Pro-Life State Senate Candidate Accused Of Advising Abortion

By Kleinheider Posted on October 20, 2008 at 6:08 pm

The letter writing campaign against 26th District state Senate candidate Randy Camp does not appear to be letting up in the least out in West Tennessee. The candidate who was revealed in August to have committed adultery in his marriage now stands accused by his ex-wife of counseling a woman to have an abortion.

The first volley in this letter-writing campaign (which all participants assure Post Politics has come without direction from the Republican Party or the campaign of Camp’s opponent, State Rep. Dolores Gresham) was lobbed by Randy Camp’s former brother-in-law, Tommy Roland.

In a letter, distributed this summer to “some folks around the district” and motivated by a “country-boy” urge to defend his sister, Roland got into the nitty-gritty of Randy Camp’s divorce of his wife, Lisa. A copy of the divorce records where Camp admitted to adultery in his marriage were enclosed.

The next letter was sent by Camp’s former mother-in-law. In her letter, the grandmother of young Catherine and Leigh Camp documents her pleading in correspondence to candidate Camp that he not use his daughters in a political fashion. Camp declined.

Now, in the most salacious chapter, Lisa Roland Camp, Randy Camp’s ex-wife, has penned her own letter bearing her own signature.

In the letter Lisa Camp accuses her pro-life candidate ex-husband, Randy Camp, of counseling an unnamed woman to have an abortion.

I am ashamed that I have watched [Randy Camp] tell voters lie and after lie after lie and said nothing. But when I saw him use our daughters in an effort to portray himself as pro-life, I knew I couldn’t remain silent any longer.

Randy Camp is not pro-life. He may tell you that in an effort to get your vote but when confronted with an inconvenient pregnancy, he counseled abortion. I know. Fortunately, the woman did not listen.

When contacted by Post Politics Lisa Camp confirmed that she was the author of the letter. She said that the letter had been sent out to “a bunch” of people around the district and that her reasons for writing were simple.

“All these years I’ve lived with Randy Camp, I know he is not pro-life,” Camp explained. “I was gonna stay out of it. Really, I was. But after I saw that commercial with my girls saying he was pro-life, I just couldn’t stay out of it anymore.”

Lisa Camp refused to comment on whether she had been present for the abortion counseling or if she had heard it from the person counseled.

When asked how she could assure Post Politics that Randy Camp had counseled a woman to get an abortion Camp responded matter-of-factly.

“You’re just gonna have to take my word for it,” Camp explained, “I just know.”

Speaking for Randy Camp, State Senate Democratic Caucus Political Director Mark Brown says that Camp “flatly denies” these allegations.

Brown says that Camp has “never advised anyone to have an abortion and has no idea what incident [Ms. Camp] writes about.”

The campaign also released the following statement by Mark Brown:

“Everyone that knows Randy Camp knows that he is pro-life and pro-traditional values. He and [Rep. Gresham] agree on that.

Where they disagree is on her belief that government should work for her and not for the people. [Rep. Gresham] and her supporters can try to distract voters from her record with accusations and innuendo, but it won’t work.

The fact of the matter is that the only two accomplishments of Dolores Gresham’s legislative career have been to raise her own pay and to give herself thousands of dollars of taxpayer money in farm grants. She and her supporters just don’t get that they can’t obscure that fact.”

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Tags: abortion, Dolores Gresham, Lisa Camp, Lisa Faye Roland Camp, Lisa Roland Camp, pro-life, Randy Camp, Senate District 26, Tennessee State Senate  

Former Mother-In-Law Doesn’t Want Grandkids Used As Campaign Props

By Kleinheider Posted on October 1, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Democratic state Senate candidate Randy Camp is once again at the center of some in-law drama.

It appears that Camp’s former brother-in-law, who has been sending letters to citizens of the 26th District documenting his disgust over the treatment of his sister during her 20-plus year marriage to Mr. Camp, is not alone among members of his family in having a fondness for committing his thoughts to paper.

Post Politics has learned that Nancy Roland, the mother of Camp’s former wife Lisa, has also written a letter. In the missive, which was sent to an estimated “hundreds” around the district, Roland echoes her son’s accounts of the mistreatment of her daughter as well as Camp’s many admitted adulteries.

But she also adds a new charge.

In the letter, Ms. Roland asserts that she asked Mr. Camp to refrain from using his daughters and grandchild, her granddaughters and great grandson, in political ads.

“Because of all Lisa had been through, I wrote and begged him not to use the children and our great grandson in his politics. He has ignored my request,” Roland states in the letter.

The daughters, Catherine and Leigh Camp, however, have been on the campaign trail and were featured in at least one political advertisement along with pictures of Catherine’s young son, Brayden.

Camp’s ex-wife, Lisa, confirmed that she was aware of the letter and while she did not solicit or instigate it’s writing, she does vouch for it’s content.

On the subject of Catherine and Leigh’s campaign activities, Lisa Roland tells Post Politics that while she has never asked her daughters explicitly to refrain from the practice (and never would), she has expressed her feelings on the matter.

“They know I’m not fond of it,” explains Ms. Camp. “But, he’s their Dad. I want to them to have a relationship with him. I would never stand in the way of that.”

Nancy Roland also confirmed that she did author the letter because of “everything my daughter has been through.”

When asked whether she had been helped with the letter or its distribution by Republican operatives or political opponents of Camp, Roland responded, “Oh no, I am not really a political person. I’m a political independent. I vote for the best person for the job.”

Roland added that Mr. Camp has, to date, neither answered nor acknowledged her letter imploring him not to use her grandchildren in his political campaign.

Requests for comment to Randy Camp were referred to Senate Democratic Caucus Political Director Mark Brown who issued the following statement.

“Randy’s grown daughters love their father and support his campaign because they understand the importance of this election to their futures and the future of District 26. They agree with their father about the importance of bringing good-paying jobs to the district and improving access to health care. Obviously, Gresham and her surrogates desperately want to change the subject from the fact that Gresham’s top legislative accomplishment has been to raise her own pay.”

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Tags: Adultery, Lisa Roland Camp, Nancy Roland, Randy Camp