John O'Leary

While South Amboy Mayor John O'Leary battles to prove he's done nothing wrong, the Middlesex County Democratic Party has made moves to replace him as a 19th Legislative District Assembly candidate --  just in case his efforts prove futile.
 
The state Attorney General's Office is reportedly investigating work with area towns by O'Leary's insurance brokerage firm, and work allegedly performed in South Amboy by the Baltimore-based insurance company Federal Hill Risk Management.  O'Leary has denied that the firm has any affiliation with the one he operates with his brother.

A replacement candidate for three term incumbent Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy), who backed out of running for re-election amid federal and state corruption indictments, O'Leary received a subpoena last week - the result of an anonymous letter circulating in the district, which charges the 23-year mayor with abusing his office.

Insisting he's innocent, O'Leary has vowed to weather the bad news cycle and to clear his name. But sources close to party leaders say the Democrats don't want a firestorm in a safe Democratic district. Some Democrats want O'Leary to withdraw, an outcome that to some could prove fortuitous, given the early demands and subsequent frustration of the powerful Latino Leadership Alliance (LLA).

"I don't know the particulars about the O'Leary situation, but I have spoken in the past with (Middlesex County) Democratic Party Chairman Joe Spicuzzo indicating to him the importance of replacing Joe Vas with another Latino," said Martin Perez, the alliance's founder and executive director.

That didn't happen when the party nominated O'Leary without a challenge.
 
For the moment, "Mayor O'Leary maintains he hasn't done anything wrong, and right now there is no reason to believe he's going to get out of the race," said Spicuzzo. "He's talking it over with family and friends, but he maintains that he is in the race."

When Vas's re-election candidacy went belly up with the impact of corruption charges earlier this year, his conqueror in last year's mayoral race, Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, faced the prospect of working with party leaders to select a successor to Vas from the district's second most populous town.

Insiders, including members of the LLA, told Diaz to field a Latino candidate from Perth Amboy, but the new mayor instead backed cross-the-river veteran O'Leary.

Now sources say Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez is interested in running - in the event that O'Leary abandons his candidacy, and party leaders like him. Read More >

EDISON – One Perth Amboy mayor received homage, a second stands accused of state corruption charges and stayed away, and a third was in the house tonight here at the Pines Manor at the Middlesex County Democratic Organization’s convention. 

“He’s disappeared,” Chairman Joe Spicuzzo said of former Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, indicted last week on bid-rigging and theft charges. “I’ve tried calling him but haven’t heard from him. He must be with his lawyer.” 

Ousted as mayor last year by Wilda Diaz, Vas had originally intended to pursue his assembly seat again at a special March 25th convention, but backed down after absorbing the state charges last Wednesday.

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On hearing the news today of Assemblyman Joe Vas’s (D-Perth Amboy) arrest on bid-rigging charges, Democratic Party players surrounding what was an apparent contest for Vas’s 19th District Assembly seat reacted with little shock - and a mixture of grief and celebration.

"This is a sad day for Assemblyman Vas and his family, and an equally sad day for the people in 19th Legislative District," said Vas's running mate, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville). "Any time that a public official is involved in even an allegation of official misconduct, it puts a strain on the public trust. I hope the process undertaken today by the Attorney General’s Office moves forward as fairly and efficiently as possible." 

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, whose town concentrates the largest number of voters in the 19th, said Vas can write off trying to reclaim his 19th District Assembly seat.

 

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Assemblyman Joe Vas’s (D-Perth Amboy) indictment today on state corruption charges sparked the 19th District to action, as the county chairmen from both parties responded less than two weeks in front of their respective conventions.

Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joe Spicuzzo said he wants to talk to Vas, charged with stealing funds from the City of Perth Amboy while he was mayor, before proceeding with his party’s convention scheduled for March 25 at the Forge.

“It depends on what Joe wants to do,” said Spicuzzo. “I’m sure he’s thinking about not running. I’m going to talk to him first thing tomorrow morning and we’ll see where he stands.”

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In any political weather, the name “Vas” on a campaign sign would inspire a particular dynamism, as in “you go” in the Spanish familiar form - and so the name went for 18 years as the formidable Joe Vas, Perth Amboy’s first Puerto Rican mayor, ran the waterfront town.

And yet now, nearly a year after he lost reelection locally, the danger for Assemblyman Joe Vas – same man, different title at stake - may be the inclination among a majority of committee people in this scrunch of blue collar and maritime Middlesex towns called the 19th District, to simply say “scram.”

Battered, Vas nevertheless doesn’t think it’s going to happen, and even appeared indomitable today, moments before heading into a caucus meeting of the Assembly Democrats, where he serves as deputy majority leader.

“Ask any committee member about me – not someone on the outside looking in and trying to rattle the cage – ask them about me and my district office,” he said.

Convinced the committee will see it his way at a party convention on March 25th at the Forge, Vas intends to stare down a cross-river challenge from South Amboy Mayor John T. O’Leary. Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) will also screen for one of two seats, but by all accounts, the powerful chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee should have little problem securing party support.

The same can’t be said of Vas – who’s had his fights, Barry Adler two years ago and Arlene Friscia before that, not to mention his first run for mayor when he came in as the underdog – who may yet be in his toughest.

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Joe Vas's stunning, lopsided defeat last night in Perth Amboy took most Middlesex Democrats by surprise. Most political observers hadn't anticipated even a competitive campaign against political neophyte Wilda Diaz, let alone a route of Vas, who's held the seat since 1990, and his two council running mates.

Now, the question amongst political insiders is whether Vas, having lost handily in the town that accounts for his biggest voting base and still bruised from an unsuccessful primary challenge to Rep. Albio Sires in 2006, has the political clout to hold on to his assembly seat.

For Vas, who was just sworn in to his third assembly term in January, it's too soon to start thinking about whether he'll even run for re-election next year.

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