Phantom candidate says Democratic senator encouraged her to run; he says he doesn’t know her

A phantom independent candidate for State Assembly in the fiercely contested 4th district told the New Jersey Globe that State Sen. Fred Madden (D-Washington Township) encouraged her to run.

“I’ve known Donald Norcross from my work as a nurse practitioner, and I know Fred Madden from here in town, and he told me if I want to make a difference, I should run,” Maureen Dukes-Penrose, a registered Democrat who is running as the “Conservatives South Jersey” candidate.

Madden denied any involvement.

“I’ve never heard of this woman.  I have no idea what she’s talking about,” he told the New Jersey Globe.

Interest in Dukes-Penrose began on Thursday after a tenebrous new political group, Jersey Freedom, sent out an attack mailer to Republicans with a clear intent to siphon votes away from the GOP Senate candidate, Christopher Del Borrello, and toward Dukes-Penrose’s running mate, Giuseppe Costanzo.

Dukes-Penrose, a 62-year-old Washington Township resident, had no real answer about why she chose to run for the legislature, other than to say she was interested in healthcare.

While there has been speculation over sham candidates in primary and general elections, this is the first time one has confessed – and implicated a significant party leader.  Madden, a former Gloucester County Democratic chairman, is retiring this year after two decades in the State Senate.

“Interfering with a free and fair election is not what we should ever expect or tolerate of a state senator,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.  “From now on, South Jersey phantom candidates will be seen as suspect, and because of that, it is a practice that should and must end now.”

Reaching Dukes-Penrose was not easy.

The New Jersey Globe first attempted to reach her last night.  Dukes-Penrose answered her home phone but then passed it off to her 87-year-old mother, Theresa Dukes, who initially said she did not know her daughter wanted to be an assemblywoman.

Today, Dukes had initially said her daughter was out of town but then recanted and said she was leaving the state later.  At one point, both women picked up their landline at the Turnersville home they share simultaneously.

“Maureen, why are you answering the phone if you don’t want to talk to him?” Dukes asked her daughter.

On a subsequent call around 3 PM, Dukes was asked if she could ask her daughter to get on the phone.  A conversation occurred between the two in the absence of a mute button, where the Assembly candidate told her mother she “wasn’t supposed to speak to anyone about her campaign.”

When Dukes again said her daughter was not home, the New Jersey Globe told her that the conversation had been heard and again requested to speak to the candidate.

“Here, just talk to him,” she said, handing the phone to Dukes-Penrose.

The telephone interview was incredibly brief.  She said she needed to go to Virginia, where he son was hospitalized.  She mentioned Madden’s encouragement of her candidacy but rejected follow-up questions and promised to call back within an hour.  She did not.

Costanzo answered his cell phone on Thursday afternoon and agreed to an interview to discuss his Senate campaign a few hours later, but has since gone underground.  He has not answered his phone or responded to messages.

Costanzo, 61, a Camden County restaurant account manager, seemed an unlikely candidate for the Senate.  He had allowed his voter registration to lapse, and only recently registered to vote.    Costanzo and Dukes-Penrose have no apparent link to each other, and neither has a digital footprint indicating any interest in politics or public policy.

Jersey Freedom filed as a 527 political committee on September 11 and is not required to file campaign finance reports disclosing their donors with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission until October 27.

Republican State Chairman Bob Hugin, GOP legislative leaders, and Del Borrello sharply criticized the shadowy new group this morning.

“For years, we have heard Democrats express shock and outrage about election interference at every turn,” Hugin said.  “Now that it has come to our own backyard, their silence is deafening.”

Del Borrello faces Democrat Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Township) for Madden’s open Senate seat.

A second new group, Brighter Future Forward, has spent more than $1 million so far in South Jersey legislative races.  This group has a direct tie to Democrats.

As a result of Jersey Freedom’s mailer in the 2nd district, also suggesting that conservatives vote for Libertarian Shawn Peck instead of State Sen. Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township), Peck announced today that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Polistina.

“Their interference is detrimental to the well-being of our community, and I firmly denounce them, and I refuse to allow Atlantic County to be defrauded by a shady New York super PAC,” Peck said.