Word: whitmans
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...post-election breakfast, Ed Rollins, campaign manager for Gov.-elect Christine Todd Whitman, declared quite openly that he had used $500,000 to pay off Black ministers in New Jersey so they wouldn't press their congregations to the polls. If Rollins had been enjoying bacon and eggs at home and talking privately to his wife about his shenanigans, some shrewd investigative reporting might have unearthed the story. But Rollins was in Washington D.C., and he was eating with a gaggle of journalists at a public occasion when he casually revealed his plot...
...black ministers' organization in Newark: "To suggest that the black vote or the black church is up for sale is a racist lie." The Justice Department and the state attorney general began investigations of possible criminal and civil rights violations, while Democratic leaders went to court seeking to have Whitman's victory nullified. Whitman initially denounced Rollins' assertion as "blatantly untrue" but late in the week said she would consider resigning if it was proved that the payoffs had been made and changed the outcome of the race...
Rollins' tale gained credibility from two facts: Whitman squeaked by with a margin of about 30,000 votes out of 2.4 million ballots, and turnout in black areas where Florio had overwhelming support fell off sharply. Though Florio garnered about 80% of the Newark vote, for example, his total was about 10,000 votes fewer than in 1989. Before Rollins piped up, Democrats had ascribed the lack of enthusiasm for Florio to the Governor's lackluster campaigning in black areas. "They took blacks for granted and paid a price in the turnout," said an aide to Newark Democratic Congressman Donald...
...outrage spread, Rollins recanted, issuing a statement that "my remarks left the impression of something that was not true and did not occur." Voters may soon learn which version of Rollins' story is closer to the truth: Whitman promised to release her campaign finance records over the weekend, ahead of the deadline imposed by state law for both parties to disclose how they spent the $5.9 million each is allotted for the campaign. Rollins, who had been distrusted by many Republicans since he defected to Ross Perot during the 1992 presidential campaign, may find himself shunned by future candidates. Says...
Flush from victory, veteran Republican campaign consultant Ed Rollins inadvertently caused a scandal for newly elected New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Rollins boasted to reporters that the campaign had distributed some $500,000 to Democratic workers in black neighborhoods and to black ministers in an effort to hold down the black vote in the election. Whitman insisted the payments "never happened," and Rollins retracted his statements. At week's end federal and state prosecutors had launched criminal investigations, and the Democratic Party was suing to invalidate Whitman's victory...