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Congressman John Adler to benefit if Peter DeStefano splits conservative vote

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

It has been alleged that Congressman John Adler's campaign and the Camden County Democratic Committee recruited "NJ Tea Party" candidate Peter DeStefano to draw votes away from Republican challenger Jon Runyon this fall.

Several South Jersey Democratic operatives with direct knowledge of the Adler campaign and CCDC operations spoke on condition of anonymity because of what they described as ethical questions with Adler's campaign.

According to the Courier Post, at Camden County Democratic Committee Headquarters in Cherry Hill last May, Steve Ayscue — a paid CCDC consultant — took the floor with Geoff Mackler, sent to lead Rep. John Adler's re-election campaign.

Numbers-crunching showed the difference between Adler and his Republican opponent would range around 5 percent. To give Adler an edge, Ayscue recruited Peter DeStefano, a picture framer from Mount Laurel, to run as a third party candidate. On Nov. 2, he will be on the ballot under the "NJ Tea Party" line.

Previously, they have denied Republicans' accusations that DeStefano was a plant intended to siphon votes away from their candidate to face Adler.

In August, DeStefano displayed a stack of books by Tea Party favorites like Dick Armey and Glenn Beck and blasted both Adler and Runyan ruthlessly. According to an Associated Press report on NJ.com, he fended off questions about Republicans' accusations and Tea Party organizations' claims that he wasn't even a member, though he was running for congress with the slogan "New Jersey Tea Party."

Republicans started raising suspicions about DeStefano months ago for two reasons. First, regional Tea Party groups had never heard of DeStefano until the Adler campaign released partial results of an internal poll last summer that indicated he might be a viable third-party spoiler.

Then, Republicans poured over DeStefano's nominating petitions and found many of the signatures were from Democrats, including a former Adler campaign staffer.

The Democratic operatives said there was immediate disagreement among the rank and file about the DeStefano plan. Democrats said Adler's recent allegiance with conservatives on a number of issues was calculated to help him hang on to his seat, held for 25 years by Republican Jim Saxton. Which is why the DeStefano plan struck some as foolish.

The irony here may be that Adler could have been just fine without DeStefano, Democrats said.

Adler's significant cash advantage — nearly $2 million cash on hand to Runyan's $472,000 as of June 30 — could have been used to overwhelm the Republicans' message, some Democrats said.

After this story broke, Runyan held an afternoon press conference at his campaign headquarters. "My opponent, John Adler, represents everything that is wrong with politics in this country today. He is dishonest. He lacks principle," he told reporters.

"I want to go to Congress and serve the people of this district and make a difference in my community and in my country. However, win or lose, I want to go home to my wife and three kids at night and be able to look them in the eye and have them be proud of who I am and how I conduct myself," said Runyan.

The Adler campaign and the CCDC have not responded to requests for comment.