Low turnout expected in state's second primary come June 3rd!
Lautenberg challenged by Andrews, Cresitello for US
Senate, Real Democrats challenging BCDO slate, locals run unopposed for borough
council in both parties!
NORTH
ARLINGTON - Voters for the first time will be asked to vote in a party primary for
the second time in four months as the state's longest serving United States
Senator is being challenged by two other Democrats come Tuesday.
Incumbent
Frank Lautenberg, the co-founder of Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and former member of the Port Authority of
New York & New Jersey is being challenged by Congressman Robert E.
Andrews, an attorney and former member of the Camden County Board of
Freeholders. The third candidate in the race is Mayor Donald Cresitello, a
conservative Democrat who has made illegal immigration the foundation of
his campaign.
Andrews,
who jumped into the race hours before the filing deadline has the
support of Senator Paul Sarlo (D-36) while Lautenberg is the official
candidate of the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) and
has the support of Congressman Steve Rothman (D-9)
Lautenberg,
who was first elected to the senate in 1982 was re-elected in 1988 and
1994. In 2000 he retired and was replaced by Governor Jon Corzine who left
the senate to run for governor in 2005. Lautenberg was asked to run for the
senate again in 2002 when incumbent Robert Torricelli dropped his bid for
a second term amid allegations of ethical lapses with a foreign donor
named David Chang. Lautenberg's entrance dramatically changed the tone of the
race and the former CEO defeated Republican Doug Forrester by nearly
10 points.
Some call the race is a contest between the
forces of Camden County Democratic leader George Norcross and US Senator Robert
Menendez of Hudson County as to who will control the state's Democratic
organization. Others say the race is a trial run for Andrews to challenge
Governor Corzine in the 2009 Democratic primary for governor. Andrews has
denied those suggestions and stated he's in the race to defeat Mr. Lautenberg.
Questions of age and residency have been
hurled at Lautenberg by Andrews while both attack each other on who supported
the war in Iraq when in fact both had the same position when coalition forces
invaded Iraq and toppled Sadaam Hussein in 2003. The United States captured and
executed Sadaam as the US now finds itself mired in a civil war between warring
religious factions in a conflict that's costing taxpayers $2 billion dollars a
month.
For the
most part, the state's Democratic leadership has lined up geographically for
Andrews in the south and Lautenberg in the north. In places likes Newark
and Essex County, Andrews has picked up the support of five members of the Newark City Council and Stephen Adubato,
the North Ward power broker for decades.
On the
line and heavily supported by the likes of
Rothman, Lautenberg is expected to carry most of the northern counties
while Andrews is expected to carry the eight or nine southern counties
controlled by Norcross and his wing of the party. Cresitello, a local mayor
from Morris County could tip the balance in a
close race and as the only Italian-American for the Democratic nod.
On the
Republican side, former Congressman Richard Zimmer is seeking a second chance
to elevate himself to the United States Senate and is being challenged by
ultra-conservative Murray Sabrin of Bergen County and Morris County State
Senator Joseph Pennachio.
Zimmer,
who spent $8 million dollars in 1996 to defeat Congressman Robert Torricelli
for Bill Bradley's open seat was a last minute addition to the Republican
field. Zimmer vacated a safe seat in the house (12th CD) to challenge
Torricelli who also vacated his seat in the 9th CD. Torricelli defeated Zimmer 1,519,154 to 1,227,351 or 10 percentage
points. Bill Clinton led the landslide in 1996 by defeating Bob Dole 1,651,019
to 1,102,577 or 18 percentage points becoming the first two-term Democrat since
FDR.
Murray
Sabrin, a college professor is making his
third try for statewide office. The Libertarian candidate for governor in
1997, Mr. Sabrin captured about 5% of the vote against incumbent Christie Todd
Whitman and then Democratic challenger James McGreevey. Sabrin would become a
Republican and enter the 2002 primary for US Senate and was easily defeated by
the eventual nominee, Doug Forrester.
The third
candidate in the race is Senator Joseph Pennachio, a dentist. A former Morris
County freeholder and member of the General Assembly, Pennachio challenged
former Congressman Dean Gallo in 1988. A strong conservative, Pennachio is
pro-life and pro-Second Amendment.
Both races
for the US Senate are expected to be
competitive despite what most observers believe will be a low turnout.
Congressman
Steve Rothman will be seeking a seventh term in the House of Representatives
and finds himself in a rematch with Rutherford Republican Vince Micco. Rothman
easily defeated Micco two years ago. Underfunded and without a strong message,
Micco seems to be doing the Republicans a service by challenging the popular
Rothman who is one of Senator Barack Obama's
closest allies in the House of Representatives.
At the
county level, longtime County Clerk Kathy Donovan is seeking her fifth,
five-year term of office. Bergen's last standing elected Republican, Donovan
succeeded Democrat Carl Hartmann of Wallington in 1989. A former member of the
General Assembly (1986-88), Donovan has been unsuccessful in her attempts for
congress (1996), state senate (1987) and county executive (2002 & 2006).
The Rutherford Republican is former Lyndhurst resident with strong ties in
South Bergen. An attorney, Donovan has served as a member of the Port Authority
of New York & New Jersey as well as NJ Republican State Chairperson.
Donovan is
expected to be challenged by Diane Testa, a former Fairview councilwoman and
current administrator for that borough. Testa, an attorney and graduate of
Bridgeport University School of Law is expected to poll well in the heavily
Democratic communities of East Bergen led by Democratic icon and Cliffside Park
Mayor Gerry Calabrese. Testa first needs to defeat Real Democrat challenger Gail Frasco, a former
councilwoman from Westwood who is being endorsed by State Senator Loretta
Weinberg of Teaneck (D-37).
The race
for freeholder has three Democratic incumbents on
shaky ground as all three have the dubious distinction of being defeated
for re-election in their respective hometowns.
Incumbent
freeholder candidates David Ganz of Fair Lawn, Bernadette McPherson of
Rutherford and the Reverend Vernon Walton of the City of Englewood all lost in their latest attempts for local
office. Ganz & McPherson were defeated by
landslide proportions for mayor in their respective communities while
Walton was defeated in a Democratic Primary last year by Assemblyman Gordon
Johnson, also a member of the Englewood City Council.
Nevertheless, Walton was appointed to a freeholder vacancy when Assemblyman Bob Gordon elevated to the state senate to succeed Joseph Coniglio,
who is now under federal indictment and awaiting trial. Gordon's
elevation to the state senate was followed by Freeholder Connie Wagner's
selection to the General Assembly in the 38th legislative district. Walton is the first African-American ever to
serve on the seven member county board of freeholders.
The
incumbents are being challenged by Real Democrats Carol Skiba, Carol Hoernlein and Aishaah Rasul. Of the three,
Skiba is the most well known. A former
conservative Republican who supported former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan,
Skiba is a former councilperson from Hasbrouck Heights.
Some say
the Real
Democrats slate is
really just names on the ballot with no
chance of winning. The reason why their running is to assist Real Democrats who are seeking county committee
seats in various election districts around the county. The county committee
candidates will be opposed to the re-election
of Joseph Ferriero for a sixth, two-year term as county chairman. Ferriero
succeeded former Freeholder and Cliffside Park Mayor Gerry Calabrese in 1998.
Ferriero is the party's longest serving
chairman in over four decades.
South
Bergen Democrats are especially nervous with McPherson seeking another term as freeholder after being "hung to
dry" in last year's mayoral race where former Democrat John Hipp crushed her by over 1,600 votes.
Rutherford Republicans now have control of that municipality and few expect
local Democrats to be competitive in 2008 even with fresh faces seeking two
seats vacated by the incumbents.
After a string of five straight defeats, North Arlington Republicans last year won a tight contest by just 92-votes as local Democrats were forced to
raise property taxes some 33% due to the
borough's past spending practices and litigation with embattled developer, EnCap
Holdings.
GOP
challengers Rich Hughes and Joseph Bianchi defeated first-term incumbents Phil
Spanola and Mark Yampaglia when tax bills were stalled in getting to borough
homeowners compounded by the sharp tax hike. The challengers were heavily supported by former Mayor and NJMC
Commissioner, Len Kaiser.
But the
Massa Administration has responded well to the defeat by crafting a zero tax increase budget and defeating the
stalled EnCap project.
The state
of New Jersey followed North Arlington's lead by voiding the agreement and
ironically it was Kaiser, a longtime supporter of the project flip flopping and voting to void the current
agreement with the NJMC!
While
Hughes & Bianchi ran against the 2007 tax hike, they've done nothing according to sources in borough hall to
reign-in municipal spending or assist Councilman Al Granell and the Massa
Administration in crafting the zero tax hike budget.
"Hughes & Bianchi have not suggested a
single budget cut or reduction in spending since joining the council in
January. All the heavy lifting was done by Finance Chairman Al Granell, CFO
Judith Tutela and Administrator Terence Wall. For them to even suggest
they had anything to do with this year's zero tax hike is pure fantasy," said Democratic Municipal Chairman Nick
Antonicello, Sr.
"Council President Steve Tanelli and former
Councilman Mark Yampaglia have made the tough choices as it relates to spending,
taxes and EnCap. If
not for Yampaglia's opposition to the project, Arlington Valley would be under construction. It didn't happen because Yampaglia stood tall
for taxpayers while Hughes and Bianchi stood on the sidelines trying to
figure out new ways to undermine Mayor
Massa's team," observed Antonicello.
The
Democrats are running incumbent Council President Steve Tanelli for
re-election. Appointed to an unexpired term in 2004, Tanelli was elected by
landslide proportions and re-elected by the same margin for a three-year term
in 2005. A former Recreation Director and Commissioner, Tanelli is one of Massa's closest allies on the governing body and EnCap's most ardent opponent.
"Steve
is a strong candidate with an impressive resume. He has the support of our
legislative team in Trenton and is well liked here in the community. Steve
Tanelli will be very difficult, if not impossile to beat come November,"
said one former GOP operative.
Appointed
to the governing body in 2005 and elected by the voters that November, Mark
Yampaglia was again appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Pete Massa in
2007. He finished third last year in a race where he lost by a mere 92-votes.
The son of Municipal Judge Emil Yampaglia, he also served as Public Defender and
is in private practice in Rutherford. A varsity baseball player at NAHS,
Yampaglia is a graduate of FDU and the Touro School of Law. Yampaglia also has the distinction of being a member of PHI BETA
KAPPA.
"Our
ticket sides with Mayor Massa. This ticket wants
to work with Mayor Massa while our opponents are nothing but disciples of the
failed Kaiser Administration and puppets of that failed regime. North
Arlington needs to move forward. We can't slide back to the failed
policies and politics of Kaiser," observed Antonicello.
The
Republican ticket features two challengers with long ties to the Kaiser Administration in Jim Bocchino and James
Herrmann.
"There
is nothing new here. Bocchino served as
Kaiser's chief lieutenant, fundraiser and municipal party chairman. He was
Kaiser's choice to serve on the now defunct, NARA. He is a retired patronage
employee of the Bergen County Utilities Authority where Kaiser now serves as
executive director. He is Kaiser's choice
through and through," said one Democrat when asked bout the GOP
ticket.
"Jimmy Herrmann was Kaiser's protégé for
decades. Kaiser supported his bid to be on the Board of Education where he
raised taxes. Kaiser engineered his nomination for borough council in 1999 and
his election in 2000. Herrmann was a tax & spend liberal on the
council and supported EnCap.
When he was defeated by landslide proportions in 2003, he had the arrogance to
try to get himself appointed to the governing body and a Bergen County judge had his
appointment voided and he was removed in the spring of 2004.
You couldn't find two candidates so aligned at the hip with Leonard Kaiser
other than maybe Rich Hughes and Joe Bianchi," said Councilman Al Granell,
this year's campaign manager for Tanelli & Yampaglia.
Council
President Steve Tanelli promised to press the challengers to debate the issues
such as taxes and EnCap.
"Mark
and I will debate Jimmy Bocchino and Jim Herrmann on the issues in this
campaign. I will not allow the Republicans to distort our zero tax increase
accomplishment nor our successful battle to stop EnCap. The choice is really simple in this campaign. Do you want a council that will support Mayor
Pete Massa or a council that wants to oust Pete Massa for Len Kaiser?
That's the choice. That's what will happen. Remnants of the Kaiser
Administration desperately want the political power they lost. I want to keep
North Arlington on the right track by working with Mayor Massa and finishing
the good things we've started. I believe the voters want the same thing
too," offered Tanelli.
