Pender Co. Republican leaders clash over mailer that endorsed primary candidates
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY-TV) – Many Pender County residents received an advertisement in the mail this week claiming it was paid for by the Pender County Republic Party, though the county GOP said that isn’t the case. The GOP said this piece of mail is misleading voters.
“We did not send this mailer out,” said Joshua Smith, chairman of the Pender County Republican Party.
Smith said they’ve received several calls this week about this advertisement which looks like a ballot endorsing certain candidates ahead of the primary election.
“We do not endorse during the primaries, Pender County Republican Party does not endorse during the primaries,” Smith said.
Smith said the mailer was not sent by the local GOP, but by an activist group called Educate Pender.
“Which is a 501c3 organization owned by Phil Cordeiro, we have no ties to this organization and to me this was a deliberate attempt to mislead the voters,” Smith said.
In a statement to WWAY, Phile Cordeiro said:
“Regarding the mailers and other advertising materials you may have seen from Educate Pender, Educate Pender PAC, and Pender County Republicans – these are all separate legal organizations fully compliant with all relevant North Carolina laws. Further, these materials do not state they are from the Pender County Republican Party – and no one has ever represented them as such. I welcome any investigations – as the result of those efforts will only vindicate these organizations as bona fide first amendment activities. Any attempts to censor my speech or the speech of the many Pender County Republicans supporting our cause will not succeed. I encourage all Pender County voters to do their research and vote their conscience.”
Cordeiro said Educate Pender and Pender County Republicans are separate legal organizations and the mailer did not state it was paid for by the Pender County Republican Party specifically.
“The people that prepared this voter guide are all Pender County Republicans and the name of the group is Pender County Republicans, we live in Pender County, we’re all Republicans, we’re not affiliated with the Pender County Republican Party,” Cordeiro said.
Former state representative and state Republican party leader, Carolyn Justice said in a statement to WWAY:
“As one of the early supporters of the Pender County Republic Party 30 years ago and as former Vice chair of the NC Republican party, I am strongly opposed to any person or organization that tries to influence voters by falsely implying that they speak for the Pender County Republican Party. I feel the same way about any candidate endorsed by that false organization, if they fail to publicly distance themselves from this falsehood.”
Cordiero said he started Educate Pender to advocate for conservative policy and engage younger voters.
“Reach out to voters, inform voters, and get in touch with younger voters that have not been brought into the fold of the party,” Cordiero said.
Smith said as more people move into Pender County internal divisions have grown.
“These new people are coming in whether they are relocating or just finally want to get involved and they are looking to push out the old guard where there’s no reason to do that,” Cordiero said.
Cordiero said he understands change can be hard.
“Because people are afraid of losing their influence or losing their power in Pender County and so I just encourage voters to vote their conscious, do your own research and do what’s right in your heart,” Cordiero said.
