Only in NJ is this a Conservative Candidate...

CNJpolitics.com

Maybe it’s a sign of how far the “Tea Party” brand has fallen but State Senate candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew can’t seem to decide whether she is with the Tea party or apart from it. Prior to the April 1 filing, Bellew readily admitted to being asked and recruited to run by Bayshore Tea Party boss Barbara Gonzalez.

Then right after she filed, Bellew changed her mind and wrote to MoreMonmouthMusings’ Art Gallagher, who posted the following:

Bellew says she’s not the Bayshore Tea Party Group’s candidate

Republican challenger for State Senate in the 13th Legislative District told MoreMonmouthMusings that she is not the Bayshore Tea Party Group’s candidate, as we have been reporting.

 “While Bayshore will likely support me, I am not their candidate,” said Bellew, “I have a professional team running this campaign and much of my support will come from outside the tea party.”

Bellew is running against Senator Joe Kyrillos for the GOP nomination in the June 4th primary.

Did Bellew actually mean to imply that the Bayshore Tea Party Group wasn’t professional?

In yesterday’s Asbury Park Press, Barbara Gonzalez tried to further confuse things with this attempt at doubletalk:

The Republicans for Conservative Leadership are not “Tea Party candidates,” but embrace the ideals of the political movement, said Barbara Gonzalez, co-founder of the Bayshore Tea Party Group. The slate was introduced Tuesday to the Tea Party group, whose members “probably would give them our support,” she said.

Gonzalez, who was involved with collecting petition signatures for the slate, said the political alliance arose after several people who are members of the Monmouth County Tea Party groups expressed interest in running for office.

From there, the candidates decided to create the political slate, finding people to run for all of the county and state offices, she said.

Gonzalez’ nose must have grown several inches in the course of that interview.

Has Bayshore finally done a poll that shows them their “Tea Party” label is toxic? If so, then why not change your name? Is this Gonzalez’ idea of a slick political maneuver?

Here is an alternative explanation.

When she ran for Congress in 2006, Leigh-Ann Bellew was endorsed by former Governor Christie Whitman’s liberal Republican “It’s My Party Too” PAC. It was reported by the Star-Ledger(Auditor on August 20, 2006):

Former Gov. Christie Whitman last week announced campaign endorsements by her moderate GOP political action committee – and most New Jersey Republican congressional candidates didn’t make the cut.

Whitman’s “It’s My Party Too” vowed campaign support, contributions and volunteers to…Leigh-Ann Bellew, who is running against U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone , the Democrat incumbent. Eight others running for local office were supported.

The former governor’s campaign for moderation did not endorse eight other Republicans running for the House this fall, including four incumbents: Frank LoBiondo , H. James Sax ton , Chris Smith and E. Scott Garrett .

So Leigh-Ann Bellew was liberal enough to be endorsed by Whitman’s Liberal PAC but Republicans Frank LoBiondo, Jim Saxton, Chris Smith, and Scott Garrett were not. Good for them, bad for Bellew, and not too reassuring if you are a conservative in Monmouth County.

Maybe that is what Bellew meant when she told Art Gallagher that “much of my support will come from outside the tea party.” Maybe she meant liberals.

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