March 27, 2008 - 9:35pm
Unanue wins Atlantic GOP endorsement
By Max Pizarro
Tags: Sonny McCullough, Murray Sabrin, Keith Davis, Joe Pennacchio, Vince Polistina, Andy Unanue, John Crowley, Frank Balles, Manny Aponte, Tom Ballistreri
Frank Balles, an administrative captain with the Pleasantville Police Department, will challenge Sheriff James McGettigan
GALLOWAY - Businessman Andy Unanue bested the field of GOP candidates for U.S. Senate at the Atlantic County Republican Convention here tonight, winning yet another line as part of an in absensia candidacy that is not even a week old.
Vacationing out of the state, Unanue beat state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and economist Murray Sabrin, who both spoke at the event held in the Renault Winery.
Unanue earned 758 votes to Pennacchio's 325 and Sabrin's 48.
"I've talked to Andy a couple of times," said Atlantic County GOP chairman Keith Davis. "I talked to him tonight after our convention. As people get to know him better, he's going to shine."
Antagonists who have debated each other at several Republican forums only to watch millionaire Unanue generate fast party support among GOP leaders from a vacation spot in Colorado, Sabrin and Pennacchio made a quick exit.
"Keith 'Eyes Wide Shut' Davis said it all," Sabrin spokesman George Ajjan said of Davis as he departed the room with Sabrin. "Andy Unanue believes in the rule of law."
Davis shot back, "Whatever Mr. Sabrin's lackey aide says about me, I don't have the time to care.
"I have the utmost respect for Joe Pennacchio, who has conducted himself with class," Davis added.
However, Pennacchio's 94-page political treatise he wrote in the early 1990s the continues to trouble Davis. "I do believe his writings from the early 1990s would pose an obstacle for us in the general election," the chairman said.
Despite his poor showing tonight, Sarin vowed to fight on, just as Pennachio today repeated his promise to remain in the contest until the election in June.
"If between now and then he demonstrates a knowledge of the issues, I would back him in the general election," said Sabrin. "But I intend to be the nominee."
Freeholder John Curcio nominated Unanue. After his victory, 
Assemblyman Vince Polistina nominated Balles for sheriffAssemblyman Vince Polistina (R-Atlantic) celebrated his party's Senate choice.
"He's a businessman," Polistina said of Unanue. "He knows how to meet a bottom line. He's fiscally responsible. Besides, there's the fact that he's Hispanic and can reach out to new voters.
"He's going to bring money too," Polistina added of the former CEO of Goya Foods, the Unanue family business.
In the contest for sheriff at tonight's convention, Frank Balles of Egg Harbor Township defeated former sheriff's officer Joe O'Donoghue for the Republican nod to face incumbent Jim McGettigan. The vote tally was 882 votes for Balles and 248 for O'Donoghue.
A 22-year veteran of the Pleasantville Police Department, Balles is an administrative captain.
"I am not a member," Balles admitted in answer to his party rival's criticism that he doesn't have a professional history with the sheriff's office.
"I can come in with an open mind and without an ax to grind," Balles said.
In a three way race for the right to run as Republicans for two freeholder seats, Folsom Mayor Tom Ballistreri and GOP insider Manny Aponte of Egg Harbor Township emerged victorious.
Ballistreri won convincingly in the first round of balloting with 994 votes. In the second round of ballloting, Aponte beat casino restaurant employee Charles Urban, 1,036 to 96 votes.
Egg Harbor Township Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough acknowledges a standing ovation from the crowd.
Visible at the head of the Egg Harbor Township contingent near the front of the big room, former Sen. James "Sonny" McCullough tonight received a standing ovation from Republicans.
"We want to take a moment to thank you," Davis told McCullough after he summoned the Egg Harbor mayor to the stage, who in 2007 led a fight from the floor of the convention to defeat the forces of Sen. William Gormley - only to lose in the general election to Democrat James Whelan.
Accepting a gift of a bust of Ronald Reagan from Davis and the party, McCullough told the crowd, "I might have lost the race but what took place at the convention changed the direction of the Republican Party in Atlantic County."
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Unbelievable theater of NJ GOP absurd or rampant corruption?
"He's a businessman," Polistina said of Unanue. "He knows how to meet a bottom line. He's fiscally responsible.
Read the news fellow. I have checked the Wall Street Journal for some inside about Andy "the bean" Unanue and found nothing. I also searched for Goya Foods and found nothing. It is ubelievable! How does this fellow Polistina knows about Andy's meeting the bottom line. Did he mean the state of drunkness that you fall down banging your had on the concrete sidewalk?
"Besides, there's the fact that he's Hispanic and can reach out to new voters." The most absurd statement that I have heard so far. How about loosing all the other voters in the midst of ongoing Andy's revelations. Wait until we get an input on his wife and other relatives. I just cannot wait.
"He's going to bring money too," Polistina added of the former CEO of Goya Foods, the Unanue family business. Bingo! That's what the NJ GOP is after. Forget Republican principles, forget Republican ideas, forget the democratic process. Just another failed Forrester, Kean Jr., and so many others. It is really a pain to read about it.
However, who will get the money? Not local Republicans struggling in their local races. No, no, no! Highly paid consultants, campaign strategists, and campaign lawyers will pocket the money. What about winning the election? What about it? Who cares? As long as the money flows. Andy "the bean" Unanue is really taken for a ride. Congratulations to all GOP leaders cheerfully selling the Republican Party as we read it.
RIGHT ON WEIL
Print those comments and send them out to the Republican Party all over the State.
Who do these people think they are fooling?
NJ GOP = anti-democracy?
Money money money money
Can these people explain why they did this... did they support any of his stances on the issues?... oh wait, he has none. Oh wait he hasn't even been in NJ. Oh wait he doesn't even live in NJ.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
"New Jersey Republicans are looking for someone who can fund their own campaign"
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Buying himself into senate??????????
Voter Fraud
He lives in New York, and is registered to vote in NJ. If he did vote, he committed voter fraud.
On Vacation??!!
What a slap in the face to the GOP of Ocean and Atlantic counties. This guy couldn't even bother to show-up from "mommy and daddy's" condo in Colorado to attend at least one of these conventions.
This guy is nothing more than a spoiled brat who's never had to earn anything in his life. This campaign of his reflects his true persona.
The Republican Party Mess
The NJ GOP seems desparate to find anyone...anyone with a pulse. What NJ GOP is looking for is another machine candidate. A candidate that takes orders and platforms from party boss's. They themselves have no platform, in the case of Unanue and now Crowley. Neither have any political experience or real ambition. They are being dragged in. Lets ask each candidate "why they feel so strongly to enter a important race?"
What the party needs is a genuine candidate that actually believes and practices true conservative values. The values the Republican party once stood for: limited government, low taxes, free markets, individual liberty, strenght through peace foriegn policy.
The Republican party under the Bush administration has become the party of big government, more entitlements, borrow and spend policies. Romney was right when he said Washington is broken, and thats because Republicans are acting like Democrats.
And that is EXACTLY what Unanue and Crowley are...Democrats. Giving alot of money to the Republican party doesnt not give you a automatic pass.
Right now the only candidate that speaks of the great Republican platform of Taft, Goldwater and Reagan is Murray Sabrin.
Do we tow the party line, or do we send a real conservative to Washington?
p.s. i admit posting same reply to oither post as im going on vacation for a week....i feel a point needs to be made.
Like Talking to a Wall
"He knows how to meet a bottom line. He's fiscally responsible. Besides, there's the fact that he's Hispanic and can reach out to new voters... He's going to bring money too,"
He's not any of those things. He used company money to pay for personal expenses. People who are fiscally conservative know it's unwise to spend money you don't have and irrisponsible to spend SOMEONE ELSES money! He's not even sure if he paid the company back for finacing political consultants, which is illegal.
It's now common place for our public servants to misuse PUBLIC money for their personal, private endevors. I do not trust this man to handle tax dollar.
He was FIRED for coming to work DRUNK repeatedly. He didn't get his job because he competed and was the best at what he did, it was handed to him like the silver spoon in his mouth from birth.
if funding a campaign is an issue, look at this:
The Sabrin campaign has the most money. So far they have recieved about $400,000 in donations
Crowley for Senate
Just found this on YouTube.....After seeing this alot of people will be getting behind Crowley.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CrowleyFamily5
Unawho??
It's funny how the delegates of Atlantic County couldn't even pronounce Andy's last name when they announced their vote results last night. What was even better was when the chairman announced "Andy Sabrin" as the winner. Nice one!