Dan Peters: if you’re happy and you know it, don’t vote!
If you think Monmouth County is a great place to live, Bayshore Tea Party backed Sheriff Candidate Dan Peters doesn’t want you to vote in the primary on June 4, a week from today.
In a bizarre blog post on Middletown Patch, Peters, a former Middlesex County police officer collecting a disability pension and a former salesman for a red light camera company, said,
“If you think things are great here in Monmouth County then don’t vote — stay home. If you KNOW things can be better and want better vote for line 3. We are tea party approved!”
Voter suppression is the new credo of the Tea Party?
Peters is making his third attempt to direct the Sheriff’s Office, since he moved to Monmouth County. He withdrew his 2007 candidacy because he did not qualify under the three year residency requirement. Maybe the next time he runs, the Black Panthers will support him.
Peters said that the “sheriff’s department” (it is actually called the “Sheriff’s Office”) has not had a change in leadership in 25 years.
“The sheriff’s department has had the same leadership for over twenty five years. As a matter of fact until recently there has not been a Sheriff in Monmouth County that had any police or public safety experience. In that time there has been no change in its direction or vision.”
When he withdrew his 2007 candidacy due to not meeting the residency requirement, Peters called the “department” a “premier law enforcement agency.”
Our vision is clear for safety and security here in Monmouth County and enabling the Sheriffs Department to continue being a premier law enforcement agency.
In fact, Monmouth County has had four sheriffs in the last 33 years. William Lanzaro was elected in 1980 and served through 1995 after being defeated by Joe Oxley in the Republican primary. Oxley, a former prosecutor, declined to seek a fifth term in 2007 as a protest over the direction then Monmouth GOP Chairman Adam Puharic was leading the Party. Oxley went on to replace Puharic as chairman a year later.
Kim Guadagno, then a Monmouth Beach Commissioner and a former federal prosecutor, was nominated by the GOP and elected to replace Oxley. Current Sheriff Shaun Golden was named Acting Sheriff by Governor Chris Christie after Guadango became Lt. Governor. Golden defeated Peters in the 2010 GOP primary and was elected to his own full term.
‘Queen’ Barbara Gonzalez, via facebook. Click for larger view
Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez was supportive of Peters when asked for comment.
“I wish that people would be more informed….I wonder how many voted for ‘provolone’ I think his statement was meant with that thought process…they vote for the Party not the person. If they were more informed about certain things about their incumbent representatives, they would…or should, vote them out.”
Peters’ running mate, State Senate Candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew, did not respond to a request for comment.
Sheriff Shaun Golden was not surprised that Peters would ask people not to vote.
“Dan would love for informed voters to stay home, as he really hasn’t divulged his background,” Golden said, “Where did he grow up? What high school did he attend and where did he attend college? What type of Law Enforcement disability did he retire from? How is going to receive payment for the top Law Enforcement job when he his collecting a police and fire pension? What was his role in the investigated red light camera company?”
“All good questions informed voters would like to know,” said Golden as he touted his record. “The choice is clear.”
Peters did not respond to a request for comment.