BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
Don’t bother to double-click.
The Web site that at one time posed as the home page for Republican District 13 Assembly candidates Amy Handlin and Sam Thompson has been shut down by its creator, Middlesex and Union County area newspaper publisher James Devine.
Devine said he removed the site due to the bad publicity it generated.
“The purpose was to expose Amy Handlin and the issues she’d rather hide from voters,” Devine said on Friday. “The coverage of the site evolved into a portrayal that there was something wrong with it; I actually don’t think there was anything wrong with it.”
The Web site’s removal, which occurred the day after Handlin and Thompson’s victory in the June 7 primary, came as a surprise. For weeks, Devine has maintained that his right to free speech enabled him to keep the site up and running.
On the night before the primary, Devine issued a press release declaring “major victories” over the candidates after receiving a letter from their attorney stating they wouldn’t pursue legal action. A message on the Web site urged readers to vote against Handlin and Thompson and write in Devine’s name. The release promised, “Two explosive new pages will be added to the Web site Monday morning, the day before voters have a chance decide whether to nominate Amy Handlin or reject her campaign against anti-tax conservative Joe Azzolina.”
Despite widespread criticism, including from Democrats for Assembly Bill Flynn and Michael Dasaro, for whom Devine created a campaign Web site and campaigned for, Devine chose to keep the site going until after the primary election. He removed it, he said, “Rather than have people make disparaging remarks about it.”
Dasaro said he thought that the Web site issue had “blown over,” and maintains that he had nothing to do with the site’s content.
“It’s down,” he said. “We’re not looking to make this a ‘war of the words.’ ”
“The fact that Devine may not be flouting campaign laws at the moment does not free him from responsibility for his actions of recent months,” Handlin said. “Nor does it exonerate my opponents, who have used and continue to use Devine’s services in support of their own Web site. Their assertion that they could not control Devine because they don’t pay him, raises serious questions about who is, in fact, making decisions in their campaign, and who would make decisions on their behalf if they held public office.”
When asked if Devine had plans to continue campaigning for Flynn and Dasaro, he responded, “I’m going to a Mexican restaurant.”
Several more questions resulted in the same response.
“I’m going to a Mexican restaurant — right now,” Devine repeated.
— Staff writer Lauren Matthew
contributed to this story