Skoufis: “… outright lies
”
CHESTER – After a year-and-a-half of anonymous ads on social media making claims about his voting record and positions on issues, State Assemblyman James Skoufis (D, Woodbury) said on Monday enough is enough. He called those ads and robocalls a “smear campaign” and “political thuggery.”
While Skoufis said his voting record “is fair game for campaign ads,” these are “way out of bounds and completely misrepresent my work in the Assembly.”
The lawmaker termed those ads “outright lies,” including a recent one he cited.
“One example is a recent ad that made the claim that I received the Kiryas Joel block vote in my election in November. Putting aside the positions I have taken on a wide variety of KJ-related issues from annexation to the pipeline, KJ is not in my assembly district so it is inconceivable and just simply impossible that KJ could vote in my election at all, never mind for or against me,” he said.
Skoufis also said state law requires any group that spends over $1,000, must report it to the board of elections and while he estimates tens of thousands of dollars have been spent on the false ads, there are no registrations with the board. He has notified the state board of elections as well as Facebook and Instagram about the negative ad campaign in hopes that something can be done.
