Joseph Kyrillos

When Joseph Kyrillos won an open Assembly seat in 1987 at age 27, and then beat a Democratic State Senator four years later, Republican insiders quickly labeled him as one of their rising stars.  But twenty years later, Kyrillos remains in the Legislature.  He lost a bid for Congress in 1992 against Frank Pallone, and despite a three-year stint as GOP State Chairman, he passed on a chance to become the Senate Republican leader, and never took his shot at statewide office.

The controversy surrounding U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie's selection of John Ashcroft for a lucrative federal monitor position may have roiled Democrats, but it hasn't changed Republicans' feelings about their would-be gubernatorial nominee.

That's not to say that Christie has come out and announced he's running for governor. In fact, he consistently blows off speculation about a potential run, saying that members of the media obsess about it more than he does.

That may be true. But members of the Republican Party obsess about it too, and the revelation about him giving his former boss a hefty paycheck hasn't dampened the establishment's enthusiasm for Christie as their nominee in 2009 - should he choose to run, of course. The election may be two years away, but all signs point to vast Republican support for a Christie candidacy.

The wife of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce has joined the Mitt Romney for President camp, according to State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, the state's New Jersey chairman for Romney's campaign.

BettyLou DeCroce's politically prominent husband supports former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president.

The Republican Party on Thursday united behind state Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., as its new Senate Minority Leader, while state Sen. Leonard Lance stepped aside in the face of a torrent of young blood.

Descendent of the state's first governor, son of a former two-term governor, and with a failed U.S. Senate run behind him and still only in his late 30s, Kean sees last Tuesday's election results as a rejection of Democratic leadership over the course of the last six years.

"Today there are more Republicans in the State Legislature, more Republican freeholders than before, more mayors than there were and more council seats," says Kean.

The Republican dean in Monmouth County, district 13 state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, says the Democrats wouldn't be able to handle the responsibilities of asset monetization.

District 13 State Sen. Joe Kyrillos works the room in Middletown in Bachstadt's Tavern, where he held a rally here today attended by his own running mates and other GOP candidates, including County Clerk Claire French and Sheriff's candidate Kim Guadagno.

Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck and her running mates welcome Giuliani

The water towers jut against the skyline over the billboards here, part of that sprawl of roadway called Route 9 crammed between the Shore and the Raritan, a battered lifeline to a gas station culture of blimped-up commercial ratables and fading blue collar towns turned service sector central.
 

In Old Bridge a billboard says "Kyrillos 2007," and farther south of the river there’s "Hornik for Mayor" and car dealership ads - over 76% of the people here drive to work alone each day - and restaurant shacks and "Re-elect Kleinberg," and what appear to be undocumented workers and others stranded on bus stops looking at the drivers in the cars backed bumper-to-bumper, who look back and wait for the colors to change.

Amid the slogans of all sizes Thursday, a low-lying phalanx of lawn signs jumped into view in Manalapan in front of the Excelsior catering hall: Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. Rudy. Yes, he was here, here to support the district 12 GOP ticket of Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck and her running mates, Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande.

Yes, Monmouth County has traditionally been Republican.
But it’s been a fickle place in recent times, which went for Al Gore for President in 2000 the same year it gave Jon Corzine a thumbs down in his U.S. Senate bid, where the state’s second biggest paper, the Asbury Park Press, turned in disgruntlement from the two major parties in the last gubernatorial election and endorsed the Green Party candidate.

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli went on vacation to Italy with State Sen. Joe Coniglio, the target of a federal probeBergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says that he doesn’t expect to experience any political fallout from the news that he took a trip to Italy accompanied by embattled State Senator Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption probe.

“I got a lot of calls from supporters who wonder why it’s even an issue…. I look at myself in the mirror and say ‘I don’t have an issue with what I did’,” said Molinelli, who paid for the trip with his own money.

Len Inzrerillo came within 244 votes of unseating a GOP Assemblyman in 2003. Now he's running against State Sen. Joe Kyrillos

Leonard Inzerillo can’t seem to catch a break.

He ran a close Assembly race in 2003, coming within 244 votes of ousting Joseph Azzolina, despite getting virtually no financial support from the state Democratic Party. But his quest for a rematch fell short in 2005, when he was denied the party line and came in a distant third in the Assembly primary. And after failing to file ELEC reports for parts of his 2003 and 2005 Assembly races, he dropped his bid for Monmouth County Freeholder under pressure from Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery.

But you won’t hear Inzerillo blame anyone for his losses. Reports of his criticism of Scudiery and other members of the party leadership for not giving him any help were overblown, he said. Besides, he added, nobody expected him to beat Azzolina.