Somerset Dems bring in Booker

Hoping to gnaw at what they believe is a soft GOP county underbelly ready to turn blue in the right circumstances, Somerset Democrats will bring in Newark Mayor Cory Booker this month for a fundraiser at the home of Somerset County Democratic Vice Chairman Zenon Christodoulou.

Republicans say it's not happening, no matter how much statewide starpower their rivals attempt to leverage.

"He's a Newark mayor and what does he have to do with Somerset County?" asked an unimpressed Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione, Republican candidate for freeholder here with incumbent GOP Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli.  "I want to talk about the issues."

Although Republicans last year fended off Democratic challengers Montgomery Deputy Mayor Cecilia Birge and North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry at the freeholder level, and elected U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) over Linda Stender, county voters pulled the lever for Barack Obama over John McCain.

Democrats here anticipate a 2009 Booker-Obama vibe.

One of a handful of chief Obama allies who stood with the presidential candidate in the early months of the 2008 Democratic Party primary, Booker is scheduled to appear at Christodoulou's house on Sept. 13th for the $100-per person event.

"Mayor Booker is an exciting and energizing figure, and we are honored to have his support in Somerset County,’’ said Peg Schaffer, Somerset County Democratic committee chair. "I can think of no better way to kick off the election season."

But Scaglione said the Democrats are up against the reality that he and Ciattarelli don't embody typical Somerset County Republicans from older eras.

"Jack has shown himself on the freeholder board to be an independent thinker and anyone who has followed this race knows I am not old guard," said Scaglione, who won the backing of his party at a nail-biter convention earlier this year in which he bucked the establishment candidate.