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Tea Party Cries Foul In NJ Congressional Race

(CBS) - In South Jersey, a dustup is underway in campaign 2010 with one party calling for an investigation.

There's no secret that challenged Democrats around the nation have tried to quietly support third-party candidates in close elections, but now one alleged case may go to the Federal Election Commission.

The Independence Hall Tea Party movement in Philadelphia has demanded that the government investigate its claim that Peter DeStefano, who says he's a Tea Party guy, was actually recruited by the campaign manager for Congressman Jon Adler to siphon off votes  from Republican Jon Runyan.

What makes this so interesting is that the local anti-taxation Tea Parties are supporting Runyon.

Adler says he knows nothing about this and wants to have nothing to do with it.

Calls to DeStefano for comment were not immediately returned. Reporter Jane Roh, who broke the original story in the Courier Post, says that since she uncovered the ties between the campaign and DeStefano no one is talking.

Reported by Larry Kane, KYW Newsradio

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