Trump Pardons Gilmore

President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to George Gilmore, former Ocean County Republican Chairman, shortly before midnight on Tuesday. The President issued 73 pardons and commuted 70 sentences in one of his final acts in office.

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Vicari running for Governor of Ocean County

Ocean County Commissioner Joe Vicari announced that he is entering the race for the GOP nomination for New Jersey Governor and that he would not compete outside of Ocean County for party support, according to a report at NewJerseyGlobe.

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Gilmore to remain free while appeals continue

Former Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore is continuing the appeals process for his convictions of failing to pay taxes deducted from his employees paychecks to the IRS and for lying on a loan application to Oceansfirst Bank, according to a report at NewJerseyGlobe.

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Gilmore’s conviction upheld

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the federal convictions of former Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore, according to an announcement by Rachael A. Honig , Attorney for the United States.

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Gilmore sentenced to 1 year and a day, 3 years supervised release

Former Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison and three years supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Thompson in Trenton federal court, according to independent journalist Gavin Rozzi who was present at the sentencing hearing.

 
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Gilmore Angling to Retain Power In Ocean County

George Gilmore, NewJerseyGlobe photo

Despite resigning from his public and party positions, former Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore is actively participating in the Toms River Republican primary and in the special election campaign to elect his replacement, according to several GOP sources.

Frank Sadeghi, a candidate for the Ocean GOP Chairmanship in the May 15 special election, told a gathering of Republican men enjoying cigars and cocktails at Shogun Legacy on April 23 that he speaks to Gilmore 20 times per day and “George Gilmore wants me to do this,” according to two people who were in the room of municipal elected officials, mayors and councilmen, and municipal party leaders, as well as Joe Coronato, the former Ocean County Prosecutor who is running for Mayor of Toms River.

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Ernst Coming to New Jersey to Headline GOPAC Fundraiser

Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst is coming to New Jersey next week as the headliner for a GOPAC fundraiser.

Ernst, a freshman senator who gave the Republican response to the State of the Union address in January, came to national prominence with her unconventional campaign ad.

GOPAC is a national Republican political action committee that supports emerging Republican leaders and advances the principles of freedom, free markets and limited government.

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National group gives NJ contractors a new way to influence elections

National group gives NJ contractors a new way to influence elections (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — New Jersey government contractors banned from making major campaign contributions to state and local politicians are now donating big to a national Republican group that is showering the Garden State GOP with money, a Star-Ledger review…

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Isola considering jumping into the U.S. Senate race

Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore told MMM that he is actively encouraging Chris Isola, a declared candidate for the CD-3 GOP nomination, to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate instead.

Isola, of Malton in Burlington County, is close to making a decision, according to Gilmore.

The Ocean County GOP’s screening committee endorsed former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur to replace Congressman Jon Runyan in the House of Representatives last weekend.  Gilmore’s committee interviewed Murray Sabrin and Jeff Bell for the Senate nomination on Saturday but did not select a candidate. “There are two other candidates we want to interview and a fifth who I want to get in, Chris Isola,” Gilmore said after Governor Chris Christie’s Town Hall meeting in Toms River.

Isola’s LinkedIn profile lists his profession as “Candidate at 113th United States Congress.”   A U.S. Marine Corp veteran, Isola served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon his honorable discharge in 2005 Isola entered the financial services industry.

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Gilmore’s Cleaning Up

Ocean County GOP Chairman Geroge Gilmore is among a handful of connected lobbyists hired by AshBrit, the Florida company that won the sole state contract for Superstorm Sandy clean up, who was making sales calls to municipal officials looking for lucrative non-bid clean up work after then storm, according to an article in The Star Ledger this morning.

MMM was the first to report that former Corzine staffer Maggie Moran and her firm, M Public Affairs, was selling AshBrit’s premium priced services to Sandy ravaged municipalities.  The Ledger report expands the list of lobbyists working for AshBrit in New Jersey to Gilmore, former Corzine cabinet member Kris Kullari, and former Assembly Republican director Jon Bombardieri.

AshBrit has been widely praised for the quality of the clean up work it hired subcontractors to perform.  Their no-bid pricing is the issue.  AshBrit charged $100 per ton for debris removal. Towns that didn’t hire AshBrit got the work done for $26 per ton.

“If this isn’t a classic example of how everything is connected in New Jersey politics, I don’t know what is,” said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who was Corzine’s running mate in 2009 when Moran managed his re-election campaign.

MMM is generally not a fan of Weinberg, but we are with her on this issue. Excess profits paid to AshBrit for making phone calls and signing contracts could have been used to rebuild infrastructure, house the displaced, etc, or not borrowed from China in the first place.

Gilmore got another new job last month. Just as MMM predicted last June during the Monmouth GOP Chairman’s race, Gilmore’s firm was appointed Assistant Monmouth County Counsel by the Board of Freeholders during their reorganization meeting.

Despite his threats to due so, John Bennett has not sued MMM for making that prediction.

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