Former three-term Princeton Regional School Board member Joshua Leinsdorf, one of ten independent candidates for Governor, has picked 69-year-old Newark public school teacher and Girl Scout leader Joanne Miller as his running mate.  Miller has made five unsuccessful bids as an independent candidate for State Assembly since 1999.

It will be interesting to see if New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, who now supervises the state Division of Elections, forces Miller to pick between a bid for Lt. Governor and her sixth campaign for the State Assembly; she filed petitions last month to run as an independent in District 29.  Last year, Wells missed the state law that prohibits candidates from running for President and for the United States Senate in the same election when certified Jeff Boss, who claims to have witnessed U.S. officials planning the 9/11 terrorist attack, as a candidate for both offices.

More New Jerseyans wanted Jeff Boss, who claims to have witnessed the U.S. government planning the 9/11 terrorist attack, as the Governor than Rick Merkt, a seven-term Republican Assemblyman from Morris County.  Boss received 15,981 votes (8%) in the Democratic primary, while Merkt won 9,018 (3%) in the GOP primary.  There's a strong chance that many of Boss' votes were cast by Democrats looking to send a message to his chief opponent, but there won't be an asterisk in the Fitzgerald's red book offering an explanation.

In an attempt to send a message, nearly one out of four Democrats who voted in Tuesday's Democratic primary (23%) did not vote for the incumbent Governor, Jon Corzine.  None of Corzine's three primary opponents, former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson (9%), 9/11 conspiracy theorist Jeff Boss (8%) and factory worker Roger Bacon (6%) spent more than couple of thousand dollars and had no organizational or interest group endorsements. 

Among the most significant political stories of the day was a Star-Ledger report that the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the state's largest public employee union, threatened to picket Corzine's campaign kickoff rally tonight - a move that might have led to Vice President Joseph Biden cancelling his appearance.  In order to avoid the controversy, Corzine agreed to a deal with the union on furloughs, according to the published report.

Gov. Jon Corzine faces just token opposition in the Democratic primary, although some pundits are watching to see if a significant number of Democrats - perhaps more than twenty percent of them - vote against him anyway.  In what is more of a race for second place, three other Democrats are running for Governor: Carl Bergmanson, a former Mayor of Glen Ridge; Roger Bacon, a factory worker who runs a customized ceramic mug business; and Jeff Boss, who claims to have witnessed the U.S. government planning the 9/11 terrorist attack. 

There are reports that some public employee unions are, very quietly, suggesting that their members vote for Bergmanson.  Their hope is that the vote totals of today's primary could influence Corzine over the next 28 days. 

Republicans will nominate a candidate for Governor today, with former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan, and Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) seeking the chance to run against Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

Corzine has three primary opponents: former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson, Roger Bacon, and Jeff Boss, who claims to have witnessed the U.S. government planning the 9/11 terrorist attack.

In District 23, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) faces a GOP primary challenge from Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford).  Three candidates are seeking two Assembly seats: incumbent John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown), Hunterdon County Freeholder Erik Peterson, and Edward Smith, Doherty's Chief of Staff.

In the Morris County-based 25th district, where Merkt is giving up his seat to run for Governor, three candidates are seeking the Republican nod for a pair of Assembly seats: incumbent Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.), Morris County Freeholder Douglas Cabana,  and Anthony Bucco, Jr., the son of four-term State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton).

Former Assemblyman Craig Stanley (D-Irvington), who lost his seat by 127 votes in the 2007 Democratic primary, is seeking a comeback in the Essex County-based 28th district.  He is challenging incumbents Ralph Caputo (D-Belleville) and Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark).

In District 40, which includes parts of Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties, incumbents David Russo (R-Ridgewood) and Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) face primary challenges from Joseph Caruso and Anthony Rottino. 

In the 3rd district, which includes parts of Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties, Republicans will pick two candidates to challenge Democratic incumbents John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro) and Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton).

Democratic mayors face primary challenges in Edison, , Morristown,  Atlantic City, Plainfield, and East Orange. 

Today's Quinnipiac University poll is bad news for Carl Bergmanson, who is challenging Gov. Jon Corzine in the Democratic primary.  The former Mayor of Glen Ridge was never expected to beat Corzine, but now he's running fourth, trailing Jeff "Tin Foil" Boss and Roger Bacon, who designs coffee mugs.   Boss and Bacon are at 5%, while Bergmanson is at 4%.

The bad news for Corzine is that he's only polling at 65% in the Democratic primary (60% among Democratic women).   The Governor was at 70% among Democratic primary voters in an April 22 Quinnipiac poll.

One-third of Democrats are not yet ready to commit to vote for him as their party's nominee for Governor, and 20% of Democrats told Quinnipiac that they are undecided.  Most of those undecideds -- if they vote - will probably break for Corzine on June 2.

Corzine's job approvals among Democrats are at 63%-27% and his favorable are at 62%-24%.

Gov. Jon Corzine has an upside-down 38%-53% approval rating and upside-down favorable of 37%-51%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.  Among likely Democratic primary voters, Corzine is winning just 65% of the vote against three minor candidates, with 20% of voters still undecided about voting for Corzine in the Democratic primary.

"The good news for Gov. Jon Corzine is that he may have hit bottom and stopped his slide.  Once the primary is over, Corzine will put on his million-dollar golden gloves and start to fight," Richards added.  "Independent voters are the key to this race and by a 2-1 margin they don't like the job Corzine is doing. But all Corzine has to do is win back half the Democrats now voting for Christie and he is back in the race."

Jeff Boss, who claims to have witnessed the federal government planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Phillipsburg businessman Roger Bacon, who designs coffee mugs, are at 5%.  Former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson is at 4%.

While the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) has not yet entered the fray in New Jersey, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) announced today that they would launch television and radio ads they believe highlights Gov. Jon Corzine's "failed economic record."  The ads come just a few days after one Republican gubernatorial candidate, Christopher Christie, criticized reports that the DGA would attempt to influence the GOP primary. 

Jeff Boss is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor.

Jeff Boss is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor.