Matthew Milam

If there was one bright spot for New Jersey Democrats last night, it was in District 1.

In this southernmost district in the state, incumbents Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) and Matt Milam (D-Vineland) held on against Republicans Michael Donohue and John McCann by a relatively comfortable margin.

The two were thought to be the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents this year, since they represent a traditionally Republican district that is dominated by Cape May County - where Christopher Christie did especially well.  Perhaps considered most damning for their chances was the absence of state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Dennis), whose coattails helped get Albano elected in 2005 and Milam in 2007, from the ballot. 

But Van Drew was anything but absent from the campaign.  He played a crucial role in it, folding his two running mates into his independent brand and campaigning as if he were on the ballot himself. 

"Do I feel like I was on the ballot in a way?  Yes, because I have a commitment to them and the people in this district that we'll stand up and continue to do what is right regardless of party politics," he said, adding that the candidates still had to win on their own merits "regardless of how much help they had."

The Home News Tribune has urged the ouster of the most incumbent legislators this year: six.  The HNT called for the defeat of Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton), Joseph Egan (D-New Brunswick), Upendra Chivukula (D-Franklin), Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield), and John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville).  Only Peter Barnes (D-Edison) survived the wrath of the editorial board.  But the HNT also endorsed three incumbent Democrats for re-election to the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders. 

The Courier-News wants five incumbents, all Democrats, to be defeated: Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), Gerald Green (D-Plainfield), Egan, Chivukula, and Diegnan.  They endorsed three GOP incumbents, Peter Biondi (R-Hillsborough), Denise Coyle (R-Bernards), and John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown) and Barnes.

The Courier-Post wants four Democratic legislators gone: five-term Assemblymen Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) and Jack Connors (D-Pennsauken); and two special election winners -- State Sen. James Beach (D-Voorhees), who went to the Senate after John Adler became a Congressman; and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton), who won a special election convention earlier this year after Douglas Fisher resigned to become state Secretary of Agriculture.   The Gloucester County Times also advocated the defeat of Riley, and the Burlington County Times said Coway should go.

The Record endorsed Republican challengers running against Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley), Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee), and Connie Wagner (D-Paramus); they endorsed ten incumbents for re-election - seven Democrats and three Republicans.  The Record also called for the ouster of Democratic Freeholders in Bergen and Passaic counties.

The Press of Atlantic City endorsed a Republican challenger against freshman Assemblyman Matthew Milam (D-Vineland).  The newspaper backed five incumbents - one Democrat and four Republicans.

The Press of Atlantic City has endorsed Democratic Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) for re-election to a third term, and is backing GOP challenger Michael Donohue in his bid to unseat freshman Assemblyman Matthew Milam (D-Vineland).

"This has been a disappointing race. All four candidates rely far too much on vague generalities about state spending. And all four are united in their apparent belief that the state Department of Environmental Protection is the biggest problem in the state - an odd view for candidates who want to represent a district with so many environmental treasures that need protecting," the editorial said.  "But Albano and Donohue are the best of the group."

Milam seems to have lost his chance at an endorsement when he told the newspaper that he "does not mind being called (State Sen. Jeff) Van Drew's ‘puppet'"

There is a decent chance that Republicans will not pick up any Assembly seats on Election Day; that would be the first time since 1955 that neither party picked up or lost Assembly seats, and the first time in a gubernatorial election year since 1925.

The most competitive Assembly race in the state is in District 1, where Democratic Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam are seeking re-election in a Republican-leaning district.  The incumbents have a huge cash advantage, thanks to a powerful South Jersey Democratic fundraising organization.  Battles to unseat Democrats in districts 4, 14, 22, and 36 are uphill.  No Republican incumbents appear especially vulnerable.

The New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) has endorsed Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine for a second term.  The organization represents an estimated 110,000 nurses statewide.

"Governor Jon Corzine has been a friend to nursing. He has pledged support for legislation that removes the Joint Protocol for Advanced Practice Nurses prescribing in New Jersey and to educational advancement for nurses," said Terri Mount, NJSNA/INPAC Chair.  "He is the candidate best prepared to help NJSNA secure critical policy changes affecting nursing practice in New Jersey."

In State Assembly races, the NJSNA endorsed mostly incumbents from both parties.  They did not take a position in District 1, where Democrats Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) and Matthew Milam (D-Vineland) are seeking re-election in a hotly contested race, and endorsed no challenger candidates in any district.

Two '09 State Assembly races are pivotal for Republicans as they seek to win back control of the State Senate in 2011.  The GOP needs to oust Democratic Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam in the first district, with the hope that one of the newly-elected Republican legislators, perhaps Michael Donohue or John McCann, will challenge freshman Democratic State Sen. Jefferson Van Drew.  Van Drew, who runs well in GOP-dominated Cape May County, unseated Republican State Sen. Nicholas Asselta in 2007.

Republicans still see Freeholder Leonard Desiderio, the Mayor of Sea Isle, as a strong contender for the Senate.  Desiderio declined to run for the Assembly this year.  Another possible candidate is U.S. Marshal James Plousis, who is a former Cape May County Sheriff.  Plousis is currently on holdover status while U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg consider possible candidates.

The other seat the GOP wants back is in the second district, where Democrat James Whelan unseated incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough in 2007.  McCullough had won a special election convention earlier that year when Bill Gormley retired after 25 years in the Senate.  Republicans need to make sure their two freshmen Assemblymen, Vincent Polistina and John Amodeo, win re-election (they are favored), so that one of them is positioned to take on Whelan in two years.

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.

CITING LATEST TRASH WASH-UP CONCERN, MILAM & ALBANO RENEW CALL FOR TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR BEACH DUMPING

Lawmakers Aim to Toughen Decade-Old Penalties; Spurred to Action by Illegal Dumping that Closed Beaches Over 2008 Labor Day Weekend

(TRENTON) - Citing the latest concern over trash washing up on New Jersey beaches, Assemblymen Nelson T. Albano and Matthew W. Milam (both D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland) today renewed their call to toughen the financial penalties against illegal ocean dumping.

The race for Governor is a toss-up and Democrats are favored to retain control of the State Assembly, according to a new PolitickerNJ.com Battleground 2009 analysis of state and county campaigns.  This breakdown will include key municipal races in future weeks.

Republican Christopher Christie is leading in four legislative districts Democrat Jon Corzine carried easily four years ago, according to a poll conducted for the Assembly Republican Victory '09 Committee. 

The poll also shows Republicans with an opportunity to pick up State Assembly seats in districts 1, 4, 14 and 19.

"This sizeable lead for Christie means the potential for coattails exists for GOP assembly candidates whose central campaign theme includes lowering taxes and reducing government spending, cleaning up political corruption and bringing change to Trenton," Jim Lee, the president of Susquehanna Polling and Research, a Pennsylvania-based firm, wrote in an analysis memo to the Assembly GOP leadership.

In District 1, Christie leads Corzine by 25 points, 55%-30%.  In 2005, Corzine carried the district 53%-47% against Republican Douglas Forrester.  Republicans win a generic ballot test in the race for Assembly by a 48%-29% margin.  The two incumbents, Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) and Matthew Milam (D-Vineland) are considered the most vulnerable Democrats in the Legislature this year.

Christie leads Corzine 52%-32% in District 4; Corzine beat Forrester in the Camden-Gloucester district by fourteen points, 57%-43%.  Just 27% of voters say that Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Twp.) deserves re-election, while 40% say it's time for a new person.  Republicans lead the generic ballot test 41%-33%.