Gaffney Says McSweeney “Abusing the Objection Process”

A press release from State Rep. Kent Gaffney:

Gaffney Statement on McSweeney’s Frivolous Challenges

Fox River Grove, IL… State Representative Kent Gaffney (R-Lake Barrington) issued the following statement regarding David McSweeney’s decision to drop his petition challenge against Danielle Rowe:

Kent Gaffney

“David McSweeney has engaged in a campaign of intimidation and harassment in a ridiculous attempt to knock his opponents off the ballot. He planned to clear the field for himself by filing frivolous petition challenges against Danielle Rowe and myself. McSweeney has spent tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers in his attempt to push us out of the race for State Representative.

“After it became obvious that Mr. McSweeney was not going to be able to knock Ms. Rowe off the ballot, he decided yesterday to drop his objection to her petitions. McSweeney then tried to act like he’s taking the high road, when in fact he only dropped his objection to Rowe’s petitions after he realized that his objection would fail.

“Regarding the outrageous and baseless claims against my petitions, David McSweeney is clearly abusing the objection process in order to smear my name and harass my campaign supporters. These Chicago-style political tactics have no place in a Republican Primary.”

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McSweeney commented on his of dropping his challenge to opponent Danielle Rowe’s petitions yesterday.


Comments

Gaffney Says McSweeney “Abusing the Objection Process” — 11 Comments

  1. Gaffney’s only hope was Rowe and McSweeney splitting the conservative vote. Gaffney should be more worried about going to prison after having state workers gather signatures on the clock and then covering it up.

  2. Trust us Mr. Gaffney, this did not go unnoticed by the average Joe…..Arrogance running wild….. I don’t even know the guy but based on his ‘Bully Tactics’ I don’t like him already..

    He might concentrate on which photograph of himself he plans on utilizing for his campaign?

    His obviously outdated innocent “Boyish” look, or his current ‘Nose in the Air’ I’m better than you photo?

    Why can’t we just find nice people who just want to serve, period? Just one would be nice.

  3. “Outrageous and baseless claims” by Mr. McSweeney? No, McSweeney is just an brilliant man running for political office who is exposing the dishonesty of Gaffney’s staff member. Period. A rep. of McSweeney’s character will surely improve the image of the dishonored state of “Villinois”! Well done,
    Mr. McSweeney!

  4. If the allegations are true that taxpayer dollars were stolen to get petitions for Tom Cross’ lackey Gaffney, then I assume people will be arrested in due course. Just like others have been in Illinois over the years. What’s incredible is that we still have crooks this stupid in the IL GOP.

    It sounds like McSweeney’s side has hard evidence.

    It also rings true to me. Sounds like something the Cross/Gaffney outfit would do. Let’s not forget the way Gaffney got the appointment to the spot in the first place was a rigged disgrace.

    Stop whining Gaffney. Stop with the tired old talking points about “Chicago politics.” No one buys it.

    Be a man. Come clean. All we want to know is whether or not you stole from us to try and keep your worthless self in a state job pulling a state paycheck and bloated pension at our expense. Yes, you’re innocent until proven guilty, but sounds like the ice is melting.

  5. This will be real simple. If the board of elections rules in gaffney’s favor then McSweeney will have to immediately apologize and most likely bow out of the race. If the board rules for McSweeney, then Gaffney is toast. High stakes poker for both candidates.

  6. Flounder, you have very strong words against someone who more than likely is the victim of famacide by a rich guy who is acting like Oberweis. I guess I should pose this question:

    What should the punishment be for McSweeney if the authorities clear Cross/Gaffney of any wrongdoing?

    It seems fitting that if McSweeney falsely and maliciously used the electoral process for political gain that he should have to pay the State Board of Elections for all costs associated with the false allegations as well as face criminal charges for perjury.

    Just because you can afford a trial lawyer doesn’t mean that you should be able to use those resources to run rough shod over people and pay no consequences.

  7. I’m not surprised that state employees violated laws, by working for a campaign. Two years ago, I ran for state rep., in the 17th District, and Kevin Artl, an aide to State Rep. Cross, copied my petitions. He should have been working for the state, during that time, but he did campaign work, violating a state law. No one punished him.

    When McSweeney filed objections, he showed that he’s afraid of competition. He probably thinks that he’ll win the primary, only if he doesn’t have any opponents.

  8. Kevin Artl is not a State Employee, hasn’t been since 2007. I know this because I was a delegate for Giuliani and he and I have remained in touch since. I just felt the need to clarify that since there seems to be allot of accusations out there that don’t seem to be panning out.

  9. I agree with Reality Check, if McSweeney used the State Board of Election as a tool to falsely accuse both Rowe and Gaffney of criminal wrongdoing then he should just drop out.

    To falsely accuse a fellow Republican of criminal wrongdoing is not what I feel is acceptable. Mr. McSweeney, I hope that you are not just blowing hot air because if you are, well, I’m not sure that the Republican Party will tolerate you any longer.

  10. Wow! Not sure if we are witnessing GOP in-fighting or just McSweeney/Gaffney staffers fighting it out in this comment section.

    Does it really matter? The fact is that even if McSweeney is correct about Gaffney’s petitions his objection to Rowe and sudden decision to stop pursuing his complaint proves he is a bully trying to save face. Shame on you Dave.

    For Mr. Gaffney I can only hope the allegations are false. Regardless, character counts and I’m sticking with Rowe.

    Gaffney is too moderate and McSweeney exemplifies everything wrong with politics in Illinois.

  11. I’ve been watching this closely – and if what I think is happening is happening, than McSweeney is EXACTLY what we need in a conservative leader. Gaffney keeps whining about “Chicago politics.” He should know. He got appointed by a rigged process, then apparently used the time-honored Illinois tradition of forcing state workers to collect signatures for him on state time. Finally, a conservative who will not be rolled by the almighty state machine – the same one that just tried to enforce its choice of state senate candidate in Suzi Schmidt’s seat. The boys from Springfield need someone who will poke them back with a sharp elbow when they poke first. More importantly, we conservatives need a conservative who knows how to fight back against the Chicago tactics that Gaffney and company think are the way they win and keep conservatives down.

    As for Rowe, I was surprised McSweeney objected to her. I have talked to her and if you spend more than five minutes with her you figure out she is a parrot – an airhead who has been trained to say conservative buzz phrases. She seems harmless and inept. When I saw Bob Cook calling for Dan Proft and others to quit coordinating with her, I wondered what that was about. Anybody can coordinate with a candidate. But a PAC can’t. Proft has a big PAC. After watching Mitt Romney’s Super PAC savage Newt Gingrich in Iowa, now I think I know what is going on. Proft’s PAC was going to dump big money in to savage McSweeney in the same way. I don’t know whether it was to try to get a win for Rowe or just to split the vote to give Gaffney the win.

    Bottom line: McSweeney was not going to let opponents cheat their way to victory or to robbing conservatives of a win in a conservative district. We might finally have a guy who can clean up Springfield and give the establishment players a taste of their own medicine – on our behalf, for a change.

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