Nutley Commissioner Carmen Orechio
NUTLEY - A car pulls up in front of the VFW Building on Washington and Commissioner Carmen Orechio emerges from the passenger side.
"Hey, Carmen!" comes a familiar cry.
The former state senate president is well known in New Jersey.
But everybody knows him in Nutley, where the 84-year old has served for 40 years on the Board of Commissioners.
Winning this election tonight gives Orechio, a former three-time mayor, a shot at surpassing Harry Chenoweth as Nutley's longest serving commissioner since the town fathers established the form of government here in 1912.
Chenowith also put in 40 years.
Orechio knows the advantage incumbent commisioners have in Nutley and moving between polling places he is confident about his re-election.
"I feel real good," Orechio says. "I want to continue my work as the commissioner of public safety. I want to upgrade our traffic signals."
The cry comes again across the parking lot.
"Hey, Carmen!"
Another Nutley voter.
He waves back.
"Hey, Carmen, you look good," says a man heading into the VFW Building.
Serving as Orechio's campaign manager, Assemblyman Fred Scalara (D-Belleville) says he needs to keep the commissioner moving, and so amid shouts of encouragement in the parking lot of the VFW, Orechio keeps going.
Attorney General Anne Milgram had already decided she would leave her post when Gov. Jon Corzine lost his bid for re-election. She has been ... >
The contest for Governor of New Jersey might be the most visible but in the long term it might not be the most important. Long after our youngest ... >
Political discourse in America contains much in the way of intellect or intellectual honesty. One considers the Federalist Papers with wistful awe: ... >
Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie. How sweet it is for the thousands of volunteers who worked since February to support this great man for NJ ... >
With a convincing win in defeating an encumbent Governor, why were there no coattails? >
Within 24 hours after the election of Chris Christie as Governor, the battle was joined between the Governor-elect and the New Jersey Education ... >
I am often asked by my students, friends and even reporters why campaigns in New Jersey are so nasty and why candidates rely so heavily on negative ... >
It was a dark and stormy November night. An icy wind whistled through leafless moonlit trees. A loud thud is followed by a piercing scream. A ... >
Patrick Murray is the founding director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. According to their website, “The Monmouth University ... >
According to the latest SurveyUSA and Rutgers Eagleton polls, independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett has the support of 19% and 20% of ... >