The brother of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone has announced his candidacy for the Long Branch City Council.  John Pallone, who served as a Councilman from 1990 to 1994, said today that he would run with David Brown, the former Roselle Business Administrator and now the Plainfield Public Works Director. 

Frank Pallone began his political career as a Long Branch City Councilman in 1982 and then scored a surprise victory when he ousted Republican State Sen. Brian Kennedy in 1983.  Pallone held the seat against Gerri Popkin in 1987, and then beat Joseph Azzolina in a 1988 congressional race after twelve-term incumbent James Howard died.  John Pallone gave up his council seat to challenge Mayor Adam Schneider in 1994.

As New Jersey braces for another snowstorm, noteworthy is Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo’s website, where residents can use “Snow Plow Sal” to monitor the movements of snow plows to determine when their street will be plowed.  Hamilton also has "Pothole Pete."

Mark Anton, the Chairman of the Suburban Propane Gas Corporation, was a half-term Republican from Essex County who was elected in a 1953 special election after Alfred Clapp, who had mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP gubernatorial election, resigned to become a Superior Court Judge. An Essex County Freeholder, he was never a strong vote-getter: he defeated Democrat Charles Stanziale, a former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, by a narrow 50.4%-49.6% margin.

When Anton sought a full term in 1955, he found himself in a feud with former U.S. Attorney William Tompkins, a former Assemblyman from Essex County who was at the time serving as the Assistant U.S. Attorney General. Anton and Tompkins were both interested in seeking the Republican nomination for Governor in 1957.

Tompkins, who considered challenging Anton himself (he ran for the Senate ten years later but lost to a Democratic slate headed by John Giblin), instead recruited Assembly Majority Leader William Barnes to run. Barnes, who had run a strong race against U.S. Rep. Hugh Addonizio in 1952, attacked Anton for his support of night harness racing and his membership on a citizens committee formed to end a high profile strike on the New York pier, but lost the primary to Anton, 53%-47%.

Unable to unite the Essex GOP in the general election, Anton lost to Democrat Donal Fox. Fox, a former Assistant Essex County Prosecutor who had managed the nearly successful U.S. Senate campaign of Charles Howell in 1954 (Howell, a Democratic Congressman from Mercer County, lost the open Senate seat to Republican Clifford Case by an excruciatingly close 48.7%-48.5% margin), became the first Democrat to win the Essex Senate seat since 1908. Fox beat Anton 53%-48% and took office on the day Lance described as his first memory of visiting the Senate chamber.

Seeking re-election to as second term in 1959, Fox found himself in the middle of a battle between Governor Robert Meyner and Dennis Carey, the legendary Essex County Democratic Chairman over the new Essex County Prosecutor. The post was vacant because Charles Webb had resigned to launch his own State Senate campaign against Fox.

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority President Dennis Robinson may be the new Bryan Christiansen, the embattled Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority (PVSC) Executive Director.  Robinson is using public funds to pay a politically connected law firm to fight the Star-Ledger’s lawsuit seeking the release of public documents.  With a new governor committed to complete transparency, there’s a good chance guys like Robinson and Christiansen, who use public funds to fight their battles and then refuse to release them publicly, will be on defense for a while – at least until they get fired.