David Russo

Running off the line, attorney Camille Abate won 40% in the 2006 Democratic congressional primary

At a breakfast hosted by the Democratic State Committee today, congressional candidate Camille Abate mentioned to Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean that she is running for Congress against Scott Garrett.

“He’s the worst,” said Dean.

But despite Dean’s personal opinion, national Democrats apparently don’t think enough of it to pump many resources into a fight against him. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that they have three targets in 2008, and Garrett isn’t one of them.

Democrat Joseph Coniglio was elected to the New Jersey State Senate in 2001, defeating three-term incumbent Louis Kosco after District 38 was redrawn to include Democratic strongholds of Fair Lawn and Fort Lee. Even with Coniglio’s ethical problems, he stands a good chance of getting re-elected in a district where the GOP is no longer competitive.

Take Assemblyman David Russo off the list of potential candidates for Bergen County Republican Chairman: he’s backing attorney Rob Ortiz for the post.   Ortiz, a 35-year-old Ridgewood resident and Giuliani fundraiser, also won the backing of Assemblyman Kevin O’Toole, the Essex County GOP Chairman, and Passaic County GOP Chairman Scott Rumana, the Mayor of Wayne.  O’Toole, Russo and Rumana are the favorites to represent the Bergen-based 40th district in the Legislature next year.

David Russo had little trouble winning renomination to a tenth term in the State Assembly, even though he was dumped from the Bergen County Republican Organization line.   Now some Republicans are suggesting that the Ridgewood attorney become the next Bergen County GOP Chairman. 

The Private Enterprise Political Action Committee endorsed four Republican candidates for next month’s primaries.

The Republican primary battle in that district echoes last week’s reverence for Ronald Reagan at the Republican Presidential debate, with both of the leading State Senate candidates evoking the Gipper to set them apart from the rest of the state’s Republican Party.

Former Bergen County Freeholder Todd Caliguire and Assemblyman Kevin O’Toole are the main contenders for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat of Henry P. McNamara, who’s retiring after serving as a Senator for 22 years. Caliguire is running with two Assembly candidates: conservative activist John Ginty and Wayne Councilman Joseph Schweighardt. O’Toole, the frontrunner, shares a line with incumbent Assemblyman David Russo and Wayne Mayor Scott Rumana. A third candidate, Wayne attorney Victor K. Rabbat, is in the race as well.

The spokesman for two Republican County Chairman running for the Legislature says that GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson should either "demand" the resignation of Bergen County Republican Chairman Guy Talarico, or "someone should be calling on Wilson to step aside."

Thom Ammirato, who works for Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, the Essex GOP Chairman running for State Senate, and Wayne Mayor Scott Rumana, the Passaic GOP Chairman seeking an Assemby seat, says that "Rome in is buring and Tom Wilson, aka Nero, is fiddling."

At what point does nine-term Assemblyman David Russo view the Civil War among Bergen County Republicans as an opportunity? One influential Republican strategist opined that Russo should consider challenging two-term Congressman Scott Garrett in the Republican primary, suggesting that running on a line with County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan and Freeholder Lisa Randall might be his best chance to secure the fifth district House seat that eluded him four years ago. Garrett has said he would run on the Bergen County Republican Organization line.

The Republican said that Russo's chances could increase if U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Kean decides to run on the Donovan/Randall line. Russo openly mulled a primary challenge two years ago, after losing to Garrett in 2002. Russo ran for the open seat when Marge Roukema retired in 2002 and won the Bergen GOP convention. But the primary vote in Bergen -- which accounts for more than half of the district -- was split between Russo and State Senator Gerald Cardinale. Garrett racked up big numbers in Sussex and Warren Counties and won the primary with 45 percent of the vote. Garrett has $291,000 in his warchest -- not a huge number for an incumbent.