Julie O'Brien

At a campaign event last night, Bergen County Republican freeholder candidates John Driscoll and Rob Hermansen embraced in front of a crowd of supporters.

It was a hug meant to demonstrate the unity that appeared early on to be missing from their campaign.  The two candidates – who are widely believed to be the Republicans with the best shot at winning a seat on the all-Democratic freeholder board since 2003 --  had separate campaign managers, Web sites and literature.  The split was said to be indicative of internal Bergen County Republican rivalries.  

But the hug was heartfelt, according to Hermansen.  

“It was exactly how we feel about each other. We cannot wait to sit next to each other on that board,” he said.

Nevertheless, the campaign of Democratic incumbents Julie O’Brien and Vernon Walton have seized on the candidates’ well-publicized split, airing a New York media market radio ad in which goofball impersonators of Herman, a stock broker, and Driscoll, a tobacco sales rep, bicker and accuse each other of marketing cigarettes to children and cheating senior citizens.  

“Hey Driscoll, how does it feel to push cigarettes on little kids?  Got any cool new flavors?” says the Hermansen impersonator.

O’BRIEN AND WALTON ENDORSED BY THE PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY

HACKENSACK - They say politics make strange bed fellows. Sometimes however, your political partners fit you like a glove. Take John Driscoll and the Bergen Republican Machine supporting his campaign. The Bergen Republicans backing Driscoll also helped push an extreme right-wing agenda in Henry McNamara's failed 2002 campaign for County Executive and Paul Duggan's doomed 2008 bid for Freeholder that would have allowed assault rifles to legal in Bergen County neighborhoods.

Driscoll and Hermansen Flub the Facts on Mail Piece as Their Campaign Continues to Flounder

Time for the ‘Dynamic Duo’ to Have a Talk With Their Team About Appropriate Placement of Campaign Materials

When you get this close to Election Day, there is no shortage of dumb comments that come from people who are either in public office or likely to win one.  But with Joseph Ferriero no longer in charge, what's coming out of Bergen county is sort of amazing.

The best line of the week came from Assemblyman Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley), who sought to lessen the effect of Ferriero's criminal conviction by noting that he also represents parts of Essex and Passaic counties: "We answer to three county chairs," Scalera said, not considering that some might think he actually answers to the voters.

The biggest stretch of the truth also came from two Democratic Assemblywomen, Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) and Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee).  Their campaign put out a mailer attacking Republican Judith Fisher of being an Internet pornographer.  Their evidence: Fisher and her husband own a firm that produces accounting software for intellectual property management.  One of their customers is Playboy.  Fisher's problem is that she's running in a Democratic district and doesn't have the money to respond - or talk about how Wagner and Voss were hand-picked for their seats by Ferriero, who liked candidates who didn't necessarily think entirely for themselves.

Democratic incumbents Julie O'Brien and Vernon Walton have seized on attacks against tobacco companies as a critical issue in a race for Bergen County Freeholder.  They are blaming GOP challenger John Driscoll, who is a field sales representative for Lorillard Tobacco, for his role in enabling children to smoke cigarettes.  "As a mother and a grandmother I know how hard it is to keep kids away from cigarettes. John Driscoll's efforts aren't helping.  It takes your breath way," O'Brien said.  Maybe it's smart politics that O'Brien has shifted the debate away from property taxes and Ferriero (by the way, he picked her too). 

A Republican Council candidate in North Arlington taped a one-hour conversation with four Democratic leaders, including Mayor Peter Massa, where the Democrats outline a plan to give him "money, appointments and power" in exchange for dropping out the race.  What remains to be seen is whether the bad guy is Republican Chris Johnson, who may have solicited a bribe, or the Democrats, who may have violated the same state law that sent the Mayor of Carney's Point to jail.

DRISCOLL PRIDE: 20% NICOTINE, 5% TAR, 75% CHUTZPAH

O’Brien and Walton Help Increase Access to Constituents in Need of Essential Services


Controversial Republican Candidate Opposes Construction of 2nd BCC Campus to Serve South Bergen

HACKENSACK – Chairman Michael Kasparian as well as Freeholders Julie O’Brien and Vernon Walton expressed their excitement after this afternoon’s announcement by the White House that President Barack Obama would be returning to New Jersey next week to campaign for Governor Jon Corzine and the Bergen County Democratic slate.