Somerset County GOP Chairman Al Gaburo reacted to former K9 officer Tim Pino’s endorsement of Darrin Russo for sheriff.

“When you lay down with dogs, you get fleas,” the chairman told InsiderNJ.

Pino lost the Republican Primary to Gaburo’s candidate, North Plainfield Police Chief Bill Parenti, who’s now in a dogfight with Democrat Russo.

“No surprise here,” Gaburo said of the endorsement. “Tim Pino worked against his boss Sheriff Provenzano three years ago and true to form he’d at it again. I guess when you’re promised s job you’ll say just about anything.”

In a statement, Pino shot back:

” I welcome Chairman Gaburo’s assistance in finding out answers for the hundreds of Bridgewater Republicans who still haven’t had their June 4th primary votes counted. I hope the Chairman takes  the missing vote by mail ballots seriously, as the integrity of the election process is critical in Somerset County. Fleas are around dogs, but I would be much more concerned about crickets around the party’s leadership.”