Edward Trawinski

It was literally minutes after Bergen County Republicans won two freeholder seats that they started eyeing another prize.

"Now for the big one: county executive," said one Republican operative who often works in Bergen County from the Chris Christie Election Night victory party in Parsippany.

Two days after winning two freeholder seats in Bergen County - a prayed for shot in the arm for a county party that has spent the last several years on the brink of irrelevance- the talk in Bergen County Republican circles is who the party will run for the top office in 2010.

"A number of people have expressed interest.  I'm hearing a lot of it informally. No one has officially come to me," said Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin, whose party could stand to receive a cash infusion now that donors see that they can win elections.

So far, three names pop up: County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, who ran in the 2006 Republican primary for the office but was defeated on the right by Todd Caliguire, who went on to lose the general election; Fair Lawn Councilman Edward Trawinski, who yesterday just won a second consecutive (and third overall) term in that heavily Democratic town; and former Hackensack Mayor Jack Zisa. 

Since the Republicans appear to have some momentum, other potential candidates are expected to come forward.  And with a GOP governor, Bergen Republicans will have an easier time raising money.

"It's a different ball game now that we've demonstrated we can win a couple county seats," said state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest), who has taken an active role in behind-the-scenes party politics.

Assemblyman David Russo (R-Ridgewood), long rumored to be interested in the post, told PolitickerNJ.com that he will not run.

Nicholas Lonzisero and Judith Fisher, the Republican candidates for State Assembly in the 38th district.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said today that the corruption allegation against Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez helps put the 38th Legislative District in play.

"It is in play because of the rampant Democratic corruption, first with Senator (Joseph) Coniglio and now with Mayor Suarez," said Yudin.

The 38th is considered a relatively safe Democratic district, although Republicans have indicated that they're keeping an eye on it this year.  Even after Coniglio (D-Paramus) had to drop his candidacy for re-election to a third term after receiving a target letter from the U.S. Attorney's office in 2007, the Democratic slate, led by Robert Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) as Coniglio's replacement, won easily.

But Yudin thinks the corruption issue may have reached critical mass there.  Republican candidate Nick Lonzisero is council president in Suarez's town, and, if Suarez resigns, he will become interim mayor.  

In April, Coniglio was convicted of steering state funds to Hackensack University Medical Center, which employed him as a consultant.  Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and ex-BCDO counsel Dennis Oury are set to have corruption trials that parallel the general election.  Yudin thinks all that, combined having former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie - who got the ball rolling on the investigations that ensnared the Democrats - at the top of the ticket, will make corruption a winning issue.

Yudin's focus on corruption - or the "corruption tax" that he ran last year's unsuccessful freeholder campaigns on - has drawn criticism from some Bergen Republicans in the past.

Bergen County freeholder candidate Chris Calabrese, who was considered a favorite to win the Bergen County Republican Organization's (BCRO) endorsement, has suddenly found his candidacy in jeopardy over a flyer he distributed to county committee members.

Calabrese lost his freeholder race last year by a relatively narrow margin, but he was the top vote getter of the three Republican candidates for those positions.  He highlighted that fact in the flyer by comparing his vote totals to those of the party's other freeholder candidates over several past election cycles.

The controversy over the flyer centers on its lack of context -- that it failed to take into account the much higher turnout in 2008 than in years when the other candidates ran.