New group with a Queens mailbox is spending money against GOP Senate candidates in South Jersey

A shadowy dark money political organization spending money on mailers attacking Republican State Senate candidates in two South Jersey districts could not be more suspicious, but so far, whoever is behind them has done a good job covering their tracks.

The tenebrous group, Jersey Freedom, sent out mailers suggesting that conservatives back Libertarian Shawn Peck over State Sen. Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township) in the 2nd district and Conservatives South Jersey candidate Giuseppe Costanzo against Chris Del Borrello in the 4th.

Jersey Freedom filed with the Internal Revenue Service on September 11, 2023, using a post office box in Jamaica, Queens.   The P.O. Box does not appear on any other political group filing with the IRS.

The vanilla-sounding name on the filing is fairly Google-proof: Eric Peterson.  There is no clear digital footprint for anyone with that name in New York and New Jersey with an apparent motive to play against Polistina and Del Borrello, although it’s likely that one exists, perhaps indirectly.

The criticisms aimed at Del Borello match those previously sent to the New Jersey Globe from a different individual.

Costanzo, a 61-year-old restaurant account manager from Clementon, had set up a time to speak about his campaign with the New Jersey Globe but became unreachable.    Costanzo also lacks a digital footprint; so does his running mate, Maureen Dukes-Penrose, a Democrat.

Dukes-Penrose, a 62-year-old Washington Township resident, has maintained a low public profile since her 1988 arrest in charges of attempting to purchase nearly $600 worth of clothing with a stolen credit card.  A call to her home phone appears to have been initially answered by the candidate but then sketchily handed off to her elderly mother, who uncomfortably said Maureen was not home and then said she was unaware her daughter was a candidate for the State Assembly.  She had never heard of Costanzo.

Because the mailers appear to be the first sign of spending, Jersey Freedom has not yet filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.  They must reveal their donors in an 11-day pre-election report detailing their activities between October 7-24 on October 27, but those reports won’t be made available to the public until November 2.

While there are some tactical similarities, the New Jersey Globe has not found a direct connection between Jersey Freedom and South Jersey Democrats.

“If it walks like a duck,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University.