Declan O'Scanlon

Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre

TRENTON - Fair Haven Mayor and private practice attorney Mike Halfacre figures he will probably need between $500,000 and $1 million to run an effective campaign against U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.) in this major media market called the 12th Congressional District, and hhe sees postive signs early in his effort to muster support.

"As I stand here today I've raised $35,000," said Halfacre, 42, standing on the State House steps at the second of two press conferences he held today to formally launch his bid for U.S. Congress, where he savaged the sitting congressman.

In an unsuccessful 2008 bid against Holt, Halfacre's Republican predecessor, Alan Bateman, raised as much over the entire course of his campaign, which landed him an ovr 20% loss.

Bateman told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday that he intends to again seek the Republican nomination in the 12th District but as he nurses $6,000 in debt from last year, Halfacre and his allies say at a certain point the former deputy mayor of Holmdel "has to stop tilting at windmills."

The 12th District Legislators today unveiled a ten-point economic stimulus package for New Jersey at a press conference at the State House. The initiatives includes bills that will spur economic growth in the real estate and retail industries, to create a friendlier atmosphere for businesses, and to strengthen the overall budget planning in the State of New Jersey.

(more…)

Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall Twp.) has been elevated to the position of Deputy Conference Leader of the Republican Assembly caucus by Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany).  

“David has provided valuable insight and commitment to our caucus,” said DeCroce,.  “His dedication and commitment to serving not only his district, but all New Jersey taxpayers is exemplary.  He has earned the opportunity to assume further responsibilities.

The leadership position used to belong to the late Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit), who died in March and whose wife, Nancy, was formally sworn into the Assembly yesterday to take over his old seat.  Rible will join the other Deputy Conference Leader, Allison Littell McHose (R-Franklin).

Friendly rivals: Manalapan Township Committeewoman Michelle Roth and Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-Little Silver)

MARLBORO – In this Monmouth County political hotbed where officials now shoulder a new era and try to salvage their town from those years that left several real estate finagling electeds behind bars and a built-out wreck in the wake of their corrupt handiwork, Gov. Jon Corzine this evening supported Mayor Jon Hornik’s efforts to create a coalition of 22 local suburban governments dedicated to pursuing tax saving shared services.

Here to kick off the formation of the Central Jersey Council of Governments (CJCOG), there festered, of course, some pent up party rivalry in an ostensibly smiling and bipartisan Town Hall crowd, which included Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) and Manalapan Township Committeewoman Michelle Roth. 

O’Scanlon and his Republican running mate, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck), intend to fend off a 12th District Democratic challenge from Roth and her running mate, teacher John Amberg of Tinton Falls.

Former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson stands with state workers reps outside the Statehouse on Tuesday.

TRENTON – Twenty-five red-shirted state workers from CWA Local 1039 hold signs aloft and march around the fountain in front of the Statehouse Annex screaming for Gov. Jon Corzine to “negotiate, not dictate,” and “no furloughs, no layoffs,” while inside on the fourth floor, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) open up on each other with the first full-throated argument of these late morning budget hearings.

In the middle of this committee eyeballing of Corzine’s $29.8 billion budget, their disagreement occurs on the issue of whether New Jersey is the highest taxed state in the country. O’Scanlon says indeed it is, and the committee chairman disagrees, making the case that the assessment of tax impact should be made based on income. 

“For the top 1% of income earners – those making over $500,000, we’re the highest in the nation,” says Greenwald. “But for 99% of the population, we’re in the middle.”

But O’Scanlon still wants to know how New Jersey intends to approach next year’s budget when the proposal this year to stop the budget bleeding now includes $2.2 billion in one-time federal stimulus money, $1 billion in pension deferrals, $361 million in bond refinancing, and $800 million from a sunset provision tax increase and other single shot injections.

“I add up $4-5 billion right off the top,” says O’Scanlon. “We’re pushing out the budget schedule.”

Greenwald goes after him.

John Amberg of Tinton Falls

UPDATED 

RED BANK - Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes will run against former Pallone State Director Mike Beson of Ocean for the Monmouth County Democratic Party's backing to run for freeholder this year.

The Democrats appear to have settled on a 12th Legislative District team consisting of Manalapan Committeewoman (and former Mayor) Michelle Roth and Tinton Falls resident John Amberg, a teacher in the Irvington Public Schools system. Roth isn't here. Amberg is mixing.

The pair will run against Republican incumbents Assemblyman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck) and Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon (R-Little Silver).

The mini-convention is almost underaway here at Local Union Hall 2250.

Gov. Jon Corzine and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro)

Amid fullblown intrigue elsewhere, Nutley businessman Carmen Pio Costa and Carlstadt School Board member Don Diorio will formally announce their Republican candidacies in Rutherford Thursday evening, and few doubt the battleground, gauntlet-down implications of their challenge to Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Assemblyman Fred Scalera (D-Nutley).

But if the 36th Legislative District remains a decided field of contention this cycle (as is the 1st District in New Jersey’s deep south), two other districts – the 2nd and the 14th – early identified by operatives in both parties as potential battlegrounds in their own right,  at least for the moment do not appear to be marquee headline races.

Certainly that opens up the possibility for North Country Democrats and Republicans to expend more resources in the 36th, where Democrats enjoy a 2-1 edge but where the Dems must run with an unpopular leading man in Gov. Jon Corzine. 

Yet it could also open up other regions, other terrain, formerly classified as green zones. Arguably chief among these, particularly given its bordering proximity to the 14th, is the 12th District, where Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck) seek reelection, and last night double-teamed at a town hall meeting in Manalapan.

The ink on Governor Corzine’s budget proposal is not even dry and already his plan calls for diverting $20 million from the fees generated by the Motor Vehicle Commission to the state’s General Fund. Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, a Republican member on the Budget Committee called the diversion a prime example of how hollow the words are that comes from the administration.

The 12th District Legislators are pleased to announce the legislation sponsored by them to broaden protection for stalking victims was today signed into law by the Governor.

“This is a good day for women throughout the state who have been victims of stalking,” said Senator Jennifer Beck, a member of the State Senate Judiciary Committee. “As technology advances, so do the tools stalkers use to keep track of their victims. The new law is keeping in step with technology such as GPS and hidden cameras. I am proud to have sponsored it, alongside my colleague Senator Buono.”

(more…)

Manalapan Mayor Michelle Roth has decided to seek the Democratic nomination for State Assembly in the 12th district, where freshmen Republicans Declan O'Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande.  Democrats, sources say, have not yet secured a second Assembly candidate, and the state Democratic Party is -- at least at this point -- not planning to target the 12th.  This Monmouth-Mercer district was represented by a Democratic Senator and Assemblyman as recently as January 2008.