DJ ?UESTLOVE ROCKS ‘VOTE FROM HOME’ PARTY
FOR YOUNG DEMOCRATIC NEW JERSEY VOTERS

(JERSEY CITY) – Tonight world-famous ?uestLove  deejayed a “Vote From Home” party with over 200 people hosted by the Democratic State Committee’s (DSC) “Yes We Can 2.0 Campaign” at Jersey City University to support Governor Jon S. Corzine, Senator Loretta Weinberg and New Jersey Democrats running for office at all levels across the State.

Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero testified that he "was not happy" after Bergenfield hired a Republican as their top lawyer in January 2001, The Record reported today.   Ferriero said he recalled speaking with then-Mayor Robert Rivas in December 2000, but indicated that he did not recall meeting him for lunch.

Ferriero's displeasure with Rivas likely played into the 2001 race for State Assembly in District 37.  The incumbent, Ken Zisa (D-Hackensack) was giving up his Assembly seat to run for Bergen County Sheriff, and Rivas wanted the Democratic nomination.  Instead, Ferriero picked Gordon Johnson, a career law enforcement official from Englewood.  Rivas ran against the organization in the primary, and lost to Johnson 7,653 to 1,662.  The top vote-getter in that primary was Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who received 7,976 votes.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker and state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) Tuesday night at the Newark Public Library.

NEWARK - The door to campaign headquarters opened and inside the spacious front room several tables had phones on them and a lone woman toiled after hours in front of a working list of area voters.

It was the campaign headquarters of GOP candidate Chris Christie, which opened in late summer to peals of laughter from local Democrats who said the Park Place HQ represented a GOP blunder.

A couple of blocks removed in the same Central Ward business district tonight, labor's headquarters for the campaign of Gov. Jon Corzine was locked and apparently empty.

In the vicinity, exiting the Newark Pride Alliance Cocktail Party at the public library this evening after attending with LG candidate state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), Mayor Cory Booker dismissed the suggestion that the Corzine campaign lacks strength in New Jersey's biggest city.

WHERE IS GOVERNOR CORZINE, SENATOR WEINBERG, DISTRICT 37 ASSEMBLY MEMBERS JOHNSON AND HUTTLE ON MTA (TUNNEL AND BRIDGE) INCREASES?

GORDON-WEINBERG ENCAP REFORM LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Bob Gordon and Loretta Weinberg to require private entities under public contract to comply with stricter financing and transparency standards in an effort to avoid scandals like the EnCap debacle in the Meadowlands was signed into law yesterday by Governor Corzine.

“Public-private partnerships are important to create needed economic growth in New Jersey, but the people of our State deserve some guarantee for their investment,” said Senator Gordon, D-Bergen. “In the case of EnCap, hundreds of millions of dollars were funneled to an unqualified developer for one of the largest redevelopment projects ever undertaken in New Jersey. If private developers were required to invest more private capital and submit audited financial statements or risk losing public financing, the EnCap debacle might never have happened.”

LG candidate state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), right, tonight in Hamilton with Council candidate Wendy Sturgeon.

HAMILTON - Likening last week's Monmouth University lieutenant governor's debate to the Jerry Springer Show, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) stumped for Hamilton Council candidate Wendy Sturgeon at Padrino's this evening, unapologetically reiterating that if people think she's being partisan by bashing former President George W. Bush, they're not honsetly assessing the reach of the damage his policies wrought.

Or the natural Christie connection.

"They booed me at the so-called debate the other night," Weinberg, standing beside Sturgeon, told a small crowd of Mercer County Democrats packed into this Italian ristorante on Kuser Road. "But it was the Bush policies of cutting taxes for the wealthy that got us into this mess. It was George Bush who voted against the Family Care Program, which Barack Obama reinstated."

GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie fundraised for Bush for the Texan's 2000 presidential campaign.

WHERE IS GOVERNOR CORZINE, SENATOR WEINBERG, DISTRICT 37 ASSEMBLY MEMBERS JOHNSON AND HUTTLE ON MTA (TUNNEL AND BRIDGE) INCREASES?

After trailing in the polls since February, Jon Corzine finally saw one where he led Chris Christie – even if only by a statistically insignificant one point.  Several other polls also showed the race in a dead heat, or Christie only slightly ahead.  Corzine outlined how he plans to slash the deficit in the next four years, although Christie jumped on him for planning it partly by extending a tax on the wealthy.  And lieutenant governor candidates Loretta Weinberg, Kim Guadagno and Frank Esposito engaged in a contentious debate.

So who won the week?  Two of our experts said Corzine, one picked Guadagno, and one chose nobody. 

Trying to amplify Loretta Weinberg's arguments from last night's debate about the need for state mandates protecting mammogram coverage for women, the Corzine campaign this afternoon enlisted the help of breast cancer survivor U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-Florida).

"I wanted to express my concern as someone who recently spent some time up close to the country's health care system," the congresswoman said in a conference call with reporters. "With every passing day, the comments uttered by he (GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie) or his running mate show just how of touch they are. Last night, (GOP LG candidate Kim Guadagno) trivialized the issue by suggesting the campaign wasn't about mammograms.

"What's more important than electing a candidate who understands the importance of mammogram coverage?" Wasserman Schultz added. "It's a testament to how extreme the Republican Party is that the candidates they offer are more and more out off touch. I hope women voters are paying close attention to this election year. The stakes are very high for women. If Chris Christie is elected, they're turning back the clock."

I just returned to my home in West Orange from the Lieutenant Governor debate at Monmouth University.  Kim Guadagno was a clear winner.

Kim projected competence, knowledge of issues, and even more importantly, empathy.  She has genuine charisma and star quality.  Regardless of whether Chris Christie wins or loses in November, she will someday be a Republican candidate for Governor.

Christie Whitman was the New Jersey Republican woman star from the aristocracy.  Kim Guadagno is the new Republican woman star from the meritocracy.