Morris County Democratic Chairman Lewis Candura is in the belly of the Republican beast.

Morris - one of the top Republican vote producing counties in the state - has almost twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats.  Morris County voters have not elected a Democratic freeholder since the 1970s.  The Democratic assembly candidates this year, as always, are long shots.  And the local candidates in some towns where Democrats have recently made progress now have to face Republican opponents running under a home-county gubernatorial candidate, Chris Christie, at the top of the ticket.

As Candura told the Star-Ledger on Sunday, that could hurt local Democratic candidates.  On the other hand, having a strong showing for Barack Obama at the top of the ticket last year didn't help his local candidates, Candura argued.  

"I just think that all of my candidates over the last four years that are running for reelection as incumbents are doing a great job. The voters really have to look beyond the brand," said Candura.

Some political conflicts never go away: State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) today opposed the nomination of the State Senator he unseated 28 years ago to serve as the Morris County Superintendent of Elections.  The Senate Judiciary is considering 78-year-old Frank Herbert, who represented Bergen County in the Senate from 1978 to 1982, for the $102,304-a-year elections post in Morris, where he now resides.

The committee went into recess without approving Herbert's nomination, although it could still be done before the end of the day.

Frustrated by his inability to select a new Superintendent of Elections to replace the late Roseanne Travaglia without having State Sens. Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton) and Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville) block the gubernatorial appointment, Morris County Democratic Chairman Lewis Candura recommended Herbert, a retired English teacher from Rockaway.  Senate rules do not permit senatorial courtesy to be used to block a former member of the upper house.

Gov. Jon Corzine might have pulled a rabbit out of his hat by suddenly finding an extra $400 million for his budget, but the political trick of the week goes to Morris County Democratic Chairman Lewis Candura.  Frustrated by his inability to select a new Superintendent of Elections to replace the late Rosemary Travaglia without having State Sens. Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton) and Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville) block the gubernatorial appointment, Candura picked Frank Herbert, a 78-year-old retired English teacher from Rockaway.  Herbert served one term as a Democratic State Senator from Bergen County (1978 to 1982), and Senate rules do not permit senatorial courtesy to be used to block a former member of the upper house.

Herbert is actually a good pick for Morris County Democrats: younger than the state's current senior United States Senator, he first won public office in 1969 when he was elected Waldwick Councilman.  He won a race for Bergen County Freeholder in 1973 -- the Watergate landslide year -- defeating future Congressman Harold Hollenbeck.   (Hollenbeck, elected to the State Senate in 1971, opted to run for Freeholder instead of re-election.)

Defeated for a second term as Freeholder in 1976, Herbert ran for an open State Senate seat in 1977.  The 39th district had gone Democratic in 1973, elected Raymond Garramone to the State Senate and two Democrats to the State Assembly.

Instead of seeking a second term in the Senate, Garramone instead ran for Governor -- unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Brendan Byrne in the Democratic primary.  The Republicans ran John Markert, who had won one of the Assembly seats in 1975.  But Byrne carried the 39th in the general and helped Herbert score a 53%-47% victory in the Senate race

Four years later, the Republicans ran Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest), who had lost an Assembly race in 1977 but won in 1979.  Cardinale easily defeated Herbert, 58%-42% -- a margin of nearly 11,000 votes.

Former NFL player Roman Oben is the new Kinnelon Democratic Municipal Chairman. Oben was named to the post by Morris County Democratic Chairman Lewis Candura this morning. The 36-year-old ex-offensive tackle played for the Giants, Browns, Chargers and Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a twelve year professional football career. Currently a broadcaster, which may raise some interesting conflicts if Kinnelon Republican Municipal Chairman Larry Casha seeks equal time, Oben is also a former intern for U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell.

With all the buzz around Assemblyman Joe Pennacchio’s potential run for U.S. Senate, it’s easy to forget that he still has a State Senate race to run against Dr. Wasim Khan in the 26th District. While Pennacchio is eyeing winning the Republican nomination against Anne Estabrook and ultimately taking down Frank Lautenberg, the 51-year-old Montville dentist still has to face off against the Khan, a 52-year-old medical doctor from Parsippany.

Khan said he’s not offended that Pennacchio feels confident enough about winning the district lay the groundwork for a U.S. Senate campaign. Rather, he says, it’s the voters who should be bothered.

It’s hard to get Democrats to run and win in the affluent Morris County burgh of Chatham Township. But in 2004, party leadership managed to dredge up candidates for two seats, one of which was being vacated by former Mayor Abigail Fair, a fiercely independent Democrat and township legend as one of the key protectors of the Great Swamp Watershed for over two decades in local office.

There was no great public stirring created by Fair’s would-be successors in the Democratic Party.