.  And they agreed.

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Democratic operatives in New Jersey are turning on Congressman John Adler (D-NJ3). Due to “ethical qualms” they have revealed the Adler campaign is behind the bogus “NJ Tea Party” candidacy of Peter DeStefano.

In May, Geoff Mackler, Adler’s Campaign Manager, along with Democratic consultant Steve Ayscue gave a presentation outlining the “DeStefano Plan” at the Camden County Democratic Committee headquarters:

“The goal was to take 5 percent of (Republican Jon) Runyan’s vote,” said a Democrat with direct knowledge of the Adler campaign and CCDC operations.

“Steve Ayscue designed the plan with Geoff Mackler following his lead.”

DeStefano first emerged in an internal poll circulated by the Adler campaign in July that showed him getting 12 percent of the vote. Until then he  hadn’t announced he was a candidate.

He was immediately dismissed by Tea Party groups:

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House Democrats adjourned this week without a vote on extending the Bush tax cuts set to expire in January. While they seem content to blame Republican leadership for the failure, it turns out that a group of Democratic House members bucked party leadership to join with the GOP in a move aimed at protecting senior citizens from a massive tax hike – and quite possibly indicating an eventual bipartisan kill-off of President Obama’s tax agenda .

Led by Rep. John Adler, D-N.J., the 47 House Democrats wrote a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urging her to keep lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains that will expire at the end of this year.

A number of tax cuts enacted in the past decade are due to expire at the end of this year. Our fiscal policy should be one that maximizes economic growth and private sector job creation. That is why we strongly believe that Congress should extend the current tax rates for dividend and long-term capital gains taxes…We [] have a responsibility to protect middle class families and seniors from harmful tax increases and their economic impact…

Many seniors depend on this income to supplement their fixed retirement income. A recent study found that in 2007 over 27 million tax returns had dividends qualifying for the reduced tax rate reduction. Of those returns, 61 percent were from taxpayers age 50 and older and 30 percent were from taxpayers age 65 and older.

President Obama and Democratic leadership are also looking to allow other special brackets to expire, particularly long-term capital gains, which would affect couples earning more than $250,000 a year and individuals earning more than $200,000.

Citing the study mentioned in the letter, this small band of Dems tried to make clear to their leadership how deeply those saving for retirement and those in retirement would be affected.

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Republican Congressional candidate Jon Runyan has filed charges against a campaign staffer for Congressman John Adler (D-NJ03).

From the Courier Post:

Last Wednesday, Fredric C. Samson of Mount Holly allegedly trespassed on the Runyans’ Mount Laurel property and took photographs as their youngest daughter, Isabella, played in the front yard, according to a Mount Laurel Police report.

The 8-year-old went into the house and told her mother that Samson was standing in the driveway, according to Jon Runyan. Loretta Runyan, a former Houston police officer, got into her car and followed Samson for four miles until he stopped at Rep. John Adler’s Evesham campaign office.

The Adler campaign issued the following statement:

“Last Wednesday a volunteer photographer took seven photos of the front of Jon Runyan’s house, nothing more.”

“We apologize if images of the Runyan property have brought any discomfort to Mr. and Mrs. Runyan.”

The Adler campaign has refused to say if Sansom is still involved with the campaign.

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