Gopal’s political mentor, Joe Vas, gets out of prison today

Vin Gopal and Joe Vas

Joe Vas, the former Perth Amboy Mayor and Assemblyman who went to prison for campaign finance fraud and money laundering during his 2006 campaign for Congress, which was managed by Vin Gopal, will be released from prison today, according to a report in MyCentralJersey.

Vas was convicted on both federal and state charges, with his sentences to run concurrently.  He finished serving his 6 1/2 year federal prison sentence in February when he was transferred to the custody of the New Jersey prison system. His release today is about 3 weeks earlier than the planned June 2 release date.

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Gopal Blames Beck For Air Pollution, Says He Will Fix It

Former Monmouth Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal blamed Senator Jennifer Beck for air pollution on his facebook page earlier this week.  He said that if he is elected Senator from the 11th District instead of Beck come November 7, that he will “..make sure the air we breath and water we drink is safe for every Monmouth County resident.”  Gopal said he would do that by sponsoring legislation and fighting.

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Senate President Sweeney Vouches For Gopal’s Outsider Status, Fiscal Conservatism

Senate President Steve Sweeney, right, enjoys a humorous moment with Gov Christie, and South Jersey Dem Boss George Norcross
photo credit: Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, the author of over 100 tax increases on NJ citizens, issued a statement earlier this week vouching for the outsider status and fiscal conservatism of Vin Gopal, the former Monmouth Democrat Chairman and a candidate for the Democrat nomination for 11th District State Senate seat in the the June 6 primary.

In addition to Sweeney, Gopal is touting the support of South Jersey Democrat Boss George Norcross and Phil Murphy, President Obama’s former Ambassador to Germany and the candidate for Governor who has already locked up the support of the New Jersey Democrat machine.

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Beck Is Enthusiastic About Gopal’s Challenge

Senator Jennifer Beck

Senator Jennifer Beck welcomed “Camden County Vin” Gopal to the campaign for New Jersey Senate from the 11th Legislative District (parts of southern and western Monmouth County) today.

Beck said Gopal is “Camden County’s hand-picked candidate” and noted that he has failed in his two previous attempts to be elected to public office.

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Gopal Pays $900K Cash for Tinton Falls building

Vin Gopal, the Monmouth County Democrat Chairman until noon on Tuesday and a candidate for the Democrat nomination for State Senate in the 11th Legislative District, portrayed himself as a struggling small business owner who goes months at a time without a paycheck so that he can pay his employees, in the announcement that he was stepping down as Chairman to run for Senate.

“I know what it’s like having to make payroll every month, going months without taking a paycheck in order to make sure my employees are paid,” Gopal said to The Asbury Park Press.  At Observer-PolitickerNJ, Gopal said, “I know what Monmouth County residents are going through.”

But MoreMonmouthMusings has learned that Gopal paid $900,000 in cash for a commercial property in Tinton Falls last week.  He showed up for the closing with a bank check for $10,000 more than the listing price after winning a bidding war on 97 Apple Street, a single story office building.

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Gopal Quits Dem Chairmanship To Challenge Beck For Senate

Vin Gopal resigned as Monmouth County Chairman in an email to Monmouth Democrats on Sunday night and announced that he is running for NJ State Senate against Senator Jennifer Beck in the 11th Legislative District.

In his email, Gopal, who was reelected Chairman last June, took credit for making Monmouth County politically competitive in the 4 1/2 years he’s been chairman.  He cited the victories of Assembly Members Joann Downey and Eric Houghtailing in the 11th district last year.  He claimed credit for increasing the number of Democrat mayors in the county from 14 to 23, over the last three years.

In this statement to the press which was published on Observer-PolitickerNJ, Gopal said, “Monmouth County needs a Senator who will battle with the insiders in Trenton, not just show up and act like a puppet.” Read the rest of this entry »

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New hope for a Republican Majority in New Jersey

With the news that Governor Chris Christie saying that he is staying in his current job until his term in expires in January of 2018, New Jersey Republicans are rethinking what little hope they had to winning the governorship and gaining seats in the legislature next year.

Don’t give up, New Jersey Republicans. There is hope.

PolitickerNJ’s 2016 list of the 100 most powerful people in New Jersey tabs Monmouth County Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal #50.  PolitickerNJ says Gopal is slated to become the next Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party.

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Monmouth Dems Embrace The Rain Water Tax Champion

We’re three weeks before Election Day and the only policy proposal that the Monmouth County Democratic candidates for County office have made is Surrogate candidate Vincent Solomeno’s pledge to blatantly break the law with regard to the access to death certificates.

Maybe that’s because they know if they reveal plans to impose a rain water tax on Monmouth County property owners, Lawless Matt Doherty and Sketchy Sue Fulton know that they would even lose in Democrat strongholds like Neptune Township and Long Branch.

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Vin Gopal’s got a problem with powerful women

Boys Club: I bet you can’t find a photo of Vin posing with three women

The Monmouth County Democrats women problem goes beyond the fact that the party has only nominated 5 women to county or legislative offices, while nominating 26 men to higher office, since Vin Gopal became the Party Chairman in 2012.  The Monmouth GOP nominated 17 men and 14 women during the same period.

Gopal defended his abysmal record of nominating women by calling his candidates for county and legislative offices “sacrificial lambs” in The Asbury Park Press’s coverage of Democratic Surrogate candidate Vincent Solomeno’s  2007 facebook post bragging about “a swedish whore named cindy.”

“Yes, we do not run women as sacrificial lambs in races just for the sake of running women,” Gopal is quoted as saying to The Asbury Park Press.

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Dem Surrogate Candidate Solomeno denies using prostitutes

Monmouth GOP blasts Dems’ for gender bias against women

Vincent Solomeno, the Democrat candidate for County Surrogate, posted a message on facebook explaining that he was without a phone and that if anyone needed to reach him, “there’s this swedish whore named cindy who usually knows where to find me.”

The post was made in 2007 while Solomeno was a graduate student at the University of Amsterdam. It remained on his facebook page until at least three weeks ago when it was removed after MMM asked him about it.

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“Obviously I don’t engage in prostitution,” Solomeno said in a phone interview. “I don’t remember making the post.  I don’t think something I did nine years ago while I was in college disqualifies me from being the Surrogate.”

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