Bob Andrzejczak and Bruce Land: The Invisible Assembly Candidates

The following is an open letter from Republicans Sam Fiocchi and Jim Sauro.
When this campaign began back in early April, we challenged our Democrat opponents Bob Andrzejczak and Bruce Land to a series of debates focused on the important issues facing South Jersey, particularly the economy and jobs.
Through a spokesperson, the Democrats declined our challenge. They said it was “too early” to debate. Well, here we are less than two weeks before Election Day and six months after our original challenge, and the Andrzejczak-Land team still hasn’t debated us.
During that time, Andrzejczak and Land have also refused to speak to the press and limited their public appearances to scripted events where they are closely tethered to Senator Jeff Van Drew, who virtually does all of their talking for them.
As you have seen in their avalanche of television commercials and glossy mailers, Andrzejczak and Land don’t even go by their own names in this campaign. Instead, the two of them choose to hide behind the “Van Drew Team” moniker, even though Senator Van Drew isn’t even on the ballot.
On a humorous note, they call themselves the “Van Drew Team for Change” – despite the fact that the Senator Van Drew has been in office for 13 years. How can you be the team for “change” when you have been in office since 2002?
Frankly, the only thing to “change” between now and then is that our economy in South Jersey is even worse and our taxes are exorbitantly higher. In fact, back when Senator Van Drew was elected (less than two years into George W. Bush’s first term) South Jersey’s unemployment rate was lagging just behind the statewide average. Currently, there are some months when it is almost double the statewide average.
But, enough of talking about the Senator. Like we said, he’s not on the ballot.
The real issue here is that our two opponents, Democrats Andrzejczak and Land, are basically running an invisible campaign. While we hold town hall meetings across the district and speak directly to voters and taxpayers, our Democrat opponents are content to hide behind the heavy-spending of a special interest group with ties to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
That group, the General Majority PAC, has offices in Washington, DC and North Jersey, and their role in this race is simple. While Andrzejczak and Land hide from debates and reporters and voters, the PAC peppers South Jersey voters with millions of dollars in special interest money trying to smear and defame Sam Fiocchi with dishonest, despicable attack ads that knowingly mislead people.
The truth? Sam Fiocchi has paid all of his taxes. Every penny. He released all of his tax records publicly so people could see for themselves. In fact, Fiocchi and his small businesses have paid nearly $500,000 in property taxes since 2006. Despite those facts, Andrzejczak, Land and their Washington, DC cronies continue with their lies and attacks.
They should be ashamed; and if elected, Andrzejczak and Land will just be two more politicians beholden to powerful special interests who could care less about South Jersey.
We – Sam Fiocchi and Jim Sauro – are running as longtime small business owners here in South Jersey. We have both balanced budgets, managed payrolls, created jobs and contributed to the local economy for decades.
We want to represent South Jersey in Trenton so we can put our decades of business experience to work to fix our economy and attract new, better, higher-paying jobs to Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties.
In closing, we would be honored to have your support and your vote at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Sam Fiocchi
Assemblyman
Republican
Jim Sauro
Assembly Candidate
Republican
Paid for by Fiocchi-Sauro for Assembly, Ron Gravino, Treasurer