Joseph Spicuzzo

State jobs for Democrats are suddenly at a premium, and that potentially threatens one gubernatorial nomination to one of New Jersey's most sought after posts: Commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.  Democrats were unable to Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo's nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee before they recessed on June 25.  Gov. Jon Corzine's loss of Middlesex County might make some Democrats question whether the governor should pull the Spicuzzo nomination and put someone else in the post, especially as some Senate Republicans have indicated that they intend to close question the Middlesex party leader when he does appear at his confirmation hearing during the lame duck session.

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Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) has taken such a big lead in the race for Assembly Speaker that Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) is having trouble finding colleagues willing to publicly support her candidacy.  The poster child for Watson Coleman's political failure may be Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), a friend and political ally who is noticeably on the sidelines.

On the Assembly side, the Democratic leadership fight heated up ten days ago when Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo announced that the Democratic Assembly delegation was "unanimous" in support of John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) for Speaker.  Greenstein had been included in Wisniewski's count because she resides in Middlesex and unanimous indeed means everyone. 

One day later, Greenstein said that she was not taking sides in a fight between the two county organizations that make up her legislative district.  Mercer County Democrats were backing Watson Coleman. Spicuzzo suggested that his intention was announce endorsements from districts 17, 18 and 19, and did not mean to include district 14. But an early draft of the Wisniewski endorsement release, obtained by PolitickerNJ.com, included Greenstein and carried a quote from her.

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The race for Assembly Speaker is causing political headaches for Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro),  who will  steer clear of an endorsement until her own re-election campaign is over.  On Friday, Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo announced that the entire Middlesex Democratic Assembly delegation would back John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) for Speaker.  That put Greenstein, a five-term Democratic lawmaker from Middlesex, in hot water with Mercer County Democrats, who are backing Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) for the post.  Greenstein's district is evenly divided between Middlesex and Mercer.

Spicuzzo's announcement that Greenstein was backing Wisniewski upset Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, who is backing Watson Coleman.  Hughes convinced Greenstein to back off her pledge to Spicuzzo and remain comfortably on the sidelines.    For Wisniewski, it means that a campaign that was just hours old already had a defection.

This is bad news for Watson Coleman, who was assuming the support of Greenstein and hoping for the backing of Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton).  With African American legislators sidelined as another candidate, Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) mulls a bid for Speaker, all Watson Coleman really has at this point is one vote from her running mate, Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), and her own. 

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If Democrats think Christopher Christie was wrong when he discussed his interest in running for Governor with Karl Rove, how will they react when Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez enters the race for State Assembly in the nineteenth district?   Rodriguez notified the Administrative Office of the Courts yesterday of his intention to retire today; he is expected to seek  the Democratic Assembly nod after South Amboy Mayor Jack O'Leary drops out of the race - something that could happen within the next five days.  Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo told the Home News Tribune last month that he had discussed the Assembly post with the Judge.

"I have already spoken with Judge Rodriguez and he is definitely interested in the position, but only after Jack O'Leary decides what he is going to do," the HNT reported Spicuzzo as saying.

This puts Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in a potential bind: can he back Rodriguez for the Assembly while making an issue of career discussions between old friends?  For Corzine, the timing of this is unfortunate, and could push him into a position of slapping Spicuzzo and Rodriguez.

While the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits a judge from engaging in any political activity, it might be up to the appropriate ethics panel to decide if private conservations about a prospective candidacy constitutes political activity.

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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 >

Only in New Jersey can the wheels of government be forced to come to a stop on the day the Legislature is considering the state budget and on the day the Senate will vote to confirm a Supreme Court Justice so that the Middlesex County Democratic Chairman can meet with the Judiciary Committee in his bid for a seat on the Sports and Exposition Authority.  The committee was set to reconvene so that it could consider the nomination of Joseph Spicuzzo, who called in sick on Monday and again this morning, and only came to Trenton when his bid to testify by telephone became a huge joke.  Now it appears that Spicuzzo, who has the flu, threw up while waiting in Gov. Jon Corzine's office and he won't get his confirmation hearing after all.

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Middlesex County Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo, who was hospitalized for two days this week as he recovers from the flu, is in Trenton now after the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to allow him to testify by telephone as Gov. Jon Corzine's nominee for Commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.  Legislators, anxious to address the key issues of the day - the passage of a state budget and the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Barry Albin - are now delayed as the Judiciary panel prepares to reconvene to consider Spicuzzo, the Middlesex County Democratic Chairman.

Update: In an interesting accommodation for a County Chairman, the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene after the Senate Democratic Caucus is completed to consider the nomination of Joseph Spicuzzo to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee held the nomination of Middlesex County Sheriff and Democratic County Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority after Spicuzzo, recovering from the flu, was unable to travel to Trenton.  State Sen. Robert Smith (D-Piscataway) sought to have Spicuzzo testify by telephone.  The panel tried it, but after Spicuzzo had trouble hearing the Senators, and after Republicans objected to the precedent of interviewing nominees by phone, Judiciary Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) held the nomination.  That means Spicuzzo won't get on the Sports Authority until the Senate returns for a lame duck session after the November election.

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Joseph Spicuzzo, who serves as the Middlesex County Sheriff and the Democratic County Chairman, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda.  Gov. Jon Corzine has appointed him to a seat on the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and he is seeking Senate confirmation.  Spicuzzo was supposed to appear before the panel on Monday, but he called in sick.  He is expected to be confirmed, but will need Republicans to agree to agree to an emergency on his nomination if the full Senate is to vote on him at their session this afternoon.  If not, he won't get a vote -- and the seat -- until the lame duck session.  Don't expect the GOP to extend any courties to Spicuzzo, who is getting the job because Corzine decided to dump former Senate President Raymond Bateman, the 1977 Republican candidate for Governor.  Bateman's son is State Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Branchburg), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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There is much speculation that State Sens. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) could wind up as Gov. Jon Corzine's running mate, but their home county Democratic chairmen are staying clear of making endorsements in the race for Lt. Governor.

Each recognizes the benefits of fielding the woman from his own territory in the number two spot behind Corzine.

"Any politician with a solid base in Bergen County should be considered," said Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Michael Kasparian, scanning his home turf of 497,444 registered voters, including 162,488 registered Democrats and 105,488 registered Republicans, where 10.65% of registered Democrats gave Corzine 87% of their vote last Tuesday.

"You lose Bergen, you lose Trenton," he added.

In Middlesex, where a total 410,185 registered voters includes 160,476 Democrats and 52,464 Republicans and where Corzine received 67% of the vote last Tuesday with 18.04% of registered Democrats voting, Middlesex County Democratic Organization Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo likes the idea of Buono to bolster a ticket with Corzine.

"I know she's on the short list," Spicuzzo said. "I don't know whether the governor has committed to her, but it would be a feather in the county's cap to have a lieutenant governor. Of course, it's the governor's choice, but Barbara is a very committed woman who brings a lot of savvy to state government."

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