Bob Yudin

BCRO Chairman Bob Yudin

Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) Chairman Bob Yudin reads Gov. Jon Corzine's decision to hire Democratic strategist Bill Maer, a former spokesman for the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO), as one more flailing sign from the incumbent governor.

"This shows the absolute desperate nature of Jon Corzine," said Yudin, referring to a report that the Corzine '09 team bringing Maer into the campaign fold. 

"Bill Maer is the ultimate political hachet man, and this clearly shows Corzine's people will have to do desperate things," the GOP chairman added. "By selecting the former spokesman for the Ferriero organization, they are willing to resort to politics at its filthiest in an attempt to reverse their fortunes. I can't be more emphatic about this. This shows desperation."

Maer's former boss, former BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero, faces federal corruption charges in court this fall.

Chairman of a massive battleground county where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, 159,771 to 104,084, but where 225,753 voters call themselves independents, Yudin said GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie's nine-point lead in this morning's Quinnipiac University poll is good news.

"Consider the fact that Corzine is spending a million per week," he said. "For Chris to maintain a lead of nine points shows the rock-hard support he has. As he is not relying on public financing, Corzine can spend tens of millions of dollars - and is. Chris is limited by public financing and can't do any advertising until after Labor Day but he's still up by nine points. It's outrageous that the governor in these ads can't talk about any accomplishments. It's clear that Corzine can't buy this one."

Nicholas Lonzisero and Judith Fisher, the Republican candidates for State Assembly in the 38th district.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said today that the corruption allegation against Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez helps put the 38th Legislative District in play.

"It is in play because of the rampant Democratic corruption, first with Senator (Joseph) Coniglio and now with Mayor Suarez," said Yudin.

The 38th is considered a relatively safe Democratic district, although Republicans have indicated that they're keeping an eye on it this year.  Even after Coniglio (D-Paramus) had to drop his candidacy for re-election to a third term after receiving a target letter from the U.S. Attorney's office in 2007, the Democratic slate, led by Robert Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) as Coniglio's replacement, won easily.

But Yudin thinks the corruption issue may have reached critical mass there.  Republican candidate Nick Lonzisero is council president in Suarez's town, and, if Suarez resigns, he will become interim mayor.  

In April, Coniglio was convicted of steering state funds to Hackensack University Medical Center, which employed him as a consultant.  Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and ex-BCDO counsel Dennis Oury are set to have corruption trials that parallel the general election.  Yudin thinks all that, combined having former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie - who got the ball rolling on the investigations that ensnared the Democrats - at the top of the ticket, will make corruption a winning issue.

Yudin's focus on corruption - or the "corruption tax" that he ran last year's unsuccessful freeholder campaigns on - has drawn criticism from some Bergen Republicans in the past.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said today that Gov. Corzine’s choice of state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) for the new position of lieutenant governor will not win Corzine “one additional vote.”  

“Assuming it’s official, I don’t see any positive gain for Corzine.  Loretta’s strength is in her senatorial district, which is District 37,” said Yudin.  “Anyone who’s going to vote for Corzine out of District 37 would have voted for Corzine whether Loretta is on the ticket or not.”

Factoring into Corzine’s pick was Weinberg's reputation as a good government reformer.  The corruption bust of dozens of public officials, politicians and operatives yesterday injected ethics into the gubernatorial race as a key issue. Moreover, the gubernatorial election will bump up against the corruption trial of former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, who fought tooth and nail with Weinberg throughout much of his ten year tenure.

Yudin, however, downplayed Weinberg’s record on reform as based on expediency.

“I find it incredible that after volumes of newspaper reports on EnCap’s failures, and even a State Inspector General’s Report -- that Gov. Corzine has not publicly condemned the project and demanded a full blown investigation by the state Attorney General’s office.”  

Although the lawsuit against Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa names a sitting Democratic freeholder as a co-defendant and charges that another Democratic freeholder who’s up for reelection this year benefited from Zisa’s alleged shakedowns of subordinate police officers, Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin is not going to make an issue out of it just yet.

“It’s really too early to tell. These are allegations and in a civil suit a person can make any kind of allegations they want,” he said.

The suit, filed by six current Hackensack police officers and one former member of the force, names Tomas Padilla – a Hackensack policeman who has been a freeholder since 2005 and is a hopeful to be appointed U.S. Marshall – as a defendent along with Zisa, who it accuses of pressuring officers to donate to his and Padilla's political campaigns.  It also alleges that a co-defendant, Local 9 union President Phillip Carroll, donated union dues to fund campaigns for Zisa and Padilla without the plaintiffs’ consent. 

Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie has publicly sworn off political considerations in making his eventual Lieutenant Governor pick, arguing that the public will vote largely based on who occupies the top of the ticket.

But the two women said to be at the top of Christie’s shortlist – state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan -- each has a history of running strong in regions that are crucial to Christie’s electoral prospects, and both could help Republicans down-ballot in their respective counties.  

Christie alone will have the say on his choice for the number two spot, so he could surprise observers with his pick.  But media speculation about who he will choose has come down to Allen, who repeatedly wins reelection in a South Jersey legislative district that has a two-to-one Democrat registration advantage, and Donovan, who over the last decade has been the one Republican bulwark against the Bergen County Democratic Organization’s complete dominance and last year won reelection the most votes of any county-wide candidate, Democrat or Republican.  

“These are counties that have gone Democratic in many cases over the last few years in statewide races after having been solidly Republican for a while,” said Monmouth University pollster and political science professor Patrick Murray.  “These are counties that Christie must win.”

At a Ridgewood restaurant yesterday, Bergen County GOP Chairman Bob Yudin stood up and addressed a crowd fiercely mobilized behind one of two warring Republican slates in the 40th District.

Our Founding Fathers gave us a wonderful system of checks and balances to use to keep our government honest and our politicians forthright. It is up to us to use those tools to create a real two party watchdog system – right here in Bergen County and in Trenton

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin used former state Sen. Joe Conilgio’s conviction on six corruption counts as an appeal to Bergen County voters.  

The best way to stop similar behavior in the future, he said, is to vote some Republicans into office.

“It’s a sad and unfortunate day. It is nothing to be happy about,” said Yudin.  “What it tells me is that this is what happens when you have one-party rule, which is what we have in New Jersey not only at the state level in Trenton, but here in Bergen County.”

“Coming on the heels of last month’s announcement that Xanadu will again delay its opening to some time in 2010, I think the problems at General Growth Properties are a warning for state and county officials to investigate the viability of this project before throwing any more public money at it,”