The independent expenditure arm of the Operating Engineers Local 825 is actively hammering Democratic candidates for State Senate and Assembly in the 25th district, using Gov. Phil Murphy as the bludgeon.
Stronger Foundations, Inc., has spent roughly $190,000 on television and digital ads hammering Democratic candidates Rupande Mehta and Darcy Draeger, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Mehta is running against State Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-Boonton) for the remaining 14 months of late State Sen. Anthony R. Bucco’s unexpired term. Draeger is seeking to oust Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Mendham), who took Bucco’s seat in the lower chamber after he moved into the Senate.
Though the PAC has launched multiple ads, they largely follow the same line of attack. Each ad attacks one or both of the Democrats, claiming they’ll approve a litany of tax hikes.
Script: Politicians Rupande Mehta and Darcy Draeger want to rubber stamp Phil Murphy’s tax increases. In Phil Murphy’s New Jersey, you’re going to keep paying more taxes. Bonds for babies, new healthcare taxes, higher property taxes, cuts in services, and now that we have toilet paper again, maybe Murphy will tax that too. And after raising your taxes by a billion dollars, he’s going to borrow $10 billion that your great grandkids will have to pay for. Don’t let Ruby Mehta and Darcy Draeger rubber stamp Murphy’s tax hikes.
Though Murphy’s baby bond proposal didn’t make it through this year’s budget negotiations, the legislature did approve a new tax bracket for millionaires and a handful of other taxes, including a rate freeze of the state’s corporate business tax.
The PAC paid Northeast Communications Solutions $75,000 for digital ads. It paid Altice Media $ 102,727 for digital and TV ad buys, and Switch Media Creative received $14,000 for producing ads for the PAC.
The group has also launched a smaller number of positive ads in the district. Those mainly focus on boosting Dunn’s profile.
Script: In this uncertain time. We need leaders who put others first. From Sesame Street to Main Street, Aura Dunn has been looking out for the next generation, making sure New Jersey families get their fair share. That’s why we need Aura Dunn in the Assembly. She spent her career fighting for us. Now, in the state Assembly, Aura is standing up against radical tax increases in Trenton and has a plan to safely reopen small business in the midst of the COVID-19 recession. On Tuesday November 3rd, elect the team working for us: Bucco for Senate and Dunn for Assembly.
Unlike Bucco, who spent nine years in the Assembly before moving up to the Senate, Dunn is a relative newcomer to Trenton.