Baroni asked Bush to save SCHIP last month; Teamsters head criticized Singh for attacks

The 14th district State Senate candidates are girding for battle at Steinert High School tonight, and once again GOP Assemblyman Bill Baroni is heading into a Fair and Clean Elections debate with the Georg W. Bush factor fairly smothered.

In a press release today, Democrat Seema Singh demanded to know why Baroni failed to denounce the President’s veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

But Baroni wrote to Bush before the veto seeking support for the legislation. A copy of his letter had been forwarded to PoliticsNJ.com, and the Baroni campaign today provided proof of delivery that his letter to Bush had been received by the White House on September 26.

"As a Republican state legislator, I am in the 'trenches' and I see what a great job FamilyCare does every day in our state to provide coverage to these kids," Baroni wrote Bush. "I also see too many children who still lack access to basic health coverage. Not renewing this program would be irresponsible and would put over one hundred thousand children in this state at risk."

Earlier today, the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 73, endorsed Baroni and criticized Singh for her attacks on the GOP Senate candidate.

"We are shocked by recent attacks by Bill’s opponent calling him a ‘Bush Republican,'" said Teamsters President Cliff Nolan. "We know Bill Baroni–nothing could be further from the truth, and we call on his opponent to stop these senseless attacks.”