There is no shortage of people whose political careers will be affected by the outcome of tomorrow’s General Election, where voters will cast ballots for forty State Senate seats, eight Assembly seats, two County Executive posts, control of county governments in Atlantic and Monmouth, and key mayoral races.

This is PoliticsNJ.com’s list of the Top Twenty Stakeholders in the 2007 General Election.

Read More >

Political reformers don't make many friends among their fellow elected officials in this state. The moment someone tries to stand above the fracas is when that person becomes a target of both parties - and the bosses behind both parties.

Sen. Ellen Karcher ousted Republican Co-Senate President John O. Bennett II, after beating George E. Norcross’ candidate in the Democratic primary, Oceanport Mayor Gordon Gemma.  Norcross tried to bring Karcher into his fold and she wouldn't budge. Instead she forged an alliance with Senate President Richard Codey.

This week, Karcher is in trouble in her re-election bid, with some polls showing her six to nine points behind Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck. Despite the Karcher campaign's efforts to drag Beck's numbers down with New York market attack ads the campaign has run since October 15th, Beck's campaign isn't crumbling, or showing any signs of fissure.

Read More >

THE BIG WHEELS KEEP ON TURNING:
NORCROSS MONEY ROLLS NORTH;
CODEY CASH HEADS SOUTH

 

Rooney Wonders When the Wheeling Will End?

 Reacting to published reports that Camden County political boss George Norcross has decided to dump a bundle of money into the District 39 legislative races while Essex County powerbroker and Senate President Richard Codey intends to send hundreds of thousands of dollars down south to defeat Republicans in Districts 1 and 2, Assemblyman John Rooney predicted the Legislature will never stop the insidious “wheeling” of campaign around the state as long as Democrats maintain their grip on the Legislature.

Read More >

Senate President Richard Codey has pulled back his financial commitments to Democratic candidate Joseph Ariyan, according to source.

Read More >

Senate President Dick Codey is taking an active role in some south Jersey campaigns previously considered to the territory of South Jersey boss George Norcross.

Codey is reportedly donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the ultra-competitive legislative races in districts one and two.

Read More >

Key South Jersey Democrats believe that they could emerge from the fall midterm elections with seven State Senate seats, giving them a formidable block if there leadership contests.  Four seats are locks: incumbents Stephen Sweeney, Frederick Madden, and John Adler, and Dana Redd, who is seeking Wayne Bryant’s seat in Camden County.   Democrats are very high on their chances to oust Republicans Nicholas Asselta and James “Sonny” McCullough, and see a possible pickup in the open eighth district, where their Senate candidate is Francis Bodine, a Republican Assemblyman until he switched parties last spring.

Read More >

Days after campaign finance reports showed Mike Panter and Amy Mallet, taking almost $600,000  from PAC’s controlled by Assembly Speaker Joe Robets and Trenton Democrat leadership, 12th District Republican Assembly candidates Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande today accused Mallet of failing to file a quarterly report on a four year old election account which contains a $117,000 debt to a political advertising firm tied to Roberts and South Jersey political boss George Norcross.

South Jersey Democrats might be taking a play from their own playbook as they spend what seems like a huge amount of money to elect Republican-turned-Democrat Francis Bodine  to the State Senate – and two Democratic Assembly candidates -- in the traditionally GOP eighth district.

Back in 1991, arguably one of the best Republican years in state political history, South Jersey Democrats – George Norcross was the Camden County Democratic Chairman in those days – spent an exorbitant about of money on Philadelphia network television ads blasting four-term Republican State Senator Lee Laskin.  Laskin had held the sixth district Senate seat for fourteen years, and Republicans John Rocco and Thomas Shusted had held the two Assembly seats for twelve years. Read More >

Wounded last week by unfavorable news coverage highlighting his employment record, Assemblyman Francis Bodine went on the attack today in what his opponent in the District 8 State Senate race characterized as the actions of a desperate man.

"We feel good about it. This indicates they’re in trouble," Burlington County Clerk Phil Haines said in response to an ethics complaint Bodine filed against him in two separate public forums.

At a press conference today, Bodine, a Democrat, presented letters he had written: one to Freeholder Director James Wujick and the other to the District Court Ethics Committee of the state Supreme Court, in which he charged Haines with moonlighting as a real estate attorney while collecting a six-figure salary as county clerk.

Read More >

(VINELAND, October 3) -- Senator Nick Asselta -- responding to news reports in the Gannett newspapers this week detailing the extensive financial relationship between Jeff Van Drew’s political patrons, Camden County Democratic power broker George Norcross and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, and Van Drew’s own comments at yesterday’s joint appearance before the Press of Atlantic City editorial board, as reported in this morning’s newspaper -- today asked Van Drew to share with his constituents exactly what he knew about the nature and extent of the Norcross-Roberts financial relationship when Van Drew introduced legislation in March 2003 that could have put money directly into Roberts’ and Norcross’ pockets.

Read More >