New Jersey was trying to promote its state close to tourism giant New York. It used a face in its campaign – the face of New Jersey Governor Christie.
Local media reports today: New Jersey U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone must have not liked a State campaign with a personal touch and the face of its governor has asked an inspector general to look into whether Governor Christie misappropriated federal funds to appear in a state tourism ad campaign.
Pallone, one of four Democrats vying for his partyโs nomination in the special U.S. Senate election, sent a letter Thursday to David Montoya, inspector general of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funded the stateโs $25 million campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore following superstorm Sandy.
At issue is the stateโs decision to hire MWW, an East Rutherford public relations firm with ties to both Republicans and Democrats, to carry out the campaign. But MWW wasnโt the low bidder. The Sigma Group, of Oradell, submitted a proposal that would have cost $2.2 million less. Buono contends the only difference in the two proposals is that MWW called for featuring Christie in the advertisements.
Pallone said he fought to pass the Sandy disaster relief package in Congress and is troubled by the difference in cost.
โMany in Congress objected to this funding precisely because of concerns their citizensโ tax dollars would be misspent,โ he wrote in his letter. โIn that regard, the stateโs mismanagement of taxpayer funds for this marketing campaign is extremely troubling, especially when there are so many New Jersey residents still in need of assistance to recover and rebuild from this historic storm.โ
Michael Drewniak, Christieโs press secretary, called Palloneโs letter โextremely troubling,โ adding that the congressman worked closely with the administration on Sandy aid.
โThe only logical explanation is that itโs political opportunism and grandstanding from a candidate for U.S. Senate down desperately low in the polls five days away from the primary,โ Drewniak said.
Palloneโs request for an investigation came a day after state Sen. Barbara Buono, who is challenging Christie in November, called on the Republican governor to repay the state $2 million for the ad campaign. Pallone is one of Buonoโs earliest supporters, publicly endorsing her in January and calling on other Democrats, who were apprehensive about her candidacy, to rally behind her.
The governorโs office refuted Buonoโs allegation saying MWW offered a more comprehensive proposal that called for regional events, including a star-studded live taping of the Today Show in Seaside Heights to kick-off Memorial Day weekend.