Max Pizarro's blog

NEWARK - The North Ward reports good performance numbers.

"AS of 3 p.m., there were 4,400 votes cast," said North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos. "That's about 42-43% of what it was last year (When Barack Obama was at the top of the ticket), so we're considering that to be good turnout."

East Ward Democratic Party leader Joe Parlavecchio, left, emerging from Sunday's Obama rally at the Rock with Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman Phil Thigpen

NEWARK - The East Ward - home of the Ironbound and the smallest ward in Newark - is performing above expectations early, according to veteran East Ward Democratic leader Joseph Parlavecchio.

"We have a major, major GOTV operation," Parlavecchio told PolitickerNJ.com. "The tally was 1,800 at noon, which is ahead of your typical mayoral and and local council election, which turns out 3,200 in the East at the end of the night.

"Remember," added the East Warder, "this is a blue collar community, people are working today, and the majority of them who will vote will come and vote after 5 o'clock."

The councilman's father, state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark), overseeing operations days before Election Day.

NEWARK - West Ward Councilman Ronald C. Rice says his ward - overseen for over two decades by his father, state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) - is performing well early on Election Day.

"We just had our first round of numbers checks," Rice told PolitickerNJ.com.

The districts targeted for "surge" Obama voters are driving the numbers up to best expectations, Rice maintains. 

"In district 7, for example, the mark at the end of the day for Gov. Jon Corzine in 2005 was 200 votes at 8 p.m.," said the councilman. "As of noon today, that same district is reporting 92 votes.

NEWARK - Overall turnout in New Jersey's largest city is hovering near 30% of where it was last year when Barack Obama ultimately racked over 77,112 votes, according to Democratic Party sources on the ground.

That is below the goal of 50% the Corzine campaign wants in Newark, where incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine won 39,573 votes in 2005.

A South Ward source says operations are "humming, not buzzing."

The Democratic incumbent's targeted Obama allies - so-called "surge voters" - are going to the polls, however, the response by regular registered voters in other South Ward districts is light so far, says the source.

Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell last year on the campaign trail.

NEWARK- A year ago they were fighting each other, but their local rivalry in the Central Ward created sparks from below that ignited  Barack Obama fervor from above to create an excellent environment for high Democratic Party turnout in New Jersey's biggest city.

This year, Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell and the man he defeated, labor leader Eddie Osborne, are on the same team and both seeing the battle develop from the same forward position.

"It's moderate turnout compared to last year, nothing like Obama," Bell said of Election Day turnout. "I will say this, though: compared to most gubernatorial years, turnout is pretty good."

Bell admitted that the Central Ward has been an organizational trouble spot in Newark for the Corzine campaign.

Menendez addresses South Jersey labor this morning.

CHERRY HILL - U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) campaigns in Camden County today for incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine.

"The eyes of the nation are on New Jersey," cries the senator at this labor rally behind Camden County Democratic Committee headquarters.

He forges the connection between GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie and the man for whom Christie fundraised in the 2000 election before landing the job as U.S. Attorney as a returned favor from Bush.

"Are you going to vote for a Bush pioneer who will try to implement the same policies that led us into the worst economy since the Great Depression?" asks Menendez to scattered boos.

CHERRY HILL - "Machine, what machine?" deadpans retiring Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden), shuffling into Camden County Democratic Committee headquarters amid hundreds of bodies pushing toward the back door and the rally under a blue sky.

"There is no such thing as a machine."

Camden County Democratic Party leader George Norcross III is in the crowd, but his younger brother, Donald, is running the program.

President of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and assistant business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 351, Donald Norcross is also a candidate for the Assembly in the 5th District.

The union men and women on the pavement cheer heartily when Building and Trades chief Bill Mullen pays his respects to the labor leader who helped elect almost 200 union people since he took over the Southern Labor Council.

Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), left, and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden)

CHERRY HILL - Wearing a green ironworkers local t-shirt, state Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) says he's been here before, and so he speaks with first-hand knowledge when he says the labor vote makes the difference in close elections down here.

"In my senate race, my internals showed me down by two and I won by three - and it's because of this," says Sweeney, on his way into the packed Camden County Democratic Committee headquarters where the workers are pressing through the front doors, then the back, spilling into the rear parking lot for their massive morning GOTV rally.

"There is more of a commitment than ever from organized labor for this election," Sweeney says. "Chris Christie has made it easy for us. He drew as deep a line as you can draw and people are eager to defeat him."

The majority leader, who is poised with senate reorganization to become the senate president, said at least 1,000 workers will attend the rally, then jump on GOTV vans that will cruise to targeted locations throughout South Jersey on behalf of Gov. Jon Corzine and  his allies.

"This is something the Republicans don't have," he says. "A ground game."

Sweeney confirms that he had a sit-down meeting last week with his rival for the senate presidency, Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland), but denied that Codey told him he was conceding their leadership contest.

Corzine attends rally in Cherry Hill this morning.

CHERRY HILL - Gov. Jon Corzine jumps onto a stage in front of hundreds of union workers in the parking lot behind Camden County Democratic Party headquarters.

"You must send a message that the labor movement is alive and well," Corzine yells. "Let's win tonight. We are ten hours and ten minutes away. If we get out the vote, we win this election. I ain't gonna lay off 10,000-20,000 public employees. We're gonna build power plants and get our union brothers back to work. The only thing that counts is bottom up."

The speech is shouted out to the throng of men and women stretched out in front of the stage.

"We're gonna win this because of you," yells Corzine to a roar of approval before falling into the embrace of Donald Norcross, the man who helped build this vaunted South Jersey labor organization.

Corzine enters IBEW Local 269 tonight in Lawrenceville.

LAWRENCEVILLE - Gov. Jon Corzine embraced labor here at IBEW Local 269 just before completing his day of campaigning on the night before Election Day.

"Get out there and vote," Corzine roared to a room packed with men who claim membership in this electrical workers union numbering 1,200 strong from around Central Jersey.

"Everything is what happens, not what people speculate," he told PolitickerNJ.com moments later when asked about his trust in the strength of the Democratic Party machine. "We think we have the better operation, and it's up to people to execute."

Asked why the voters of New Jersey should give him another four years, Corzine said, "I'm the best guy to get us out of this recession on the issues that matter: education, healthcare, partnership with the president; I'm in a much better position on every front, not for giving tax cuts to people making over $400,000 a year."

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-South Brunswick), and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) were in the room.