BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Mark Meyerowitz had a brief glimmer of hope last year.

He was the only Republican legislative candidate in District 27, running for Assembly against a ticket headed up by Senate President Dick Codey – the most popular elected official in the state. But then Codey’s running mate, Mims Hackett, was arrested on corruption charges. And for the brief period that Hackett remained on the ticket, it looked possible that Meyerowitz could actually win.

That didn’t last, of course. Hackett resigned, and the party settled on Mila Jasey to replace him. She beat Meyerowitz by more than a 2-1 margin.

Sen. President Richard Codey (D-Essex) in Newark with Mayor Cory Booker and Council President Mildred Crump.

ORANGE - Politics here invariably comes back to the state’s most popular politician, former governor and Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who grew up across the street from the city’s other favorite son, Two Ton Tony Galento.

"With Tony, what you saw was what you got," Codey recalls.

A rotund puncher who trained on spaghetti and beer, what that got Galento was a fourth round technical knockout at the hands of heavyweight champion Joe Louis, and a subsequent supporting role as a heavy in "On the Waterfront."

Mila Jasey wouldn't say much in her first comments as an Assemblywoman-elect; she wouldn't even commit to backing Joe Roberts for Speaker next year.
Mila M. Jasey won a Special Election Convention to replace Mims Hackett in the State Assembly tonight, and promptly took the fifth.

"No comment," she said, when asked if Hackett, who was arrested earlier this month on bribery charges, should resign his post as Mayor of Orange.

What about Gov. Jon Corzine? Should he release his email correspondence with his former girlfriend, CWA President Carla Katz?

"No comment," Jasey said. "That wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on."

And would she support Joe Roberts for another term as Assembly Speaker? Again, Jasey had no comment.

Mark Meyerowitz now faces Mila Jasey in the 27th district Assembly raceFor about two days, 27th district Republican Assembly candidate Mark Meyerowitz thought that he might just be able to pull it off – that he could become the first Republican legislator elected out of West Orange since 1969.

The odds were stacked against Meyerowitz, a 52-year-old financial advisor with barely any political experience, from the beginning. He was running against two entrenched Democratic Assembly opponents – Mims Hackett, Jr. and John McKeon -- in a district represented in the Senate by Richard J. Codey, the most popular politician in the state.