Unbelievable yet typical dirty tricks in a New Jersey senate campaign (Opinion)

The one thing you can count on in every election year in New Jersey is someone playing dirty to gain an advantage and win a race.

This year's featured sneaky play is in the 4th Legislative District where Democrat Paul Moriarity, now an Assemblyman, is looking for a promotion to the state Senate.

It's usually a slam dunk for Democrats in this state. They control many of the levers of power in many parts of the state, but redistricting has put the 4th District in jeopardy for the Dems.

Dirty tricks by Democrats

So, here's what the Democrat dirty tricksters did. They installed a third-party candidate, running as a "conservative" with ads funded by Jersey Freedom, a group that was formed in September, according to the New Jersey Globe.

In the report, it's noted that the "phantom candidate" is a restaurant manager named Giuseppe Costanzo. He has done no campaigning, has no social media presence and according to the Globe report was not even a registered voter.

The group funding the ads that have been running on Fox News reportedly has strong Democratic ties. It's a clever move to run ads on Fox News for a "conservative" candidate and alternative to the usual two parties.

Frustrated conservative Republicans in New Jersey might be tempted to vote for a "conservative" third-party candidate since no matter how many of them vote another tax-and-spend Democrat gets in and things don't change.

Will it work?

Here's the genius of the last-minute ads. TV and radio stations and networks get paid in advance for political ads, so they're already paid for and supposedly still running. Also, the production companies and print shops that produce the ads get paid in advance as well to ensure a sore loser won't skip out on their bill, no matter which party it is.

So with these ads running a week before and right up to the election, good ole Enzo may get more votes than he wants.

The question is in this tight race, is it enough to make a difference? One thing we do know for sure, it's enough to make you sick and not want to be involved in New Jersey politics.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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