Peter Murphy screwed his own GOP Freeholder candidate

How mercurial is Peter Murphy?  Enough to recruit a solid Republican candidate for Freeholder and after that screw him by recruiting an Independent to split the vote. 

In 2014, Murphy recruited a solid Republican candidate in union leader John Capo, but then he turned around and had his Republican town committee contribute $1,000 to another candidate recruited from Totowa -- Sami Merhi -- but this guy was running as an independent.  Merhi's candidacy undercut the Republican's chances and virtually insured that the Democrats' would win. Here's the contribution...

On top of this, Sami Merhi was a highly controversial candidate, having been rejected by the Democrats as a candidate a couple years before over what many in the media described as "anti-Semitic" remarks: 

"Passaic County Democrats withdrew their endorsement of a Lebanese-American freeholder candidate who had been criticized for remarks some critics said conveyed sympathy with Palestinian suicide bombers...

The decision came following reports that at an April 2002 rally and at a fund-raiser the same day for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Dist. 8), Merhi made comments allegedly conveying sympathy with Palestinian suicide bombers. According to a report in The New York Times, he rejected a comparison between such attacks in Israel and the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, in which he lost a godson, and he quoted a would-be bomber captured in Israel in a way that some observers interpreted as a justification for such attacks.

According to Julie Roginsky, a spokeswoman for Democratic Party county chair John Currie, Merhi is to be replaced by Joanne Graviano, a Hawthorne school board member who is also active with the New Jersey Education Association. Roginsky quoted Currie as saying Graviano should have had the nomination from the start and that there was no room for divisiveness in the party.

Following Saturday’s vote, Merhi told the Associated Press: 'I’m in shock, feeling betrayed. They should be ashamed of themselves.' Merhi, who narrowly lost the party’s endorsement in 2004 because of the same issue, said he asked the party leaders on Saturday to support him and accept his explanation that his comments were misinterpreted. He said he reiterated his opposition to all forms of terrorism and his belief that killing innocent people is always wrong."

The full article can be accessed here: 

http://njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/033006/njPassaicDems.html

Apparently, Sami Merhi is a personal friend of both Passaic County GOP boss Peter Murphy and liberal Democrat Congressman Bill Pascrell.  Murphy and Pascrell are the nexus of horse-trading in Passaic County.  The following year, Murphy slated Merhi as a Republican candidate for Freeholder, which resulted in a predictable loss to the Democrats.  Apparently, Merhi was unavailable to make a run for Congress against Republican Assemblyman Jay Webber this year, hence his substitution with another Totowa resident.

Who is Peter Murphy?

He's the GOP party leader who runs the 23 insiders who pick which candidates represent the Republican Party in Passaic County.

He's been to prison.  Convicted on charges of public corruption.  But don't take our word for it, ask the man who sent him to prison.  Here's what then U.S. Attorney Chris Christie had to say about Peter Murphy: 

"We are pleased with the end result here – that Mr. Murphy served a considerable amount of time in prison for crimes which he has finally acknowledged committing as Republican party chairman in Passaic County... For those crimes, Mr. Murphy has lost his prestige and power, nearly a year of freedom and now is a convicted felon."

And that's who is choosing the official Republican candidates in Passaic County. 

Every candidate running in the June 5th Republican primary on the line PASSAIC COUNTY REGULAR REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION is backed by Boss Peter Murphy, convicted of public corruption.  It is time to reject the GOP establishment and its coddling  of corruption.