TOMS RIVER, NJ – Today is the day Shore News Network starts the good, the bad and the ugly, combing through campaign contribution reports of all of the candidates running for office. These activity represents the basic principal of keeping local elections honest.
Legal filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission are required by law for any candidate receiving or giving large sums of money during an election cycle. These forms tell us who is paying for the candidate’s political campaign and who the candidate is supporting.
A bright spot in the process came today when Ocean County Commissioner candidate Bobbi Jo Crea, a senior citizen from Little Egg Harbor Township did something we haven’t seen done in many years in these “ELEC Reports”. She donated 16% of her entire campaign account to the Bais Kaila High School. Bais Kaila is a Torah preparatory High School founded in 1977 by Rabbi Yisroel Schenolewski, a major player in Ocean County GOP politics here in the north side of the county. Crea spent $1,800 on an advertisement at the school.
Crea has not made any similar donations to advertisements at any other schools in the county, many of which are experiencing funding shortages at the hands of the administration of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
That’s the good. It is very commendable that a candidate would send such a handsome sum of money to an all-girls school and for that, we commend Bobbi Jo.
Of the $11,000 Crea raised in her campaign, she sent $1,800 to “Shenky’s” private school. She has also retained “Never Trump” campaign consultant Chris Russell who also manages Jack Ciattarelli’s political campaign.
Russell’s establishment campaign consulting firm, Checkmate Strategies, Inc., also received $1,800 from Crea.
Crea received the bulk of her money from pay to play professional engineers, attorneys and contractors. Crea received $2,600 each from Gluck Walrath LLP, Owen Little and Associates and T&M Associates, each companies that earn millions of dollars annually from public contracts.