Howarth criticizes Peters for taking trade union money

Assemblyman Joe Howarth (R-Evesham) punched back at Doug Steinhardt on Saturday night, one day after the Republican State Chairman called him a fraud and endorsed his opponents in the 8th district

“Chairman Steinhardt’s hypocrisy knows no bounds when he is directly tied to the Camden County Democrat machine with his law partner Camden County Freeholder Lou Cappelli,” Howarth said.

Steinhardt is a partner at a law firm with Cappelli but was also a five-term Republican mayor of Lopatcong and has been the Warren County Republican Chairman for fifteen years.  Under Steinhardt’s tenure, Republicans have won every race for countywide office and the Legislature, and statewide candidates have carried Warren in ten out of ten races.  Republican presidential candidates have won Warren in the four elections since Steinhardt took office.

Howarth criticized Steinhardt, who became GOP state chairman after the 2017 election, for losing four congressional seats  and not beating Bob Menendez in the U.S. Senate race in the Blue Wave 2018 mid-term elections.

The two-term assemblyman, who is running off the line in Tuesday’s Republican primary after the Burlington, Atlantic and Camden organizations refused to support him, referred to Assemblyman Ryan Peters (R-Hainesport) and former Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield as his “Never Trump” opponents.

Howarth criticized Peters and the Burlington Republicans for taking money from the building trades unions, many of which have contributed heavily to his own campaign in recent week.

“Lying-Ryan Peters and the Burlington County GOP have accepted over $250,000 from trade unions such as the Operating Engineers, Carpenters, Laborers and IBEW who are interested in job creation and President Trump’s infrastructure plan in the last three years,” Howarth said.  “If Assemblyman Peters didn’t miss 40% of his committee meetings, he would know that these are the people who want to Make America Great Again and who elected the President in the first place. We must embrace President Trump’s message to start winning again, and I intend to bring that message to the voters this Tuesday.”

Howarth has repackaged himself as a self-proclaimed MAGA Republican in his bid to hold his Assembly seat, despite expressing his own misgivings about Trump in 2016.