A politically active couple from Pittstown are upset that a Democratic congressional candidate they don’t support in New Jersey’s 7th district, Tina Shah, is using a photograph of them in a campaign mailer without their permission.
Kathi Thonet told the New Jersey Globe that she and her husband, John, are leaning toward voting for former Biden administration official Michael Roth and don’t want to give the impression that they are supporting Shah, an physician who also served in the Biden administration.
She said she was “angry” when she saw her photo on the Shah mailer and is planning to write the candidate to voice her complaint.
“I talked to her twice. I talked to her for a minute,” said Thonet, who has spoken to all of the Democrats seeking to challenge two-term Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) this year. “I don’t dislike her. She’s just not the person to represent CD-7. Maybe she should go back to the ICU?”
The photo of the Thonet’s taken at an Indivisible Lambertville/New Hope event first appeared in a post on Shah’s Instagram page in January.
Shah’s campaign manager, Maya Fontheim, said the campaign “did not identify folks or imply support.”
“The purpose was to use a photo of Tina in the community,” Fontheim said.
The Thonet’s are high-information voters who have made the rounds at several candidate forums in an attempt to learn more about all of the Democratic candidates who want to take on Kean.
Last year, they donated $2,000 to another contender, former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett. Kathi Thonet said she also liked Megan O’Rourke, another veteran of the Biden administration. O’Rourke dropped out last month and endorsed Bennett today.
The retired environmental consultants have contributed to dozens of Democratic presidential, Senate and House candidates across the U.S. in recent years.
