Brian Nelson

If Joe Ferriero wants a little payback before he heads off to prison, he can do it on Tuesday by voting against Chris Christie.

New Jersey state law allows convicted felons to vote up until the time of their sentencing.  Ferriero is among a long list of political leaders who have either been convicted or pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced. 

Ferriero, the former Bergen County Democratic Chairman, was convicted last week on one count of extortion and two counts of mail fraud that were brought against him last year by federal prosecutors while Christie was serving as U.S. Attorney. 

Six Jersey City officials and political candidates arrested in July and have already entered guilty plea still have the right vote in the November 3 gubernatorial election - and perhaps use the opportunity to extract a small measure of revenge against Christie, whose office initiated the sting operation that ensnared them.

Solomon Dwek, the real estate developer-turned-FBI informant, would also be allowed to vote - if he was registered.  Monmouth County Superintendent of Elections Hedra Siskel said that she has no record of Dwek on the voter rolls in his home county for at least the last five years -- this, despite the fact that Dwek and his wife have donated tens of thousands of dollars to New Jersey politicians and PACs since 1998. 

New Jersey state law only disqualifies from voting someone who "is serving a sentence or is on parole or probation as the result of a conviction of any indictable offense under the laws of this or another state or of the United States."

There used to be explicit language in the law laying out crimes that disqualified convicts from voting, but those references were deleted in the early 1970s after a three-judge District Court panel ruled that they violated the Equal Protection Clause. 

So does Ferriero plan to vote? 

Eleonore Nissley won a decisive victory in her comeback bid for Republican State Committeewoman in Bergen County, defeating former Franklin Lakes Councilwoman Pearl Spector by nearly 5,000 votes, 60%-40%.  This marks a return to the seat Nissley held from 1965 until her narrow defeat in 2005.

The Board of Elections and Democratic and Republican Party operatives run down the provisional ballots, town by town, voter by voter.

FREEHOLD –  The vote stands at 694 provisional ballots for Amy Mallet and 476 for John Curley – not including hand counts - with the count for Manalapan ongoing and Marlboro and Long Branch left to go.

That puts the Fair Haven candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder in a position to win the election, as Long Branch is heavily Democratic and Mallet scored well in Manalapan and Marlboro in the regular vote count.

Prior to the provisionals process, Mallet led Curley by 18 votes overall: 135,688 to 135,670, in this county of 53 towns.  If Mallet defeats Curley, county control of this longtime Republican stronghold will favor the Democrats by 3-2.

Now on the tattered, unresolved edge of the Nov. 4th election, operatives from both parties sit with two Board of Elections reps from each party and a representative from the state attorney general's office at a long table. They all pour town by town over the provisional ballots.

Last week, Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis filed an 11th hour challenge to Councilman Steve Fulop’s signatures to put one of his two reform initiatives on the ballot.

Today, Fulop shot back with by presenting his side of the legal argument to Municipal Clerk Robert Byrne, written by attorney and Brian M. Nelson.  He also submitted an extra 600 signatures. 

Fulop, who’s considering a mayoral bid next May, has spent the greater part of the last year collecting signatures for two initiatives for November’s general election: one bars contractors that do business with the city from donating to public officials.  The other, which was challenged by Matsikoudis, would bar city council members from accepting more than one taxpayer-funded salary (Six of the nine council members hold more than one public job, while Councilman Steve Lipski runs a charter school). 

Repblican Party operative Brian Nelson of Shrewsbury will not pursue the Monmouth County GOP chairmanship to succeed departing Chairman Adam Puharic, he told PolitickerNJ.com today.

"Some people asked me if I was interested," sad Nelson.  "But my daughter is two years old, and I have professional responsibilities. If I were at my own law firm in Monmouth County I might have the flexibility the job requires. I don't have that right now."

At this point, former Sheriff Joe Oxley looks like the favorite, according to Republican Party sources. Chariman Puharic earlier this week told the Asbury Park Press that he would not pursue another term as chair.

Monmouth County Republican Chairman Adam Puharic is expected to resign his party post soon, according to GOP leaders who were on a conference call with him on Monday afternoon. That will trigger a special election to elect a new County Chairman. Former Senate President John Bennett, who was defeated for re-election in 2003 amidst allegations that his law firm overbilled clients, including the Township of Marlboro, is a potential candidate for the post.

Volunteers for possible U.S. Senate candidate John Crowley – directed by former Republican State Committee Executive Director Brian Nelson – were circulating nominating petitions tonight at the Somerset County GOP convention.   At the request of several Republican U.S. Senators, including presidential candidate John McCain and NRSC Chairman John Ensign, Crowley is reconsidering his decision not to run.

Republicans not endorsing former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani fretted yesterday that the GOP’s balloting procedure would unfairly impact their own presidential candidates, and fought an email war with the state party chairmen to try to get him to intervene.

What made the matter worse for some proud party members was having to watch the Democratic State Committee relinquish its prior commitment to giving establishment candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton the line A position virtually statewide.

They argued that while Republicans were essentially handing the ballot pole position to Giuliani, the Clinton-centric Democratic leadership was mercifully loosening its stranglehold on the process to allow rival campaigns to get an equal shot at the line.

"Why is it that the New Jersey GOP isn't following the Democratic State Committee’s lead in holding an open draw for presidential candidates?" Republican counsel Brian Nelson asked State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson. "Why are the Republicans still following the process the Democrats are abandoning?"

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is expected to release a list of the New Jersey endorsements today. Supporters are likely to include State Senator Joseph Kyrillos, Republican National Chairman David Norcross, Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, Morris County Assembly candidate Jay Webber, former Paterson Mayor Lawrence "Pat" Kramer. and former Republican State Committee Executive Director Brian Nelson.

IS NEWARK LAW FIRM MAKING IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE MIDDLETOWN REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION?

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP (MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ): According to Middletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo, he has serious concerns that the Newark law firm of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger and Vecchione is making in-kind contributions to the Middletown Republican Party.