Scaglione wins GOP nod in nailbiter with Carpenter

SOMERVILLE – Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione prevailed over Bernards Township Committeeman John Carpenter here in their county committee face-off at GOP headquarters on Main Street. 

The final vote tally was Scaglione, 148 votes; and Carpenter, 145 votes.

"I've never seen anything quite this close in a freeholder contest," said Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough) of a contest settled after four days of county committee voting and three counts three afternoon following an inconclusive vote at last Thursday's convention.

A financial investments manager, the 44-year old Scaglione is a 12-year veteran of the Council. 

"In these tough economic times, I am committed to the best government at an efficient cost," said the GOP freeholder candidate. "I would like to maintain the quality of life for people in Somerset County, where we have some of the best towns in the country."

Scaglione will run for Somerset County Freeholder with incumbent Republican Freeholder Jack Ciarettelli against the two nominees from the Democratic Party, Montgomery Township Mayor Cecilia Birge and North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry. 

His win over Carpenter, who ran with the backing of Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio, arrived with no grassroots chest-pounding from Scaglione or apparent bitterness from the other side. Carpenter graciously conceded. 

“We told each other over the weekend that whoever won would have the support of the other,” said Scaglione, moments after Carpenter had come around the table at party HQ here to pose for a photo with the man who had just beaten him.

“How about a handshake?” offered the Bernards Committeeman.

Scaglione gripped his hand.

The son of Argentinean immigrants and of Sicilian extraction on his father’s side, Scaglione was born in Passaic, and lived in Nutley before his family settled in North Plainfield. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Rutgers University and owns his own trading company.

"My background in economics has taught me that free capital markets provide the best way for individuals to get the most for themselves, and that's why I'm a Republican," said the GOP candidate, who ran as the blue collar option who could campaign and land votes on the southern side of Route 22, in that scrappy zone of boroughs like Raritan, Manville, Somerville, Bound Brook and South Bound Brook in a mostly affluent county. 

After living for 20 years in North Plainfield, Scaglione moved to Bridgewater, where he lives with his wife and family.

He suffered a ruptured aorta in a 1988 motor vehicle accident when a bus collided with the motorcycle he was operating at Route 78 and Hillcrest. He’s been in a wheel chair ever since.

"I'm the only one who has a machine to keep up with Jack Ciatterelli," said a smiling Scaglione of the hard-charging incumbent freeholder, his Republican running mate.