ORTIZ V. FERRIERO

CARDINALE V. ARIYAN

on "New Jersey Now" this weekend

With just over a week until Election Day, Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, plus 39th District Republican Senator Gerald Cardinale and Democratic challenger Joe Ariyan discuss the upcoming elections on the weekly public affairs show “New Jersey Now.”

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

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District 39 takes the cake for the most humorous campaign commercials this election cycle.

State Sen. Gerald Cardinale’s is airing a cable television commercial of a hand puppet duckling criticizing state Senate candidate Joe Ariyan – for being a puppet.  This comes after Democrats produced Youtube videos making light of Cardinale’s lobbyist-sponsored trips and his Caribbean home. 

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Six of New Jersey’s forty legislative districts send both Democrats and Republicans to Trenton, and each of those six could do the same after the November midterm election.

In District 1, Republican State Senator Nicholas Asselta faces a challenge from Democratic Assemblyman Jefferson Van Drew in a district that split in 2001 and 2003.  Van Drew’s running mate, Nelson Albano (who ousted veteran GOP Assemblyman Jack Gibson two years ago) faces a tough race for re-election.  This district could split two different ways: a Senator from one party and two Assemblymen from the other, or each party could elect one Assemblyman.

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State Senator Gerald Cardinale appears to be in the field with a new poll that tests the impact of two messages: if voters would be less likely to vote for Democrat Joseph Ariyan if they knew his law firm represented terrorists; and if Cardinale has a problem with a message that he voted for laws supported by the banking industry after being wined and dined by them.

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By virtue of party registration alone, Joe Ariyan is the underdog in the traditionally Republican 39th district, even if he has the backing of a rich and powerful county organization and is likely to outspend state Sen. Gerald Cardinale by a large margin.

But based on the flexing of fundraising and political muscle tonight, it’s hard to tell just who has the uphill battle.

The Englewood home of real estate developer David Kasparian, where the event was hosted, was a virtual who’s who of Bergen County Democratic politics.  To support Ariyan, warring county party factions – state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, and everyone in between -- showed up to rub elbows at the swanky event, which was closed to the press.  They were joined by U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez,  U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, and Gov. Jon Corzine, who up until now had been notably absent from campaign events in competitive districts.

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It's put up or shut up time for Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz.

Insiders say that Ortiz was elected County Chairman last summer to replace Guy Talarico mainly because of his self proclaimed skills as a uber fundraiser. He boasted of raising funds for state and national candidates and of being a member of the New Jersey State Republican Committee Chairman's Club (although it turned out he hadn't paid his $1,000 initiation fee). The party faithful took Ortiz seriously, and candidates for county and local office eagerly awaited the flow of campaign funds for the first time in years. (Kathleen Donovan's primary campaign for county executive in 2006 raised more money than the county organization raised in two full years).

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Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli went on vacation to Italy with State Sen. Joe Coniglio, the target of a federal probeBergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says that he doesn’t expect to experience any political fallout from the news that he took a trip to Italy accompanied by embattled State Senator Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption probe.

“I got a lot of calls from supporters who wonder why it’s even an issue…. I look at myself in the mirror and say ‘I don’t have an issue with what I did’,” said Molinelli, who paid for the trip with his own money.

But some powerful political insiders disagree -- the news that the county prosecutor took a trip with an elected official under federal investigation may have further jeopardized his chance of being reappointed to the position, according to one high ranking Democratic official.

 

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There were a few jabs in the 39th district Assembly debate this evening at Bergen County Community College, but it was positively civil compared to what turned out to be a row between Democratic State Senate candidate Joe Ariyan and incumbent Sen. Gerald Cardindale.

The two Senate candidates sparred about what it means to be friends with Dick Codey, corruption, stem cell research, wheeling of campaign funds, and accepting trips to Florida paid for by the banking industry.

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