FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: James P. Dodd, Mayor of Dover
(862) 397-3200

LONGTIME DOVER DEMOCRATIC MAYOR JAMES P. DODD RESPONDS TO BOSS ROBINSON’S DISORTED VIEWS WITH FACTS TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT

MORRIS COUNTY and DOVER, NJ—July 12, 2018 – Yesterday, Morris County Democratic Political Boss Charles Robinson issued an erroneous email statement accusing certain Dover Democratic candidates of attempting to suppress the rights of voters in Dover. Not mentioned in any article is Boss Robinson’s plea for monetary donations to help with the legal effort.

Longtime Dover Democratic Mayor James P. Dodd has issued the following in response:

With over 20 continuous years in office as an Alderman (1998-2005) and Mayor (2006 – to date), I am one of the longest tenured Democratic elected officials in Morris County.

I have been promoting Democratic values and crossing aisles for the benefit of the people of Dover long before the Morris County Democratic Committee attached itself to national election trends and seized credit for being “trailblazing.”

The Morris County Democratic Committee has committed the cardinal political sin by running candidates against a Democratic Mayor, who at one time, and for a long time, was one of the only Democratic elected officials in all of Morris County.

The Morris County Democratic Committee’s threat today is a simple one: if you fail to play by party bosses’ rules and kiss the ring, they will attempt to take you out. If you fail to hand over money and contracts to their coffers, they will attempt to take you out. Warning to all current Democrats in Morris County – Party Boss Robinson now practices Frank Hague-ism at its finest!

We live in historic times, where all Democratic focus should be about fighting Trump, electing Senator Menendez and ensuring that Mikie Sherrill and Tom Malinowski are sent to Congress. Instead, what does Boss Robinson decide to do? Pick a fight and spend his war chest attempting to take out one of the lone Democratic stalwarts in Morris County. Shame on you, Boss Robinson! If Mikie Sherrill or Tom Malinowski are unfortunate losers this November, their blood is on your hands and you should voluntarily resign.

Prior to this year’s primary election, the Morris County Democratic Committee challenged the Morris County Clerk’s issuance of vote by mail ballots in Dover, saying they were unfair because they were not bilingual. I emphatically agreed.

I took, and still support, the position that all ballots in Dover should be bilingual and available to everyone. The Morris County Democrats lost their fight in court. Then they won the primary; in large part because of the great number of vote by mail ballots that they secured. Suddenly, the vote by mail ballots were no longer unfair? How does that make sense? To top it off, moments after the recount was certified, they marched into the Appellate Court to again argue that the vote by mail ballots were unfair! Like Frank Hague, perhaps Boss Robinson now feels that he too “IS THE LAW!”

I continue to assert that EVERY LAST vote by mail ballot cast in the 2018 PRIMARY was unfair and should be thrown out. I now officially call on Governor Murphy, Attorney General Grewal, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Civil Rights, the State Democratic Committee, the Morris County Democratic Committee and the Dover Democratic Committee to ask the Court to throw out all of the vote by mail ballots in the 2018 primary election because they were not bilingual and thus, unfair to the voters of Dover.

Complicating the issue is that candidates from Dover First and Dover for Dover, organizations supported and financed by Boss Robinson, the Morris County Dems and State Party Bosses illegally obtained votes by mail. I’ll say it again: in an attempt to seize power from a long time Democratic Mayor who they disagreed with, Boss Robinson and the Morris County Democratic Chairman supported and financed cheaters!

You can accuse me of being Republican. I’m not. You can accuse me of being a Trump supporter to conjure fear among the voters. I never was. But one thing I will never be is a cheater.

The matter is now in the hands of the Courts. I believe that the Morris County Dems have everything to lose. Imagine backing candidates who attempt to seize power by cheating? That ought to play well in all future elections in Morris County!

I won’t stand for it. Real Democrats won’t stand for it. And the people of Dover will no longer be hoodwinked by you.

Any interested individuals or organizations who are interested in helping fight these efforts against the people of the Town of Dover are urged to call Mayor Dodd at (862) 397-3200.

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