Kathleen Donovan

Nominating petitions for Bergen County Surrogate candidate John Scalzo were disqualfied today after an Administrative Law Judge found that he did not have enough signatures after challenges to certain signers. Scalzo is running on the BCRO line against Jae Kim, an attorney who is running with Kathleen Donovan. Scalzo has two days to add more signatures to replace the ones that were disqualified.

Woodcliff Lake Council President Endorses Donovan Team After Candidates Square Off In Joint Appearance

Paul Camella, President of the Woodcliff Lake town council, has endorsed Republican County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan and her running mates. Camella's endorsement follows the first joint appearance by the two rival GOP slates vying in the June primary which was held in Woodcliff Lake on Thursday (April 20) night.

The Bergen County Republican Organization has an unusual strategy in the race for County Executive: in an effort to cast County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan as a liberal, they are attacking the record of another Republican, former Governor Christine Todd Whitman. This week, the BCRO sent out an e-mail that uses images of Whitman and accusations that the ex-Governor was responsible for huge tax hikes and overspending, in an effort to help their candidate, Todd Caliguire, appeal to conservative primary voters. "Of course we expect Donovan and her merry band of Whitman RINOs to attack us for going negative," the e-mail stated. "Nothing could be further from the truth. All we are doing is informing our fellow Republicans as to which candidate represents the failed Whitman wing of the party." In contrast, the BCRO has taken to using photographs of the late Ronald Reagan in their campaign press releases.

The BCRO strategy is not without irony. The last time Whitman ran, in 1997, she carried Bergen County by 30,100 votes -- substantially better than other GOP candidates have fared. As State Assemblyman from 1997 to 2001, Bergen County Republican Chairman Guy Talarico supported much of Whitman's agenda. And votes for certain tax increases made by Donovan came during her one term as a State Assemblywoman from 1986 to 1988, when Republican Thomas Kean was Governor.

The Civil War in Bergen County will not be helpful to the GOP candidate for United States Senator, Thomas Kean, Jr., who said last week that he was siding with Talarico and running on the BCRO line. No Republican has ever won a statewide election in New Jersey without carrying Bergen, where Democrats have dominated in recent statewide elections. Jon Corzine beat Douglas Forrester by 34,302 votes in 2005, John Kerry won Bergen by 17,833 votes in 2004, Frank Lautenberg carried the county by 28,969 votes in 2002, James E. McGreveey led Bret Schundler by 29,004 votes in 2001. The last Republican statewide candidate to win Bergen was Bob Franks, who carried Bergen by 3,932 votes over Corzine in 2000.

In the last four elections, only two Republicans have won Bergen: Donovan, who was re-elected County Clerk by 14,686 votes against former Freeholder Linda Baer in 2003, and Elizabeth Randall, who defeated incumbent Freeholder Tomas Padilla that year. Democratic Freeholder candidates won by more than 20,000 votes in 2005 and by more than 35,000 in 2004.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DANIEL MILLER // 201-394-7641

MEMO

To: Bergen County Republicans
Fr: Bergen Republican Victory 2006
Re: Whitman protegee Kathe Donovan's liberal record

Dear Fellow Republican,

There are many reasons we belong to the Republican Party. One of the most significant is the shared belief that taxes are too high. Sadly, Whitman protegee Kathe Donovan doesn't think so. Through the course of 20 years in politics and over a dozen campaigns for public office, Ms. Donovan has compiled a record of supporting higher taxes, in addition to other liberal positions that we'll touch on later.

Any Republican interested in lower taxes should know that during her two decades in politics Donovan has supported:

Higher income taxes
Increased gas taxes
Increased corporate taxes
Increased fees on air travel

Bergen County Republicans are fighting over Ronald Reagan, with both sides invoking the name of the late 40th President on a nearly daily basis Republican County Chairman Guy Talarico has a new e-mail address -- Chairman@BCRO-ReaganTeam.us -- and a recent press releases titled "Returning to Reagan" and "The Reagan Republicans Speak Out" both featured large color photographs of the Gipper. Not to be outdone, the rival faction that is backing Kathleen Donovan for County Executive, has touted support from Thomas Bruinooge, who was the Co-Chairman of the 1980 Reagan campaign in New Jersey. And Talarico's rival in the June contest for County Chairman, Alan Marcus, may be the true Reagan heir: he wrote a personal check to the Reagan campaign before the contest for the '80 GOP nomination was over.

Vincent Micco, a 34-year-old Army veteran who served in Iraq, will formally announce today that he will seek the Republican nomination for Congress against Steven Rothman in the ninth district. Micco, a banker and the father of four, served in Iraq in 2003 and 2003. Rothman, a five-term Democrat, supports a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The Bergen County Republican Organization has endorsed Micco, and advisors to a rival slate headed by County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan say that they have no plans to recruit candidates to run for Congress in either the fifth or ninth districts. A spokesman for the Micco campaign says the veteran hopes to have the support of both factions.

When his U.S. Army reserve unit was called up for active military service in 2003, Micco left his wife and children, his job, and his post as Bergen County Young Republican Chairman to serve in Iraq. But when Micco returned to civilian life after a year of service in a combat zone, he found himself in a far less significant war: for the Bergen YR chairmanship. It seems that some of the Young Republicans who assumed control during Micco's absence aren't eager to allow him to return to his post. The controversy centered around Walter "Jim" Dering, the 38-year-old Executive Director of the Bergen YR's, who said that Micco can't simply assume control of the organization because he returned home after the "constitutionally-mandated" YR election.

In the race for Bergen County Executive, Kathleen Donovan has challenged Todd Caliguire to two debates: one just between the two of them, and one that will include the candidates for Freeholder. Donovan says she sent Caliguire a letter on March 13, but has not yet received a response.

Some party insiders close to Bergen County Republican Chairman Guy Talarico says that if Tom Kean declines to run on the organization line, Talarico will consider recruiting a more conservative candidate to run on his line for the United States Senate. Complicating matters is chatter within Bergen GOP circles that Kean personally encouraged Kathleen Donovan to run for County Executive.

State Senator Henry McNamara has endorsed Kathleen Donovan for Bergen County Executive, saying that the four-term County Clerk and former Assemblywoman has a better chance of defeating the Democratic incumbent, Dennis McNerney, than the other GOP candidate, former Freeholder Todd Caliguire. Unfortunately, Todd has been away from County government for some time. He would be a fine leader for Bergen County but you cannot lead unless you win. Kathe will be an excellent County Executive and she will win." McNamara defeated Donovan for County Executive at a Bergen GOP convention in 2002, and went on to lose the general election to McNerney.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Guy Talarico has survived a potentially embarassing situation with Robert Yudin's announcement that he will not join his running mate, incumbent Elizabeth Randall, on a rival slate headed by County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan. "I made a commitment; I gave my word. I will not break it. I will not jump the line. I will not be disloyal to my friends and all the people who have supported me. I will remain a candidate for Freeholder," Yudin told PoliticsNJ.com. The 66-year-old former Wyckoff school board member is making his third bid for Freeholder. The organization candidate for Surrogate, attorney Jae Kim, joined the Donovan/Randall slate today. Talarico has refused to allow Donovan to compete for the organization endorsement at the April GOP convention, saying that she missed the filing deadline for consideration. Had Yudin flipped his support, it would have left the Bergen County Republican Organization without an official line in the June primary.