Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said it would be his biggest endorsement yet.
After getting the backing of the governor, former Mayor Lorenzo Langford and others, this one would be huge, he promised as he teased to an announcement that would be made on his Facebook page at noon Thursday.
The latest endorsement turned out to be an old video of his opponent, Pamela Thomas-Fields.
"Marty is so desperate for votes, that he's resorted to this deceptive tactic," Thomas-Fields said in a news release.
She later responded on Facebook Live.
The video is from last year, when the Atlantic City Democratic Committee nominated Thomas-Fields, Small and committee President Gwen Callaway Lewis to fill the position left vacant after then-Mayor Frank Gilliam resigned after pleading guilty to theft of money meant for a youth basketball camp.
At the time, the agreement was that -- while City Council had to be given three people to choose from -- Small had the full backing of the group.
"Mayor Small, this is your time, and the community is ready for someone who sincerely are concerned about us," Thomas-Fields says in the 43-second campaign ad that ends with Small sitting in a chair saying he approves this message.
Now, Thomas-Fields says that is how she felt at the time, "but after seeing a lack of sincere leadership in the mayor's office, I knew it was time to step up."
She alleged that Small's latest move proves he knows she is "a formidable front-runner."
"As a woman, he's undermined my candidacy with belittlement and demeaning remarks from the very beginning," she said. "It's unfortunate that he's chosen to deploy lies and deception against me."
