Louis Magazzu

There is some talk among South Jersey Democrats that Cumberland County Democratic Chairman Louis Magazzu will drop his bid for re-election to a fifth term as a Freeholder.  Some Democrats are concerned that a controversy surrounding Magazzu's failed bid for a National Association of Counties (NACo) leadership post could cost them the three Freeholder seats up this year. 

Under a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling during the 2002 U.S. Senate race, candidates could be replaced on the ballot as late as early October.

Magazzu raised and spent nearly $80,000 to run for NACo Second Vice President, a post that would have put him on track to run the national organization.  His contributors included some county vendors and engineering firms, and $5,000 from Gov. Jon Corzine.

Democrats are split this year, with two former Freeholders, Jane Christy and Jennifer (Lookabaugh) Swift, running as independents.  Christy and Swift were both Democrats.

Cumberland County Democratic Chairman and Freeholder Director Louis Magazzu came out of the November elections on a high.

Democrats -- partly capitalizing on the Obama wave - swept out a Republican sheriff, a surrogate, and won 7-0 control of the freeholder board in this traditionally competitive county.

Even though Magazzu wasn't on the ballot, a significant amount of the Republicans' campaign rhetoric last year turned on his contentious personality.  So after the results came in, he invited Republicans to make his personality a campaign issue again, and set his sights on beating the last county-wide elected GOP official: County Clerk Gloria Noto.

What Magazzu did not predict was that he would help motivate three former Democratic freeholders to run against him, potentially jeopardizing even his own freeholder seat in a year when Republicans are hoping to capitalize on public sentiment hostile to Governor Jon Corzine.

In May, former freeholders Jane Christy and Jennifer Swift announced that they planned to run as independents for three-year terms.  Christy left the freeholder board last year over differences with Magazzu.  Swift, formerly Jennifer Lookabaugh before her remarriage, is a former freeholder director who served on the board from 1989 to 2000.

Shortly after they announced, former Democratic Freeholder Bruce Peterson, the current mayor of Upper Deerfield Township who also left the freeholder board just last year, joined them to run for a one-year unexpired term.

To top it off, Vineland City Councilman Chuck Griffith - another former Democratic freeholder - offered to be their campaign manager.  They accepted.

Magazzu is running with Bridgeton businessman Wade Sjogren and incumbent Nelson Thompson, a labor leader who was appointed earlier this year to fill the unexpired term of Douglas Rainier when he became surrogate.

Republicans fielded Lawrence Township Deputy Mayor Tom Sheppard, former Vineland City Solicitor Rick Tonnetta and Vineland businessman Sam Fiocchi for the unexpired term.

The race for Cumberland County Freeholder got a little more interesting on Thursday with the announcement that two former Democratic Freeholders, Jane Christy and Jennifer Lookabaugh Swift,  will run as Independents in the fall Freeholder contest.  They will oppose incumbents Louis Magazzu, and Nelson Thompson.  This is part of an intra-party feud with Magazzu, the Democratic County Chairman.  The 7-0 Democratic Freeholder board had been split in recent years between the pro-Magazzu and anti-Magazzu camps.

Republicans are hoping to claw their way back to relevance in Cumberland County, where they are trying make up for a crushing blow in last year's election by winning back some seats on the all-Democrat freeholder board.

"Without a doubt it's a great year. With the anti-Corzine sentiment, I think we'll certainly see a good Republican backlash," said Bob Greco, the new Cumberland County Republican Chairman.

The GOP will also seek to re-elect County Clerk Gloria Noto, who is in the crosshairs of Democratic Chairman and Freeholder Director Lou Magazzu.

Cumberland County is traditionally Democratic-leaning, but Republicans were, until recently, a significant minority.  Before being washed away by last year's Democratic wave, all three of the county's constitutional officers - sheriff, surrogate and county clerk - were Republican, along with one member of the freeholder board.  Now, Noto is the last one standing.

Magazzu said that he has four potential candidates who want to take Noto on, although he wouldn't reveal any names.

Cumberland County Democratic Chairman Louis Magazzu says his decision to endorse Rob Andrews for U.S. Senate and place him on the organization line in the June 3 primary has more to do with a long-term relationship between the ten-term incumbent and is not about any dissatisfaction with the incumbent, Frank Lautenberg.

Four more Democratic County Chairs today endorsed Hillary Clinton for President: Charlotte DeFilippo of Union, Sheriff Joseph Spiczuzzo of Middlesex, James Pickering of Cape May and Louis Magazzu of Cumberland. Clinton was in New Jersey today, speaking to the annual Democratic State Committee conference in Atlantic City.

MAGAZZU INSULTS CASINO WORKERS