Newton, N.J. – The Lonegan campaign is calling newly proposed rules for the Morris County Convention an attack on election integrity. In response, Mayor Lonegan issued the following letter to Morris County Chairwoman Laura Ali earlier today:
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Subject: You are setting a dangerous precedent

Dear Chairwoman Ali,

As I stressed in my letter to you yesterday, election integrity is one of the most important issues facing America. The maneuverings of Joe Biden and Phil Murphy have destroyed the reputation of our election process and the Republican Party should not add to or appear to endorse the confusion that so many voters have lost patience with. Unfortunately, you appear to have done so.

In response to my letter outlining a number of valid questions about your process – questions that have been raised across the country, about the process in other settings – you arbitrarily issued a diktat that we, the candidates, endorse your process or face being denied ballot access by 11am today. This is a tragedy the end of which is still unclear.

You should have considered the ramifications before issuing your diktat. The Republicans members of our legislative caucuses in Trenton did not, by and large, support the changes to the voting process Murphy forced upon our state and that remain so unpopular – especially with Republican voters. Imagine if they were required to endorse those changes or face denial of ballot access? You – in the name of the Republican Party – have set a dangerous precedent that may come back to haunt our party.

What makes this worse is that these are your rules and not the rules of the Morris County Republican Committee, because the Morris County Republican Committee has not been given the opportunity to vote on whether to accept them, change them, or reject them. You are arbitrarily ordering us, the candidates, to endorse your rules before they go to the Committee members for approval.

And you are threatening us by denying that most American of rights – the right to ballot access. In doing so, you have blemished the process and called your entire organization and convention into disrepute.

Not only the speaker but the listener is harmed by your maneuverings. It is a true assault on the First Amendment, and you have damaged the reputation of our party.

I will comply with your diktat, more out of curiosity about what you will pull next to distort what should have been an open and honest process. I feel very strongly that in a representative democracy, a Republic, the voters should have the opportunity to hear from all the candidates hoping to represent them. In this case, those voters are the county committee, and I will do my best to inform them in keeping with the best traditions of our American Republic.

Sincerely,

Steve Lonegan
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