Assemblyman Tony Bucco and his running mate Brian Bergen are trying to stay aggressively on offense in battleground LD25. Last month, Buccco noted, NorthJersey.com raised serious questions about the legitimacy of Democrat Lisa Bhimani’s Assembly candidacy. Now, said the incumbent Republican incumbent, her running mate Darcy Draeger is facing serious tax dodging questions of her own.

While her campaign website bio touts Draeger’s record on Wall Street dealing in “global equities” with a large investment bank, Draeger also moonlights as “a Fake Farmer,” said the GOP team, invoking a “Karcher Problem”. She uses 12 chickens, a few bee hives and two dozen sheep to win massive discounts on her $1.3 million Chester estate. In total, she pays just $25.98 on her 9-acre “farm” property, according to Morris County Property Tax Records.

“Darcy Draeger says she wants to protect middle class property taxpayers, but her own record shows

she’s been cheating them for years with a tax dodging scheme on her 9-acre, $1.3 million estate – paying

under $26 per year,” said Rob Costello, campaign manager for Bucco and Bergen for Assembly. “Taxpayers are sick and tired of do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do politicians, particularly those like Draeger and Bhimani who dodge paying their fair share of taxes.”

Listings on Zillow of Draeger’s estate showcase it as a “Gentleman’s Farm” with “extensive, award-winning gardens,” including an “enchanting pool house.”

Ironically, the Republican gleefully noted, the Sierra Club, which has endorsed Draeger, has repeatedly bashed what they call “Fake Farmers,” including NJ Transit Exec Kevin Corbett for getting a “huge break on his property taxes… because he raises sheep.” Jeff Tittel added, “wealthy people avoid paying their fair share of property taxes that fall on other people to pay. This is another form of subsidizing wealthy land owners.”