 So my Mayor has switched teams again. Evesham Mayor Randy Brown initially managed the campaign of the former Republican Mayor, Gus Tamburro in 2003, but then ran against Tamburro as a Democrat in 2007 and won. It was a big pickup for the Democrats at the time to win all 3 seats and take a 4-1 majority on council for the largest municipality in the county.
Since that time, Republicans have retaken control of the council. Both the Burlington County Democratic Chair and Treasurer were forced to resign in scandal, which seriously undermined the charges of corruption the Democrats hurled at the Republicans, and the Party's still struggling to get back on track. The party has seen a fight over the Chair position, which after many stops and starts, will be chosen in June. In the mean time, Brown has used the divisions in the party and the shifting political winds as a chance to switch teams again.
The funny things is, the GOP ran ads against the last Democratic council candidates accusing them of being just a continuation of Brown's policies. They even attacked Brown in a mailer, calling him a liar (click to enlarge the mailer to the right). Chris Russell, spokesman for the County Republicans and defender of Brown's switch, still touts the mailers that he produced on his business website, though I doubt the'll be posted there for long. The GOP spent the last 3 years trashing Brown. But now that he's one of them, they're all good to keep him around. |
