Former NRCC Worker Involved in Petition Scandal
May 4 2014
It appears that a former employee of the National Republican Congressional Campaign reportedly went overboard in trying to help Congressman Tom Reed get elected.
Mother Jones broke a story online this weekend, about how a former NRCC political worker from Corning, Aarron Andrews Keister, is said to have gone around collecting signatures for two Green party candidates to run for Congress in the race in the Reed/Robertson race.
The problem: the Green Party candidates are not running for the Reed house seat.
This has some speculating that Aaron Andrews Keister turned in the petition to get left leaning voters to take votes away from Democrat Martha Robertson.
Martha Robertson was not impressed. “A paid Republican operative doing this, it’s clearly not because he believes in the values of the Green Party,” said Robertson. “I think people deserve to know who paid him, and who put him up to doing it.”
Reed’s Corning Office says Reed had nothing to do with the former Republican worker collecting petitions for the Green Party, and that Aaron Andrews Keister did this on his own. Reed campaign spokesperson Katie Pudwill says Reed’s campaign is not worried. “The only petitions we have been worried about are the Republican, conservative and independence lines. With over 300 volunteers collecting signatures in all 11 counties we were able to successfully secure all 3.”
Click here to read Mother Jones story online.
