Chris Durkin

DENVER - The perceived indignity of standing in a crush of bodies behind the Island of Guam in that gaping blue glow of the Pepsi Center, coupled with the ongoing grind of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) loss, didn’t do much to boost the spirits of the delegation, as coming in here they hung their last hopes on a podium appearance by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Union City).

"No comment," state Party chairman Joseph Cryan said when poked about Menendez’s chances of speaking.

When it finally didn’t happen, the bulk of Garden State Democrats looked again for sustenance in Senator Clinton, who won by nearly ten points in New Jersey, whose presence on stage could keep the painful tensions of every silently suffering delegate alive for a few more hours - building to some end that was as yet unknown.

And yet when she spoke on Tuesday, Clinton put a larger political conflict in very stark terms, attempting to uplift to battle stations a mood that could easily go straight to a meltdown with the wrong tone.

Steve Adubato, Jr., presides over a meeting between Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, center, and Sen. Joseph Kyrillos.: Politicker photo 

SPRING LAKE - They drove and were driven to the Irish Riviera from all corners of New Jersey, in cars with government plates on them and dark SUVs and sedans with tinted glass, sporting sunglasses and paunches covered with sports jackets, mostly Democrats and a handful of Republicans, converging on this mansion by the sea.

Congressmen and mayors and assembly people and state senators and opposition researchers and retainers.

Standing at the front of the Seashell Dining Room in the Breakers to greet them was Steve Adubato, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and welcoming smile - and casting an eye that invariably sharpens human activity into the lineaments of political theater.

"I believe in the luck of the Irish," said the executive director of Newark’s North Ward Center and head of the Democratic Party in the North Ward, facing a sun-filled room packed with rivals hunched over plates of eggs and bacon: Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican State Party Chairman Tom Wilson; former Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, and Assemblyman Albert Coutinho and Assemblwoman Grace Spencer; Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair).

In this poor man’s Olympiad of Jersey ethnic groups gathered under one roof, Adubato highlighted - as he does annually at this North Ward Center-sponsored breakfast - the Irish, who now number 141,379 registered voters in New Jersey, or 47,514 Democrats, 36,063 Republicans and 57,802 independents.

NEWARK - Although its members can choose to leave the seat Newark Mayor Cory Booker: Politicker file photovacant, the City Council has the statutory power to appoint an interim replacement for Central Ward Councilwoman Dana Rone.

At the moment there are no obvious candidates to replace her.

The street buzz all week in Newark was that Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow would back off from her recommendation that the book be thrown at Rone, who was convicted of obstructing justice and under the law had to renounce her council seat.

Dow did back off, issuing a letter to Essex County Judge Patricia Costello to waive forfeiture in Rone’s case.

North Ward Democratic leader Steve Adubato: Politicker file photoBut Costello didn’t see leniency as an option here, and barred Rone from serving on the council - and from serving elected office, period.

If Rone’s abrupt exit leaves the field of individuals open - and sources say former Central Ward Councilman Charles Bell may be interested in running for the vacant seat - there are two obvious machines with a stake in Newark’s second largest ward.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, backing up Senate President Richard Codey's endorsement of Obama.

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander knew it would be hard to pry Sen. Hillary Clinton’s supporters loose in New Jersey after her victory in New Hampshire.

This was a fight now, and Clinton’s people were solid.

"We have an opportunity here in Hudson - Hudson, Hispanics, Hillary and history," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) cried to a North Bergen audience of mostly Latinos with Clinton on stage.

The response was near to deafening with Clinton standing on stage with Menendez, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-13) and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex).

But that didn’t mean there weren’t other opportunities for Obama; in fact, one big opportunity, in the form of Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who was at the moment glumly serving as state director for the foundering campaign of John Edwards.

Alexander knew Codey. He also knew Codey was close to former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ), who had come onto the Obama campaign as an advisor.

NEWARK - In Essex County as in other northern Democratic PartyEssex County Primary Ballot strongholds, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has the organizational line on the ballot in his primary fight with U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1).

Copies of the ballot landed in mailboxes this week, and this is what voters will see when they close the curtain on June 3.

As has been reported, Andrews has the advantage of possessing line "A," but Lautenberg’s line "B" placement gives him the advantage of all of the Essex County Democratic Committee’s candidates, including U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10), incumbent freeholders and county committee district leader candidates.

Against that, Andrews - and Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello on line "C" - stand alone.

The delegate district that is a fusion of the 28th and 29th legislative districts, and which includes Newark, Belleville, Bloomfield, Hillside, Irvington, went for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton by a margin of 54% to 46%, according to Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin.

But with 99% of the votes counted, Durkin also noted that the City of Newark split its delegate districts evenly between Clinton and Obama.

• In New Jersey’s February 5 primary, John McCain is the front runner, while Barack Obama has closed the gap on Hillary Clinton.  Obama and McCain are both in New Jersey on Monday, and Bill Clinton was here this week.  Dick Codey endorsed Obama. 
• Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin says he’ll allow people who voted for a candidate who dropped out to vote again.
• Rob Andrews and Jon Corzine like Bob Menendez for Vice President.
• Tom Kean, Jr. endorsed Leonard Lance for Congress, while Jon Bramnick and Eric Munoz are for Kelly Hatfield.  And this is a strange one: Michael Illions is backing Kate Whitman.
• Burlington Democrats say John Comegno should resign as Chairman of the Bridge Commission after being arrested for DWI.
• In case you missed it, Matt Friedman had a great story on Jim Saxton’s first run for Congress in 1984. And Max Pizaro’s story on the similarities between 1968 and 2008 is a must-read.
• Quote of the Week: “Bonnie Watson Coleman’s a good choice. So is Nia Gill. So is Shirley Turner. So are all the other Legislative Black Caucus Nubian queens.” – State Sen. Ronald Rice, on who Jon Corzine should pick for Lieutenant Governor in 2009.
• And PolitickerNJ.com celebrated our 8th birthday on February 1.

Essex County Clerk Christopher J. DurkinAfter receiving a number of phone calls in recent days from voters discouraged at having cast votes for presidential candidates no longer in the race, Essex County Clerk Christopher J. Durkin said he decided today to give absentee ballot voters a second chance to vote in the Feb. 5 primary.

"These are voters upset with the prospect of their votes having no meaning," said Durkin. "I have received advice on both sides of the aisle, and it turns out that a Superior Court Judge down in Ocean County today ruled that a voter can vote again if his or her candidate has dropped out; that voter just needs to sign an affidavit affirming that his candidate dropped out of that race."

Durkin said the last day to withdraw a candidacy before ballots were to be printed was originally Dec. 20, or 48 days prior to Election Day.

With less than two weeks to go before the Feb. 5th presidential primary in New Jersey, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin explains the Democrats' primary process here, as distinct from the Republicans' winner-take-all contest in New Jersey.

After all the emails and phone calls back and forth regarding ballot drawing procedure, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin said he couldn’t believe the way it turned out for the Democratic presidential candidates in Essex.