Russell Is ‘Dependent’ Candidate

To The Editor:
After reading recent news accounts of the candidacy of Steve Russell for Middle Township Committee, I am compelled to set the record straight. There has been talk that Russell was unhappy with the process used to select the Republican candidate. This is absurd. Russell sent me a letter indicating his intention to seek the nomination. That letter contained what can only be described as a threat to run against our nominee if he wasn’t chosen.
In an attempt to be helpful, I informed Russell that it was probably not a good idea to threaten our county committee members in his introductory letter. He agreed and rewrote the letter without the threat. While we were about to distribute the letter, Tim Donohue also filed a letter of intent. At that point, I had letters from Mark Collins, Tim Donohue and Russell.
On March 14, after Donohue submitted his letter, I received the following e-mail from Russell: “Ed, Please be advised that I had lunch and a conversation with Dan Lockwood last Friday, and have chosen to withdraw my Letter of Intent to seek office as a committeeman in Middle Township, seeing that another qualified candidate has stepped in. Hopefully this does not cause any inconvenience to you or the Republican Party. I will continue to support the Middle Township Republican Party as we move forward. Respectfully, Steven W. Russell.”
As of March 14, Russell was a Republican who found Donohue to be a “qualified candidate” and pledged his support to the Middle Township Republican Party. (We also found Collins to be a qualified candidate, though Russell clearly did not share our view.) Rumors began to swirl that the Democratic County chairman and the Democratic mayor and deputy mayor were courting Russell. Then, on June 13, Russell stood with Democrats Susan DeLanzo and Nate Doughty in front of Township Hall and announced he was now an “Independent” who was running for Township Committee. Was Russell’s March 14 e-mail to me simply a lie? Certainly claiming to be an “Independent” while standing with the leadership of the Democratic party was.
This issue is not so much about Democrats versus Republicans, but the voters have to sit and wonder who and what Russell is. Voters have to ask the question: What is it that the Democrats promised Russell that got him to flip from being a loyal Republican to become the Democratic establishment candidate? Voters also have to consider who is truly the “independent” candidate in this race. What do voters make of a man like Russell who pledges his support to one party then somehow becomes the candidate of the other?
Russell is now beholden to the entrenched interests who have controlled Middle Township for 50 years. Russell is hardly “independent.” In fact, he is entirely “dependent” now on Nate Doughty and his cronies. Russell’s effort to trick the voters into thinking he is anything more than a patsy for the status quo is disgraceful.
ED TAYLOR
Court House
(ED NOTE: Taylor is Middle Township Republican Municipal Leader