TRENTON -- A state Assembly candidate from south Jersey who was once a contestant on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" is under fire after a video clip surfaced showing him making an obscene comment to a woman.

Brian McDowell, a Republican who is running for a seat in the 1st legislative district in one of New Jersey's most competitive races this year, rejected a request last week from the Cape May County Republican Committee to drop out of the election because of new "issues and information" that came to light.

Instead, the organization withdrew its endorsement of McDowell, 41, a real estate broker who lives in North Wildwood.

The video has been circulating through south Jersey over the last few weeks. The 10-second clip shows McDowell, an unmarried father of three, speaking to a woman, who is not completely visible, at what appears to be a bar.

"Let me tell you right now," McDowell says. "You should (expletive) me. It would really be good. Listen, you never know."

McDowell, a Trump supporter who helped run the businessman's presidential campaign in Cape May County last year, told NJ Advance Media he has no plans to withdraw his candidacy.

"I am not a politician," McDowell said. "I am not trying to be a politician. I am trying to go to Trenton to talk some common sense into people in the system."

McDowell also defended himself against past issues, such as a restraining order filed against him by an ex-girlfriend and an arrest in 2008, saying he has made "human errors."

"Even Jesus dropped the cross three times," McDowell said. "I'm not running to be the Pope. I'm running to make New Jersey more affordable."

McDowell said the woman he's shown speaking to is a friend of 10 years and that their conversation was "in jest." He said he wasn't drunk when the video was taken and does not know who filmed the clip or has circulated it.

"Anybody can take a video and spin it any way they want," he said. "We both had no clue anybody was videotaping us or would blackmail me into withdrawing from the race."

"It shows how rigged and corrupt this system is," McDowell added.

He said he plans to offer a reward for anyone who comes forward with information about the video.

"That's the real important question: Who did this?" McDowell asked.

Marcus Karavan, chairman of the Cape May County GOP, posted a message on the committee's Facebook page on April 6 saying the new information the committee learned about McDowell "places the candidate in a light that is inconsistent with several of the core principles" of the organization.

"Accordingly, we cannot in good conscience support this candidate going forward," Karavan writes.

Karavan said the committee offered McDowell the chance to withdraw his name but he refused, so it filed paperwork to take away the prime ballot placement he received from the group's endorsement.

"I felt I should leave it up to the voters," McDowell said. "If the voters come out and support my message, they're willing to send someone to Trenton to represent their interests."

Karavan did not immediately return messages from NJ Advance Media seeking further comment. He told Politico that the video was the tipping point for the committee to change its mind about McDowell.

The Cape May GOP voted in March to endorse both McDowell and his running mate, Cumberland County Freeholder James Sauro, in their bid to unseat Democratic incumbents Bruce Land and Robert Andrzejczak.

A third Republican Assembly candidate in the district, Downe Mayor Robert Campbell, is running without the county group's endorsement.

The 1st District includes parts of Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland counties and traditionally produces close, expensive races. Each district has one member of the state Senate and two members of the Assembly. All 120 seats in the state Legislature are up for grabs in November.

Chairpeople or the Atlantic and Cumberland county Republican organizations could not be reached for comment about where they stand on McDowell's candidacy.

McDowell admitted that he has a checkered past. He said his name is on a domestic violence registry because more than a decade ago, he proposed to his girlfriend on a bus. He said she filed a restraining order against him because she took it as harassment.

"Apparently some people on the bus ridiculed my ex girlfriend," McDowell said.

He added that they got back together and had a 10-year relationship that produced two daughters.

McDowell also was arrested in Florida in 2008 at the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays for allegedly trespassing because he did not have a ticket. He said the prosecutor later determined it was a wrongful arrest but that his mugshot remains online.

McDowell was a contestant on third season of "The Apprentice" in 2005. He did not win the NBC realty show that Trump hosted years before he was elected America's 45th president last November.

Politico New Jersey was the first media outlet to report on the video.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.