Former assembly candidate Joseph Caruso said he had nothing to do with the robocall political consultant Kevin Collins was charged with yesterday.

“I had no clue about this until after it happened, and even when I found out about it I thought [Assemblyman Scott] Rumana did it… It hurt my reputation, not his.” said Caruso, who with running mate Anthony Rottino fought an unsuccessful primary against Rumana (R-Wayne) and Assemblyman David Russo (R-Ridgewood) in June.

Caruso said that he kept Collins “at arm’s length” during the campaign, but threw him some work as a favor.  

“People were telling me the guy was hard up, was going to lose his house – ‘Could you give him something?’ It’s the last time I’m going to be nice to somebody,” he said.

A veteran New Jersey political consultant who has run into controversy before was charged today with impersonation and violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

Kevin Collins, 39, allegedly was responsible for automated phone calls in support of District 40 Republican primary challengers Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino.  In the call, a woman who identifies herself as “Ann” lobs several charges at incumbents Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and Dave Russo (R-Ridgewood)

Collins, who lives in Brooklyn but used to live in Wood-Ridge, allegedly gave the robocall services company the cell phone number of Ann O’Rourke, Rumana’s chief of staff, so that the call looked like it originated from her.  

“This is a case of identity theft and misrepresentation,” said Attorney General Anne Milgram. “The defendant used the victim's cell phone number and first name to make people believe she was responsible for the robocalls.”

Over 12,000 residents of the 40th district got the call on primary day, June 2.  According to the Attoney General's Office, it did not identify who paid for it and made several inaccurate claim about the incumbents. 

Kevin Collins has been let go as campaign manager of Steve Lonegan's bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.  Collins will not be replaced, at least not formally.  As of today, the Lonegan campaign has eliminated titles for staffers.

Collins told PolitickerNJ.com that he viewed the direction of the campaign differently than Lonegan and his strategist, Rick Shaftan, and that the decision to leave the campaign was his. 

Collins declined to say if he would still back Lonegan for the GOP nomination.  "There are several fine candidates competing in the GOP primary and I wish each of them well.  Steve's decision to attempt to compete in a statewide primary without a campaign manager speaks for itself," Collins said.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz and challenger Bob Yudin are furiously working the phones today in preparation for Tuesday’s runoff election for the party’s top seat.

The key to winning the chairmanship will be to appeal to the 115 voters who supported Ben Focarino last night before he was knocked out of the race. But, due to a rule reversal, Ortiz and Yudin will also have the opportunity to appeal to voters who missed last night’s election.

That has renewed controversy over whether or not to allow those who didn’t vote last night to vote next Tuesday.

When the results were read last night, Election Committee Chairwoman Patricia DiCostanzo announced that Tuesday’s runoff would be restricted to last night’s voters.

That first upset Yudin, who objected to it before acquiescing a few minutes later, while Ortiz’s supporters agreed with it.

But that ruling was apparently reversed this morning by Ortiz, allowing all county committee voters to participate.

Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson coasted to a third term last night, defeating former Morris Township Mayor Peter Mancuso by a 28-10 -- a percentage of 74%.  That means Wilson can remain at the help of the state party organization until at least June 2009, when the Republican nominee for Governor, by tradition, would name their choice for State Chairman.  Wilson was first elected in November 2004, defeating former Assemblyman Richard Kamin following the resignation of Joseph Kyrillos.  He held the post the following June when the '05 gubernatorial nominee, Douglas Forrester, decided to retain him.

Formr Republican State Chairman Virginia Littell, the wife of State Senator Robert Littell and the mother of Assemblywoman Alison McHose, wants the state GOP to "ban employees of the NJGOP from seeking outside campaign consulting contracts with candidates or committees active in Republican primaries."

During this cycle, the Republican State Committee Communications and Research Director, Todd Riffle, was also a consultant to Guy Gregg's campaign for State Senate. At the time Riffle was first paid, Gregg's opponent was Littell, a 36-year incumbent.

In a Letter to the Editor published by The Record on Sunday, former Bergen County Republican Chairman Guy Talarico denied any role in a controversial campaign mailer in the 40th district State Senate primary that compared Kevin O'Toole to the Rev. Al Sharpton.  Talarico, who resigned the day after the primary, backed Todd Caliguire for the Senate seat.

All thirty Republicans in the State Assembly have signed a letter asking that "no Republican Party organization or campaign" use Kevin Collins in "any paid, or unpaid" role in a campaign. The Assembly GOP blames Collins for a "racist campaign mailpiece" in the recent 40th district GOP primary.

"Mr. Collins has crossed a line and we believe it would no longer be appropriate for him to do work on behalf of any candidate running as a Republican in this state, the legislators wrote.

Sharpe James is the target of a federal criminal probe, Assembly will vote on dual officeholding ban, Tom Wilson has the votes to win re-election, Atlantic GOP fires Kevin Collins, and Seema Singh takes campaign dollars from utility execs

New Jersey GOP operative Kevin Collins said that a report in the New York Daily News is wrong and that he is still managing John Spencer's U.S. Senate campaign in New York. Daily News reporter Ben Smith reported that Collins had left the campaign, but Collins says he remains an active player in the campaign to oust incumbent Hillary Rodham Clinton. Collins acknowledged that Spencer is behind in paying him, but said he is "pretty much" working at their office every day. "Going there all this week for debate prep," Collins told PoliticsNJ.com. Spencer, a former Mayor of Yonkers, and former Reagan administration official KT McFarland, are vying for the GOP nomination to oppose Clinton.

The new owner of the New York Observer is Jared Kushner, a 25-year-old law student and the son of developer Charles Kushner. The New Jersey native, now a student at New York University Law School, paid a reported $10 million for the respected weekly paper.

The New York Daily News reported today that Governor Jon Corzine has committed to backing New York gubernatorial candidate Elliot Spitzer in a future presidential bid.