DeCroce announces he's running for leader again, but does not secure Biondi endorsement

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce at the breakfast meeting this morning.: Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Last Friday, two veteran legislators sat in a Somerville restaurant and talked about the future of the Republican Party in New Jersey, and mutual efforts to gain the majority in a state that George Bush year-by-year drove farther into the arms of the Democratic Party.

With a political enemy out there that is bigger and better organized, Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany-Troy Hills) wanted to make sure the party stays focused on the Democrats, and puts down those internal uprisings that might distract the GOP from that objective.

He gave Assembly Conference Leader Pete Biondi (R-Somerville) a simple piece of news regarding his interest in a fourth, two-year term as minority leader.

"I’m running again," he told Biondi, and then asked if he could depend on Biondi’s support.

"I’d like you to run with me and I would like you to continue to serve as conference leader," DeCroce told his colleague.

The announcement surprised Biondi.

"Gee, Alex, it’s kind of premature, isn’t it?" he said. "We’re talking about a vote that’s a year and two months from now. Either one of us can get hit by a bus between now and then. That’s a lot of time."

Biondi had thought the 72-year old DeCroce would be retiring this year.

"The last time I had talked to Alex, he told me this would be his last term - not only as leader but as a legislator," Biondi said.

Given recent history, no one in the 31-member Republican caucus would be surprised to learn that the six-term veteran Biondi has his own interest in the minority leader position.

During the budget session standoff earlier this year, it was DeCroce versus Biondi as the latter quietly complained that the minority leader was not exacting enough concessions from Democratic Party leadership.

"We held that budget bill up for four and a half hours, and in the end, what happened?" said the 66-year old Biondi. "We got underfunded municipalities and 31 Abbott School districts that remain overly reliant on state money. Hoboken is still a special needs district? I mean, Give me a break. It’s ludicrous."

DeCroce said the minority did the best they could against tough odds, and at the time took heart that his negotiations with Democratic leadership forced Gov. Jon Corzine to promise he would cap at ten percent the number of positions he will backfill after executive staff retirements.

If not ideal, the effort was laudable enough for Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore, no stranger to playing political hardball.

"Alex has done a good job, and I’m glad he’s going to pursue being..." Gilmore hesitated and smiled as he found the right word, "majority leader. Yes, he will be the majority leader. He’s a straightforward guy who tells you what he thinks."

However, DeCroce’s lunch meeting with Biondi didn’t end with a similar endorsement from the conference leader.

"I don’t know how many votes Alex has," said Biondi. "I don’t know how many votes I have at this point. It seems premature to talk about it now. I don’t know whether I will challenge him or not. I’ll have to think about it. I’d have to take a pulse, and in any event it’s the caucus that determines the course."

To 12 freshman GOP caucus members, the DeCroce- Biondi battle may have the appearance of a heavyweight title fight between two aging, ex-heavyweight champions, and there is speculation among Republicans that someone among the younger crowd may step up to try to clear a path between both of them.

But the most aggressive class member in the under-40 crowd, Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains), is a district mate of DeCroce’s and supported his leadership during the budget standoff, as did attack dog Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington). Moderate veteran Assembly Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), meanwhile, has not expressed an interest in the minority leadership position at this time, sources say.

A gentlemanly, white-haired father figure who’s built good relations around the state, DeCroce may be able to withstand a challenge simply by virtue of being likeable and agreeable. But Biondi’s criticism all along is that if the party is to get out of the minority it needs to start punching harder.

The two men left their meeting with a handshake, but nothing solid yet in the way of an alliance.

"I hope he’s with me in the end," said DeCroce.