JOE SPICUZZO

Gov. Corzine accepting the endorsement earlier this year of the Middlesex County Democratic Committee.

Gov. Jon Corzine lost Middlesex County last night unofficially by 6,924 votes, a county he won four years ago by 32,155.

But Middlesex County Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Spicuzzo believes there was little Corzine could have done, given the temper of the times, to salvage a win in this sprawling county of 400,300 registered voters - and little Middlesex County Democrats could have done to help him get there.

"I think it's all about the economy and people hurting in their pocket books," Spicuzzo said. "They wanted a change. I think Jon Corzine was better equipped to deal with the economic crisis, but that's not the way voters saw it."

The party chairman conceded that Corzine's toll roads leasing plan didn't help him in the big counties most impacted: Ocean, Monmouth and his own Middlesex.

Dislodged from his seat of power and relegated now to a halfway house in Newark, former Middlesex County Democratic Party Chairman John Lynch sits in a landscape in which this gubernatorial contest unfolds and the candidate from his party fights for political survival.

Indicted for failing to report income by former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (now the Republican nominee for governor), convicted and sentenced in 2006 to three years and three months in prison, Gov. Jim McGreevey's political genii and hard-nosed boss of the Raritan River rustbelt occupies political no man's land while Corzine flails and discord punctuates much of the sprawling county he once ruled.

"We need John Lynch," one Middlesex County Democratic Party insider moaned a coupled of weeks ago at the issuance of yet another poll showing incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine struggling to get his chin over 40% and eight points behind Christie.

"He's a missed leader in Middlesex," County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Spicuzzo said of his party forbearer. "He had his own style and it was successful. I talk to him once a week. He's doing fine and will get out around Nov. 13th."

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, left, and state Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge) tonight at the Forge.

WOODBRIDGE - When the doors of the Forge flung open, the two groups went in separate directions: the mostly Puerto Rican contingent from Perth Amboy headed drearily back to the bay town, while Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, South Amboy Mayor John O'Leary, Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman and their man for the 19th District, Craig Coughlin, headed straight for the Shannon Rose Pub and a raucous celebration.

State Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge) showed up - Coughlin's wife is his campaign treasurer. There's a bond there.

So did Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville), but the sitting 19th District lawmaker from the lower house wasn't a core circle player in this celebration of Coughlin's resounding win over retired Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez and health care professional Jean Pierce tonight at a special party convention at this manor on the northbound side of Route 9.

"Craig was a great candidate with experience in all five towns and all three branches of government," said McCormac, whose county committee allies from his hometown were well-organized in getting out and providing the foundation for Coughlin's 170 winning votes, compared to 75 for Rodriguez and 25 for Pierce.

State Party Chairman Joe Cryan blew in for the hoopla, which had actually started earlier in the evening, back at the Forge, when people looked around and saw Woodbridge out in force and couldn't contain their glee. Those were going to be Coughlin votes.

Middlesex County Democratic Organization Chairman/Sheriff Joe Spicuzzo

It's going to be a vote by secret ballot tomorrow at the Middlesex County Democratic Committee's special election for a 19th District Assembly candidate, where 340 county committee people are eligible to vote, according to Chairman Joe Spicuzzo.

"There will be four-minute presentations by each of the three candidates," said Spicuzzo.

No questions.

Health care professional Jean Pierce of Woodbridge yesterday drew first to speak, and will occupy the number one spot on the secret ballot. Retired Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez will speak next followed by retired Municipal Judge Craig Coughlin of Woodbridge, who will respectively occupy the two and three spots on the ballot.

Who will run with Wisniewski?

SAYREVILLE - The special Middlesex Democratic County Committee convention candidacy of former Edison Municipal Judge Craig Coughlin of Woodbridge in the 19th Legislative District received a boost this afternoon as veteran Woodbridge Councilman Charles Kenny aborted his run and threw his support to Coughlin in a maneuver apparently designed to do more than simply upset the candidacy of retired Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez of Perth Amboy.

"Today I am withdrawing my name for consideration as a candidate for the 19th Legislative District Assembly seat," Kenny said. "In withdrawing my name from consideration, I offer my support and endorsement to former Edison Municipal Court Judge Craig Coughlin in his bid to represent the citizens of the 19th District."

Certainly the move makes it more difficult for Rodriguez - who's running with the backing of neophyte Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz and who at one point appeared to be the favorite - to win, despite what his allies today insisted is a stepped-up speed dial effort six days before the convention.

In what has become Coughlin versus Rodriguez, the municipal judge against the superior court judge, (Woodbridge healthcare professional Jean Pierce is also running but most Middlesex County insiders don't expect her to be a factor), Coughlin now has the decided edge, according to sources, as the three Democratic Party candidates trying to run alongside incumbent Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) made their individual pitches to county committee members tonight at party headquarters.

Retired Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez

PERTH AMBOY - With two candidates already run aground owing to allegations of corruption and Republicans running under the law enforcement banner of Chris Christie, retired Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez said he'd be the best Democrat to complement a ticket for the Assembly in the 19th Legislative District because his integrity is "unassailable."

"One issue in this race is going to be integrity," said Rodriguez, 67, who left the bench in the middle of August, three days before an embattled South Amboy Mayor John T. O'Leary shelved his bid to succeed Assemblyman Joe Vas (D-Perth Amboy), who left behind accomplishments amid a projected $80 million plus "Vas Mahal"  in the middle of the waterfront city, a combination YMCA/police/fire/court catch-all, as he faces two handfuls of state and federal corruption charges.

"Judges don't get paid very much money," added Rodriguez, a 20-year veteran of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Rutgers Law School graduate and father of four, including a daughter who died. "We work because we want to serve, and this would be an opportunity to serve. Look at my record. Ask any attorney who knows me. We have enough laws on the books. We need well qualified moral candidates."

At least one half of the Republican ticket is already trying to chip at Rodriguez's pristine image with questions about the judge's launch pad into the special convention, which takes place next Wednesday. Rodriguez is one of four declared candidates. 

Trying to weaken Rodriguez a week before the Democratic Party contest, GOP candidate Peter Kothari of Woodbridge fired off a press release this afternoon calling on the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct to investigate if Rodriguez violated the Code of Judicial conduct when he spoke to Middlesex County Democratic Chairman (and County Sheriff) Joe Spicuzzo about politics while still serving as a judge. 

“In an admission that is shocking in light of the Democrats' mud-slinging against Chris Christie (the GOP gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Attorney), Mr. Spicuzzo has stated that he had political discussions with ex-Judge Rodriguez when he was still sitting on the bench. ...The thought of Rodriguez wearing his robe while planning a political campaign with Spicuzzo wearing his badge and uniform attacks the very fabric and notion of an impartial court system.”

South Amboy Mayor Jack O'Leary on the March evening earlier this year when he accepted the Democratic Party nomination to run in LD 19.

SOUTH AMBOY - Mayor John "Jack" T. O'Leary ended his troubled 19th Legislative District race this afternoon, citing corruption allegations he doggedly denies but that nonetheless have pinned him down and prevented him from waging an all-out campaign to represent this blue collar Middlesex County district anchored by Woodbridge and filled out by riverside and maritime towns like his own South Amboy.

"I just need time," said the 6 ft. 5 O'Leary, 54, sitting in the City Hall conference room here on South Broadway a few blocks away from the Raritan Bay and the waterfront he began rebuilding over two decades ago.

"I can take you on a walk right now and you'll see people giving me the thumbs-up sign and honking their horns at me and encouraging me to run - 100 people have reached out to me telling me to run -but I need time," he added. "Time is on my side when it comes to vetting this thing out."

The bulk of the Democrat's problem as a candidate derived from a state Attorney General's investigation of O'Leary's insurance work in addition to an anonymously authored and disseminated 82-page document which targets the veteran mayor's insurance business - the public insurance work he does and has done in the district and in Middlesex County - and an alleged no-show job at the Housing Authority held by his brother.

South Amboy Mayor Jack O'Leary, right, with Assemblyman John Wisniewksi (D-Sayreville), left, and Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joe Spicuzzo.

SOUTH AMBOY - Middlesex County remains on Jack O'Leary alert following an anonymous opposition research dump earlier in the summer, which proclaimed to have dredged up the worst political history on the long-serving South Amboy mayor in the middle of his 19th Legislative District campaign for the seat vacated by indicted Assemblyman Joe Vas (D-Perth Amboy).

O'Leary initially dug in against the tide of party officials privately telling him to abandon his campaign in this 2-1 Democratic district after a packet of materials titled "O'Leary Crime Family Syndicate" hit the streets in this dockside town, alleging O'Leary's brother's establishment of the South Amboy Democratic Club to solicit contributions from "active and potential businesses and individuals wishing to obtain employment or do business with the city or housing authority," charging the mayor with giving his brother a no-show job as director of the South Amboy Housing Authority, and with personally profiting from public insurance work countywide.

While professing no wrongdoing, on reflection these past few weeks, Mayor O'Leary said he hardly feels as though he's reached a conclusion about whether or not he intends to run.

Joe Spicuzzo

TRENTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee just reconvened, but Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joe Spicuzzo will not be avaliable to testify regarding his nomination to the Sports and Exposition Authority.

"Then why are we here?" comes a voice from the crowd of senators who left the Senate chamber to come over here to the Senate Annex.

"Mr. Spicuzzo came down here, but fell ill, and left," explains Senate Judiciary Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge).

Edison Councilwoman Toni Ricigliano

EDISON – Considering his decision not to screen before local pooh-bahs, Mayor Jun Choi absorbed without emotion the news that the Edison Democratic Party endorsed his primary opponent last Thursday.

Councilwoman Toni Ricigliano will run with the support of former state Sen. Thomas Paterniti’s organization, even as the mayor hopes not only to win reelection running as an independent Democrat, but to recast the party with an army of local committee people also positioned on the June ballot.

“We have built an organization of grassroots citizens who are public-minded, said Choi. “There are no offers of jobs or contracts. We use idealism as the primary reason to serve on the committee, and we are setting up an issues-based organization. We are fundamentally changing the culture of politics in Edison, as an overwhelming number of our members are not municipal employees, and we do not accept contributions from municipal employees. Zero.”