When faced with an allegation of voter fraud – an allegation of criminal behavior – Assembly candidate Josh Aikens (a family man with a spotless legal record) addressed it publicly. He faced two journalists and told them directly that he had never lived in Pennsylvania.
This stands in contrast with Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia, who has consistently refused to address her very real, and very spotty, legal troubles.
Last September, the Commissioner was embroiled in a legal battle with Ashley Furniture over a debt of $2,045.06 (Docket SSX-DC-001706-22). And it appears she avoided the court notice (not at that address?). Most recently, there’s docket number SSX-DC-000502-23, filed on March 6, 2023. The plaintiff – a credit card company – is demanding a judgment in the amount of $1,152.00.
There are other incidents as well. On March 7, 2017, judgment was entered in the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, in favor of plaintiff CAPITAL ONE BANK and against defendant DAWN CUNNEELY (the Commissioner’s former married name) in the amount of $1,623.85 plus cost of $57.00. A Writ of Execution was issued by the Clerk of the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, with regard to this matter (Docket SSX-DC-000051-17). On November 16, 2017, pursuant to said Execution, Court Officer MICHAEL SCRIVANI levied on all monies on deposit in the Wells Fargo Bank, in the name of DAWN CUNNEELY. Judge David Weaver issued the Writ of Execution for $1,898.44.
And then there was judgment SSX-VJ-000722-16 (Docket SSX-DC-000631-16) against defendant DAWN FANTASIA (aka DAWN CUNNEELY). In which an order to garnish wages was executed on June 17, 2016, for the amount of $826.21. The listed employer was ILEARN SCHOOLS in Elmwood Park, NJ 07407.
These court actions were taken while Dawn Fantasia held public office. We have avoided those that concerned her as a private citizen, but before she held office, Fantasia was a joint debtor in a bankruptcy, filed by her husband, in 2008.
The Space-Fantasia-Inganamort team are sending out mailers and making allegations against a 16-year-old. Does it not follow that their entire histories are relevant?
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Senate candidate Parker Space has been dodging the question of when and why he got a Confederate flag tattoo. He denied having one and repeatedly lied to the media about it in 2017 -- that much is on the record.
Sources have confirmed that the Assemblyman, accompanied by actress Janeane Garofalo’s brother, got the tattoo in the aftermath of the terrorist mass murder of nine people (including Pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney). Space was confronted about this at a March 18, 2022, meeting – attended by State Senator Steve Oroho and other Sussex County political leaders. He refused to address it.
Will his running mates care to comment on this? Two of those running mates, Commissioner Dawn Fantasia and Surrogate Gary Chiusano, were present at the March 18, 2022, meeting. In fact, Commissioner Fantasia called the meeting.
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Commissioner Dawn Fantasia seems to believe that large parts of her public life – the life she made public – are off limits to discussion. When asked why, she invariably claims a feminist exemption. “I am the only woman running”, and statements like that. But there are statements she made, after beginning her political career in 2014, that need examination.
One such statement by Fantasia was made on the front page of the November 10, 2014, edition of the Star-Ledger, the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. In a story concerning her former husband, a schoolteacher who was convicted of a sex crime against one of his students (and “required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and… undergo parole supervision for life”, ibid April 18, 2008), the Star-Ledger reported:
“Like Jim Cunneely, Dawn Cunneely [Fantasia] believes he will never commit a similar crime. She calls him a good father, and she has granted him joint custody of the children.”
Studies vary, but the U.S. Justice Department’s National Sexual Violence Resource Center states: “Contrary to conventional wisdom, most re-offenses do not occur within the first several years after release. For example, in one study, subsequent sex offenses occurred as late as 10 years after prison discharge. The study found a 30 percent recidivism rate at year 10 of offender's release from prison. By the year 25, re-offending had increased to 52 percent.”
Nobody made this document up. It is on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper. And we’re not discussing events that happened when somebody was 16-years-old – but rather, statements of an adult pursuing a political office.
Nevertheless, Commissioner Fantasia believes that she should not have to clarify her statement – even though, as an Assemblywoman – a member of the New Jersey Legislature – she will be voting on bills that affect Megan’s Law and mandatory sentencing, and sex crimes, and child custody.
Fantasia’s statement certainly suggests that she might be open to policies that allow registered sex offenders, convicted of sex crimes against children, to be granted custody of minor children. That is why we asked her for a clarification of her statement from 2014. So far, she has refused.
Finally, before anyone suggests that we are revisiting some secret, best left in the dark, place – remember that the 2014 front page story was possibly in aid of marketing a book, written by Fantasia’s former husband. Published in 2013, it is called “Folie A Deux” and is 374 pages of self-disclosure. You can buy it on Amazon for $19.95.
“Voters can’t make informed decisions unless they’re informed. If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they’d tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.”
Micah Rasmussen
Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University