Somerset County Democratic Committee Chair Peg Schaffer this morning replied to the campaign of CD7 Democratic candidate Tom Malinowski.

Malinowski Campaign Manager Colston Reid badmouthed the process, but Schaffer stood by her committee’s actions in Somerville last night.

“This is about defeating Lance,” Schaffer said.

“We believe we selected the candidate with the best chance at doing so,” she added. “If we had waited to decide in April we would have hurt our candidates chances of getting the district targeted and defeating Lance. I am confident that the convention results would have been the same as this very deliberative open process in which nearly 200 committee people participated. We thank Tom for his interest and of course if he stays in and wins the primary we will be full throated in our support.”