A Word About Mr. Newton

No doubt, many of you have received ugly cards and calls from a Mr. Newton, or perhaps seen his ads in the Gwinnett Daily Post.  And you're probably wondering, what all this is about.  You're probably wondering why a private citizen is spending over $20,000 of his own 'PAC' money to affect this election.  Good question.

Simply, it appears that Mr. Newton is upset that he did not receive a job he wanted from Gwinnett County.  A couple of years ago, Mr. Newton approached members of the Board of Commissioners seeking our support for his hiring as Gwinnett's lobbyist to the State Legislature.  Let's just say that Mr. Newton believed he had the support of one person, and hounded the rest of us with phone messages for weeks.  As you've probably guessed, I did not support Mr. Newton's hiring.  Hence, a grudge appears to have been born.

(Based on the behavior we've seen lately, would you support hiring Mr. Newton to represent Gwinnett County?)

The statements and accusations made by Mr. Newton, and those associated with him, are intended to not only harm my reputation, but those of my fellow District Commissioners, the Sheriff and others.  This type of harassment and outright lies have no place in politics. 

As one gentleman e-mailed me last night, "If these land purchases were so terrible, why didn't the Chairman stop them?  He's the Chairman for heaven's sake! ".

Exactly.

Supporters have urged me to fight back.  I have consulted several attorneys on this matter.  Unfortunately, it seems, that as an elected official I am considered a 'public figure' and the bar on lawsuits under that context is set very, very high.

But, the best way for us to fight back is to not give in!  The purpose of Mr. Newtons' diatribes and lies is to effect this election in a negative way - we cannot allow that to happen.

Don't let the lies and negative campaigning effect Gwinnett County - don't let this type of politics win in Gwinnett.

Please vote on Tuesday, August 5th and let's get Gwinnett moving in the right direction again.

Lorraine

Comments