NJDSC Chairman John Currie and Vice Chair Peg Schaffer’s campaign for re-election leading the state party this afternoon responded to their opponent and his surrogate’s claims that their efforts to remove sitting leadership is about “party unity.”  

The campaign by Essex County Chairman LeRoy Jones and his supporters is nothing more than a hostile takeover to depose a highly successful NJDSC leadership team supported by a Democratic Governor, they said. This is in fact an act of political aggression that has the potential to tear the party apart for no positive reason.

Currie-Schaffer spokesman Philip Swibinski is releasing the following statement:

“Let’s be clear — this attempt to remove the current NJDSC leadership isn’t about unity, it’s about a continuing quest for power by the same transactional politicians who spent eight years cutting deals with Chris Christie to weaken our state and our Democratic Party. Their goal is to tear our party apart by attacking a proven and winning leadership team in John Currie and Peg Schaffer, who are supported by our Governor.  It’s about a powerful few that want to protect corporations and millionaires while attacking working people and the middle class. And it’s about a wing of the party that has long been openly hostile to any progressive change, from civil rights to gun safety and many other vital issues. That’s what John Currie and Peg Schaffer are standing up against, and that’s why our message of protecting our Democratic Party is resonating with state committee members.”

As if in response, and doubling down on the Jones message, state Senator Joe Cryan (D-20) – a former Democratic State Party chair – issued a statement reasserting his support for the challenger.

“In the coming months, the Democratic State Chairman will lead a Party that must be united in retaking the White House, protecting our Congressional delegation, electing Democrats up and down the ballot and planning for reapportionment and redistricting,” Cryan said. “This is not the time to engage in division and not the time to cast aspersions. It is the time to accept reality and move on to the hard work of electing Democrats. In Unity.”