Chris Durkin

• 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.

Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin discusses the presidential campaign with just one full work week left prior to Tuesday, Feb. 5th.

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.

The generosity of former U.S. Senator Bob Torricelli, who has more than $2.1 million in campaign funds left over from his aborted '02 re-election bid, is now extending to the west coast. Torricelli's 2005 campaign contributions include California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides ($1,105) and newly-elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ($1,000). Torricelli gave Angelides' political action committee $10,000 in 2004.

Other campaign contributions by Torricelli this year: $2,950 to Newark City Councilwoman Gayle Cheneyfield-Jenkins (he gave her '06 re-election campaign $5,000 last year); $4,000 to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, $2,000 to Florida Senator Bill Nelson; $1,000 to Union City First, a campaign committee run by Mayor/Assemblyman Brian Stack; $300 to the Bayonne Democratic Party, and $300 to Essex County Clerk candidate Chris Durkin, the son of former Democratic State Chairman Raymond Durkin.