JOEY TORRES

Councilman Julio Tavarez

Paterson - New Jersey's third largest city and now on the brink of a mayoral election next year - delivered the same voter turnout for Gov. Jon Corzine that he received four years ago in his first bid for governor.

These results are unofficial and don't include provisionals: Corzine received 16,038 votes in the Silk City, to Republican candidate (now Gov.-elect) Chris Christie's 2,040.

Those numbers almost mirror Corzine's 2005 performance against Mercer buisnessman Doug Forrester: 17,000 to 1,600 votes.

Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh, left, with Council President Jeffrey Jones.

PATERSON - Barack Obama first sprang the "cousin Pookie" line in New Jersey back in 2006, when he was campaigning for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Paterson.

"He said to me, 'Vera, we know about cousin Pookie, don't we?' and I told him, 'We sure do," recalled the 4th Ward councilwoman, who's served on the governing body for 24 years in this Passaic County anchor city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, 25,882 to 2802. 

Now incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine is hoping the campaign efforts of President Barack Obama will amp up his numbers in urban areas like Paterson.

"In a strictly Democratic community like this, many folks will be voting the Democratic line, and they know they have to get out and vote," said Ames. "There is a connection between Corzine and (Mayor Jose "Joey") Torres with the $30 million we get every year from this administration to keep the taxes down. There's a lot of work going on for Corzine. There's very good coordination between the Corzine people and local elected officials. We've been working with them for months. I can't speak for the rest of New Jersey, but I know he's going to take Paterson."

Paterson Council President Jeff Jones (over Gov. Jon Corzine's left shoulder), formally endorsed the governor Friday with Councilman Ken Morris, Jr., (far left), Councilwoman Vera Ames (next to Morris), at a Black Leadership event that included Passaic Democratic Chairman John Currie (second from right).

Paterson Council President Jeff Jones didn't like the idea of being buffaloed into an endorsement of incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, particularly since he was no great fan of the governor's, and since the man prodding him to sign on the dotted line was longtime nemesis Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres.

Jones wants Torres' job, and their 2010 mayoral contest will no doubt intensify on the other side of Nov. 3rd, once the gubernatorial race is decided between Corzine and GOP challenger Chris Christie.

Jones knows he wants Torres gone.

But after mulling over the possibility of signaling that he wants Corzine to receive the ejector button by backing Christie, in part as a juxtaposition to Torres, who nurses a close relationship with the governor, the council president of New Jersey's third biggest city last Friday finally decided to back Corzine's reelection.

"I had to do an assessment," he told PolitickerNJ.com, "and I believe Torres was trying to take from me my Constitutional right to choose by forcing me to declare on his timetable, instead of mine. Well, now I've talked to Christie and some of his people, and I've talked to Gov. Corzine, man to man, Marine to Marine."

NEWARK - In building up Gov. Jon Corzine, Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres simultaneously got in a dig on his challenger in next year's mayoral contest, Council President Jeffrey Jones.

"Out of the nine council members in Paterson, eight of them have endorsed Gov. Jon Corzine," said Torres, who's running for a third term in 2010.

Couched as a public display of affection for Corzine, the shout-out to eight council members supporting the incumbent governor left the audience wondering about the one who is not, and that happens to be none other than Torres nemesis Jones.

The first Latino elected mayor of Paterson, Torres, a former supporter of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) for president, reverted to 2008 Democratic Primary mode in pitching Corzine over former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is playing a key role in a statewide effort to increase voter turnout among Latino voters for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.  This weekend, Menendez presided over a meeting in New Brunswick that was attended by over 200 statewide Latino leaders, including U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York), State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark), Assemblywomen Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) and Annette Quijano (D-Elizabeth), Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Newark) and Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, Paterson Mayor Joey Torres, and Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco.

Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh, right, with supporter (Deputy Mayor) Elsa Mantilla during his successful 2008 council race.

Most observers figure the 2010 Paterson mayor's race will feature at least a two-man showdown between incumbent Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres and Council President Jeffrey Jones.

If he decides to run, Torres would be aiming for his third term as mayor. 

An ex-Marine and college professor, Jones has served on the city council since 1996 and announced his 2010 citywide candidacy as early as last year.

Assuming Torres runs, the intriguing question is who will be the third person to step forward to try to mount a credible campaign.

Sixth Ward Councilman Andre Sayegh today told PolitickerNJ.com that he may be the man to find an opening between Torres's Puerto Rican base and Jones's African American base for a play at the affections of the whole city as a new generation unity candidate.

PATERSON - Since North Ward Democratic leader Steve Adubato brought New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to the Flamboyan on the weekend after the Democratic National Convention, major Latino leaders have to this point hardly shown overwhelming enthusiasm in their endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

Hillary Clinton beat Obama in the Democratic Primary by almost ten percent or roughly the equivalent of the Latino vote, which is heavily Democratic in New Jersey and which was energized for Feb. 5th by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken), Adubato and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York).

Now heading for the general election in three weeks and mindful - but not fearful - of that primary falloff in Latino numbers for Obama, party leaders held a Spanish and Spanglish-heavy rally here today, in a city that's over 50 percent Latino, in a county where Latinos number 44,849, or well over a fifth of all registered voters in Passaic.

Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres: Politicker file photo

PATERSON - Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres this afternoon released a brief statement concerning five subpoenas issued yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office to the Paterson Police Department.

The subpoenas, said Torres, request records, bills, disclosure forms, credit card usage and the department’s vehicle policy during former director Michael Walker's tenure, "along with all documents pertaining to RDE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Shot Spotter, Proxim Wireless and Lawman Supply Companies."

"The Police Department has every intention of fully cooperating with this investigation and will readily make available any and all records of concern to the U.S. Attorney and his assistants," said Torres. 

Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres: Politicker file photo 

DENVER - If he felt any angst about his first choice not landing a place on the Democrats’ presidential ticket, Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres didn’t show it as he landed in the lobby of the Inverness Hotel on Monday, and turned his attention on the Republicans.

"We are fighting a war in our cities, but we are not putting the resources in to fight those wars internally," said Torres, who noted the fall-off in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding during the Bush years.

Failing in a 2005 fight to terminate the program that administers urban aid, the Bush administration sought unprecedented cuts - up to 20%, the highest percentage proposed cuts since the program’s inception in 1982.

PATERSON - As recently as last month, Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres wasMayor Jose "Joey" Torres coy about whether he would publicly get into the Elizabeth Rosadorace against his adversary, Ward Two Councilman Aslon Goow.

"I don't know if a mayor should endorse," the mayor mused, later threatening to get into the contest  if Goow continued his public assault against his record as mayor. 

Today, Torres officially got in the game, lending his voice in a robocall to the cause of Goow challenger Elizabeth Rosado, wife of longtime Torres ally, former Councilman Jerry Luis Rosado. 

Goow, a two-term incumbent, is trying to fend off challenges from both Rosado and mason contractor John Larko.