Flamboyant celebrity hairstylist who renamed himself Martino Cartier now running as GOP commissioner candidate

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Diomande, A. (2026, October 28). Flamboyant celebrity hairstylist who renamed himself Martino Cartier now running as GOP commissioner candidate. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16245597/Flamboyant-celebrity-hairstylist-renamed-Martino-Cartier-running-GOP-commissioner-candidate.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-28 · by Aisha Diomande

Quick Summary

Martino Cartier, a 51-year-old celebrity hairstylist from New Jersey who appeared on the reality show "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" and has over 25,000 Instagram followers, is running as a Republican candidate for Gloucester County commissioner. His campaign slogan is 'wigs and wishes,' reflecting his work with women affected by cancer through his nonprofit foundation. Cartier is known for his flamboyant lifestyle and past financial troubles, including debt of $300,000. He criticizes current county administrator Stephen Sweeney on social media and claims he would prioritize firing him if elected.
Written by AI on 2026-10-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Martino Cartier, a 51-year-old former reality TV star and celebrity hairstylist, is running as the Republican candidate for Gloucester County commissioner in New Jersey. Born Baby Boy Ayad, he was adopted by Irish-American parents who changed his name to Martin Clinton Maguire Jr., and later renamed himself Martino Cartier. Cartier owns a salon in Washington Township and has over 25,000 followers on Instagram. He gained notoriety with a video showing him dancing alongside cancer patients featuring singer Katy Perry, which garnered 95,000 views. His campaign slogan is "wigs and wishes," reflecting his nonprofit foundation that helps women affected by cancer gain confidence through wigs and supportive activities. Cartier faces competition from Jim Jefferson, Joann Gattinelli, and Matthew Weng in the race.

Written for “Martino Cartier Runs For Office” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 113178: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-28

Story

📰 Martino Cartier Runs For Office
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-28 · how these are computed

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Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8068 article(s) · 19 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 19 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Aisha Diomande
49 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Cartier claimed his priority would be trying to fire Sweeney if he were to be elected.
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Also by Aisha Diomande
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 49 articles by Aisha Diomande →

Topics

GOP Gloucester County Instagram New Jersey Washington Township

Subjects

Cartier PERSON · 17× Martino Cartier PERSON · 3× New Jersey GPE · 3× Washington Township GPE · 3× GOP ORG · 2× Gloucester County GPE · 2× Instagram ORG · 2× Joann Gattinelli PERSON · 2× Katy Perry PERSON · 2× Sweeney PERSON · 2×

Narrative

Cartier was born and named Baby Boy Ayad; his Irish-American adoptive parents then changed his name to Martin Clinton Maguire Jr. A glitzy celebrity hairstylist who once appeared on a reality TV show is now running as GOP candidate for county commissioner Martino Cartier, 51, the owner of a salon in Washington Township, New Jersey, is seeking to become Gloucester County commissioner Cartier has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram and garnered 95,000 views from a video he made with singer Katy Perry that showed him dancing alongside cancer patients In 1999, Cartier changed his name to Martino Ayad Cartier.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-28
🔮 Cartier claimed his priority would be trying to fire Sweeney if he were to be elected.

Claims (28 extracted, 0 hedged)

A glitzy celebrity hairstylist who once appeared on a reality TV show is now running as a GOP commissioner candidate. asserted
who → appear → candidate
Martino Cartier, 51, the owner of a salon in Washington Township, New Jersey, is seeking to become Gloucester County commissioner. asserted
Cartier → seek → Township
The TV personality, who appeared on season 1 of Tabatha's Salon Takeover, owns a nonprofit foundation where he helps to give confidence to women affected by cancer. asserted
he → appear → cancer
Cartier is running against Jim Jefferson, Joann Gattinelli and Matthew Weng. asserted
Cartier → run → Jefferson
During his spell on TV in 2008, Cartier flaunted his spending but also admitted to struggles with debt. ' asserted
Cartier → flaunt → debt
I do have a lavish lifestyle. asserted
I → have → lifestyle
I have a Corvette and an Escalade. asserted
I → have → Corvette
I like nice clothes. asserted
I → like → clothes
I love taking people out; I have parties for my staff all the time,' Cartier stated. asserted
Cartier → take → staff
Cartier then talked about his financial troubles: 'I'm $300,000 in debt. asserted
I → talk → debt
I had to borrow money from my mom and take out a second mortgage on my house just to keep the salon afloat.' asserted
I → have → salon
Cartier was born and named Baby Boy Ayad; his Irish-American adoptive parents then changed his name to Martin Clinton Maguire Jr. A glitzy celebrity hairstylist who once appeared on a reality TV show is now running as GOP candidate for county commissioner Martino Cartier, 51, the owner of a salon in Washington Township, New Jersey, is seeking to become Gloucester County commissioner Cartier has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram and garnered 95,000 views from a video he made with singer Katy Perry that showed him dancing alongside cancer patients In 1999, Cartier changed his name to Martino Ayad Cartier. asserted
Cartier → bear → Cartier
Cartier has more than 25,000 followers on Instagram and garnered 95,000 views from he made with singer Katy Perry that showed him dancing alongside cancer patients. asserted
him → have → patients
He titled the video 'Send Cancer To Hell,' which he described as a 'call to action for all those who have been touched by cancer in one way or another.' 'From capturing LIVE footage of a lion (aptly named Beast) to artist Liv Devine recording Katy Perry's "Roar," Martino Cartier envisioned this video as a prophetic outcry against this horrible disease,' Cartier wrote. asserted
Cartier → title → disease
Cartier frequently criticizes county administrator and former New Jersey Senate president Stephen Sweeney on social media. asserted
Cartier → criticize → media
Cartier claimed his priority would be trying to fire Sweeney if he were to be elected. asserted
he → claim → Sweeney
Sweeney has accused Cartier of once being convicted of committing insurance fraud. asserted
Sweeney → accuse → fraud
Cartier responded on Facebook: 'There was an insurance fraud for a car that happened in Philadelphia. asserted
that → respond → Philadelphia
I was a single dad and I wasn't gonna rat anybody out.' asserted
I → go → anybody
The hairdresser claimed he was pushed into pleading guilty to theft by deception with a car. asserted
he → claim → car
'I paid it all back and it was administratively dismissed,' he said. asserted
he → pay → it
Cartier took to his social media accounts to promote early voting to his viewers: 'We're not sitting around waiting for change. asserted
We → take → change
We're fighting for it' asserted
We → fight → it
Cartier was once warmly celebrated by Washington Township Democrats. asserted
Cartier → celebrate → Democrats
He was honored as a local hero in a parade and presented with a community service award by Democratic Congressman Donald Norcross in 2021. asserted
He → honor → 2021
He also shared a history of mutual support with current opponent Joann Gattinelli, though Cartier says those ties were severed when he launched his campaign. asserted
he → share → campaign
Cartier took to his social media accounts to promote early voting to his viewers: 'We're not sitting around waiting for change. asserted
We → take → change
We're fighting for it.' asserted
We → fight → it
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