A Republican county clerk in New Jersey is being accused by her opponents of skipping work to play with a dog and shop at a liquor store.
Bergen County Democrats have released a commercial showing video of Bergen County Clerk Lisa Randall, a former state banking commissioner, in places other than her office on Oct. 13 and Oct. 18, PolitickerNJ.com reports. The trips include visiting her family's law firm, playing with a dog and entering and exiting a Bottle King liquor store.
Randall's spokesman dismissed the ad.
"She a clerk," Bergen County Republican Organization Spokesman Thom Ammirato told the political news website. "She doesn't have 9-5 hours; she's on-call 24-7. If there's a problem on Saturday morning, she's there. She gets calls on vacation. It's not like she's punching a time clock."
The race is part of the continuing partisan battle for political dominance in New Jersey's largest county. Democrats dominated county government for the last decade, with Republicans on the upswing in recent years, ultimately seizing the county executive's office last year.
Bergen County features one of the most competitive state Senate races in New Jersey this year, with incumbent Bob Gordon (D) facing off against John Driscoll (R) in a multimillion-dollar race. Gov. Chris Christie (R) has been trying to gain seats in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which has blocked multiple appointees and proposals from the governor in the last two years. The race between Driscoll and Gordon has featured a series of new commercials with Christie endorsing Driscoll and attacking Gordon's record as a county freeholder.
Control of three state Senates around the country are at stake next week. In addition to New Jersey, Republicans in Virginia are seeking to take control of the Senate from Democrats and a special election in Iowa could swing control from the Democrats to the Republicans.