Schillari emerges as leading rival for Perez

By Wally Edge | February 24th, 2010 - 2:21pm

Key Hudson County Democrats are leaning toward Frank Schillari, the Undersheriff, to replace incumbent Juan Perez in the June primary. Schillari, a retired Secaucus police sergeant and the Undersheriff since 1997, appears to have the backing of North Bergen Mayor/State Sen. Nicholas Sacco and Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian Stack, while Perez has the support of Jersey City Mayor/Hudson County Democratic Chairman Jerramiah Healy and State Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City).

Dumping Perez could cause some headaches for Democrats, since he is the only Latino who holds a countywide office.  County Executive Thomas DeGise, County Clerk Barbara Netchert, and Surrogate Donald DiLeo are white, and Register of Deeds and Mortgages Willie Flood is black.

Three years ago, Healy dumped incumbent Joseph Cassidy from the organization line and replaced him with Perez.  Cassidy ran off the line on a slate with Stack and lost by 1,233 votes – a 50%-48% margin.

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Corzine, falls below 70% in eight counties, and one out of three Middlesex Democrats didn't vote for him

By Wally Edge | June 3rd, 2009 - 9:09am

Updated: Gov. Jon Corzine's 77% of the vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday was helped considerably by strong showings in Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties, where he won 89%, 87%, 85%, and 81%, respectively.  But against three challengers with no money, no base, no organization, and no name identification, the incumbent Governor seemed to have seriously underperformed outside of North Jersey.

In two Democratic strongholds important to his re-election campaign, Corzine won just 67% in Middlesex and 70% in Camden.  The incumbent was held to 62% in Monmouth and 65% in Ocean.

In South Jersey, Corzine received 75% in Atlantic, 71% in Burlington, 68% in Cape May, 64% in Gloucester, and 62% in Salem.  Northwestern New Jersey was even more problematic: the Governor won just 56% of the primary vote in Warren, 60% in Sussex, 61% in Hunterdon, and 76% in Morris.  He had some good news in Mercer, with 79%.

Corzine outpolled three popular county officials: Essex Sheriff Armando Fontoura (by 3,967 votes), Hudson County Surrogate Donald DiLeo (by 2,969 votes), Passaic County Freeholder Tahesha Way (by 693 votes), and Union County Surrogate James LaCorte (by 1,049 votes).   But he received less votes than other countywide candidates running in the Democratic primary:

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Wake-Up Call

Morning News Digest: March 18, 2010

Runyan: ‘Different game, same mindset’  A lot of the hardest knocks Jon Runyan took in professional football he didn't see coming, and in that regard, he says the sport is not dissimilar from politics - where an email or phone call blast can drop out of nowhere and potentially...

Wally Edge

In Bergen, support for Blue Laws is bi-partisan
The latest issue in Bergen County: Gov. Christopher Christie’s plan to end Blue Laws.  Christie says Sunday retail shopping in Bergen County would bring the state an additional $65 million in annual revenue.  Expect legislators from both...
This is New Jersey, where stranger things have happened
The unlikeliest of scenarios would be for New Jersey to have both United States Senate seats on the ballot in November: a recall vote on Robert Menendez, and a special election to fill Frank Lautenberg’s seat.  Tea Party organizers will have a...
The Kean example
Tom Kean was re-elected in 1985 with 70% of the vote, after a bit of a shaky start.  Kean won by just 1,797 votes – after an extended recount – and was immediately forced to deal with a deficit Republicans blamed on the outgoing governor,...
Middlesex Dems back Potosnak for Congress
Middlesex County Democrats have endorsed congressional aide Ed Potosnak as their House candidate against freshman U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).  Potosnak, who worked for a California congressman, has also secured the organization lines...
Perez might run as a Republican
Hudson County Sheriff Juan Perez, who has lost the backing of the county Democratic organization, is mulling two options in a bid to extend his political career: seek re-election to a second term as a Republican, or run for Mayor of Bayonne. ...
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Contributors

Chris
Christie
This is going to be a budget that is going to be unlike any other you’ve probably seen in NJ in at least the last 20 years and maybe... more »
Robert
Torricelli
Everybody needs to start a new job with a list of priorities and Chris Christie is no exception. There might be a thousand things that need to get done... more »
Raymond
Lesniak
It's impossible to support consolidation of government services and also support COAH.S1 paints with a broad brush and thus will miss some fine points.  COAH paints with... more »
Jeff
Michaels
Governor Christie seems to have played the rotten fiscal cards he inherited fairly well. As reported by the Star-Ledger, he is proposing to cut school aid by more... more »
Joseph
Vitale
As part of his solution to New Jersey’s current budget deficit, Gov. Chris Christie announced that, effective yesterday, he will not allow any additional parents to enroll in FamilyCare,... more »
Steve
Adubato, Jr.
Let me get this straight.  The state has a “cap” or limit on how much municipalities can increase their annual budget every year—four percent.  The goal is to keep... more »
Alan
Steinberg
On Rebate Issue, Christie Will Win.  The leading New Jersey Sunday newspapers yesterday confirmed that Governor Chris Christie will propose in his FY2011 budget the... more »
Carla
Katz
You’ve got to hand it to Christie; he calls it as he sees it.  I don’t mean the newly crowned Governor, Chris Christie, but his nine-year-old son, Patrick.  ... more »
Joseph
N. DiVincenzo, Jr.
Anyone involved in governing and administrating a town or county in New Jersey understands the economic problems outlined in The Star-Ledger editorials of February 28 and March 1.  The... more »
Gina
Genovese
It is widely anticipated that Gov. Chris Christie’s first budget message, to be delivered on March 16, will show the harsh reality of New Jersey’s bleak financial outlook. No... more »
Donald
Norcross
In keeping with the commitment I made to you in the November election, I am looking at every possible way to cut wasteful government spending and relieve your tax... more »
Michael
W. Kempner
Republican Playbook:  Fear, Scorn & Partisanship -- Instill fear.  Sow uncertainty.   Create doubt.  Demonize.   These tactics may be the unfortunate norm for campaigning, but they are bad – if not... more »
Michael
Patrick Carroll
Our new Governor suffers from no lack of advice.  Much of it, contained in the transition reports, deserves prompt attention.  Obviously, economic prosperity benefits everyone, and – as... more »
Richard
J. LaRossa
I have to genuinely wonder if this legislature will go down as the most taxing legislature in the history of the state of New Jersey surpassing the legislative actions... more »
Dr.
Joseph R. Marbach
Now that  the dust has finally settled after the grueling campaign for governor, there are a number of lessons that we can draw from this election. First and... more »
Joey
Novick
 March 18, 2010   Stop screaming. You’ll wake up the neighbors.If you're a local town mayor in New Jersey and you think that screaming about the impact Christie’s budget... more »
Murray
Sabrin
Limited government principles and fiscal conservatism are philosophically sound, because they preserve the people’s natural rights and they prevent government from overspending, over borrowing and overtaxing.   For more than... more »
Anthony
M. Bucco
New Jersey is in severe financial crisis because for years elected officials have been able to make irresponsible and short-sighted decisions without any restraint.  Future governors may... more »
Julio
Tavarez
On January 6, 2010, several newspapers published articles with titles like “no more aid for struggling cities”, “Christie will cut state aid” and the like; furthermore, in the body... more »
Rafael
Román Martel
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you target teachers. That’s not a positive note to start your tenure. You forget that the Teachers’ Union makes decisions on its own, such... more »
Brian
Valentino
On the day of his inauguration, Governor Christopher Christie inherited a gaping $2 billion hole in the state’s budget and swiftly set about the people’s business in meeting our... more »