Michael Patrick Carroll

Tony Bucco campaigns in Mount Arlington

An internal poll from the District 25 Assembly campaign of Tony Bucco reveals a sizable lead for the Boonton Twp. attorney, but at least one rival campaign said the polling is based on name ID and the obvious recognition enjoyed by the candidate’s father, state Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton).

Bucco released the results of the May 19-21 poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, which shows him leading his nearest competitor  by 22 points in the June 2nd Republican Primary.   

The poll finds Bucco – identified in the poll simply as Anthony Bucco - receiving 40% of the vote, compared to 18% for Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) and 14% for Freeholder Doug Cabana at 14%. Twenty-eight percent of voters described themselves as undecided.

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) tonight in Mt. Arlington.

MT. ARLINGTON - Establishment buzz portends at last – and again! - the political demise of veteran Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) in this cycle as he runs against the son of a Republican workhorse and a popular freeholder, and yet at this 25th Legislative District candidates’ forum tonight, it’s Carroll who injects theatrical pizzazz into a roomful of local GOP diehards, crumbling stiff upper lips into broad grins. 

Eschewing the microphone after back-to-back podium performances by Tony Bucco, Jr., and Freeholder Doug Cabana in front of the Mt. Arlington Republican Club, Carroll strides across the dance floor and drives his heels with dramatic impact - equal parts Patrick Henry, Cicero and flamenco - as he projects his voice from the far side of the banquet room.

“Most new ideas are bad ideas,” he announces, bearing down on Bucco, who has just promised the room he intends to take “fresh” ideas to Trenton. 

“We don’t have to look for new ideas we’ve had them from hundreds of years,” Carroll thunders. “We just have to go back to what works.”

Very little money is is being spent in Republican legislative primaries this year, according to reports filed on May 5 with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.

In terms of cash, the most competitive primary is in District 40, where incumbent Assemblymen Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and Dave Russo (R-Ridgewood) face businessmen Joseph Caruso and Anthony Rottino.

Including funds left over from their previous campaign balances, Rumana has raised a total of $189,200 and has $78,888 on hand, while Russo has raised $181,375 and has $39,925 on hand.  Their joint account raised a total of $99,428 and has $13,254 in cash.

That puts the incumbents at a significant but not overwhelming fundraising advantage over Caruso and Rottino, who did not have previous campaign balances to draw from but wound up out-raising Rumana and Russo during the last fundraising cycle.  Caruso raised $64,550 and has $37,175 on hand, while Rottino raised $42,825 and has $32,715 on hand.  The joint account for the challengers raised $28,843 and has $5,341 on hand.

In the three man 25th District contest, the two non-incumbents are by far the bigger fundraisers.  Tony Bucco, Jr., whose father occupies that district's state Senate seat, raised a total of $58,550 and has the most cash with $27,086.  Morris County Freeholder Cabana raised $55,344 in total, but does not have the most cash on hand of any candidate, with $17,300 left over.  The lone incumbent in the race, Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Township), has the least money. He raised $20,119 - most of which came from left over funds -- and has $5,214 in cash.

The lone incumbent in the race, Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Township), has the least money. He raised $20,119 - most of which came from left over funds -- and has $5,214 in cash.

After working in Jeff Bell’s campaign during the summer of 1978 (as well as interning with the state GOP), I importuned Kemp’s folks and secured an internship in DC for the Fall. Every Thursday and Friday, off to DC on the rickety old local, to room 2244 (or was it 4422?) RHOB. Kemp was something of an icon among College Republicans; he attended numerous meetings throughout the DC area and always tarried after speaking to mingle with awestruck teens. He brought passion and enthusiasm to politics, as well as a willingness to chat on policy with any 19 year-old who wished to engage.

The office, of course, featured many reminders of his previous vocation, including Pat Summerall’s daughter as his receptionist. One picture in particular stood out: a defensive lineman about the size of a truck towering over, and apparently about to squish, a cringing, diminutive QB.

Interns, generally, enjoyed little face time with The Boss, but toward the end of my brief tenure, the student union at JHU decided to run a fund-raising auction and asked each student group to donate some object to the enterprise. As an officer of the College Republicans, it fell to me to secure an autographed football from the erstwhile quarterback.

Morris County Freeholder Doug Cabana

The three remaining competitors in the 25th Legislative District GOP Primary deny that the absence of Randolph Councilman Gary Algeier from the race will significantly alter their battlefield strategies.

Algeier, a Morristown-based attorney, dropped his Assembly bid this week.

“The decision is based upon a significant change in my professional life which renders it impractical to continue this candidacy,” he said in a statement. “The decision was most difficult, not because of my own personal situation, but more because of all the work and commitment that my supporters have provided to the campaign for the Assembly Seat.

Former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan has won the endorsment of the New Jersey Conservative Party Chairman.

New Jersey Conservative Party (NJCP) State Chairman Stephen Spinosa will "temporarily resign" his post because he has changed his party registration to Republican in support of Steve Lonegan's campaign for Governor.  Spinosa has urged the 45 voters registered as members of the New Jersey Conservative Party to change their registration to Republican and then change back after the June primary.   Spinosa says the NJCP has also endorsed Michael Doherty for State Senate, and Michael Patrick Carroll and Alison Littell McHose for Assembly.

Spinosa's statement, in entirety:

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.)

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Township) never minded bucking the system, so Morris GOP Chair John Sette’s endorsement of two rival primary candidates landed with no crushing force.  

“John Sette is entitled to his opinion,” said Carroll. “I’m sorry he feels that way.  I would have appreciated the courtesy of a phone call instead of reading it cold. ...The truth is, I would be honored to serve with any of the three other men running for this office.” 

As he assessed the field of four candidates pursuing two seats in the 25th District, Sette complained about Carroll’s boast that he was going to Trenton to “do nothing.”

In his post as Morris County Republican Chairman, John Sette is officially neutral in the race for State Assembly in District 25.  But as an individual, he is backing Morris County Freeholder Douglas Cabana and attorney Anthony Bucco over the seven-term incumbent, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Township).  Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) is giving up the seat he has held since 1997 to seek the Republican nomination for Governor.

Morris County Freeholder Doug Cabana with Wharton Mayor/Morris Freeholder William Chegwidden (right)

In his bid for a seat in the 25th Legislative District, Morris County Freeholder Doug Cabana today announced the support of 13 of the district’s 15 Republican mayors. 

They are: Cyril Wekilsky of Boonton; Thomas Donadio of Boonton Twp.; P. Ted Hussa of Denville Twp.; Russell Felter of Jefferson Twp.; Frank Cioppettini of Mendham Twp.; Richard Leary of Mine Hill Twp.; Arthur Ondish of Mt. Arlington; Stephen Shaw of Mountain Lakes; Kathyann Snyder of Rockaway Borough; Louis Sceusi of Rockaway Twp.; Kathy DeFllippo of Roxbury Twp.; Betty Simmons of Victory Gardens; and William Chegwidden of Wharton. 

“I am humbled to have the support of these community leaders, with whom I’ve worked to help provide good government for the citizens of Morris County,” said Cabana, who is running in a field of four candidates in pursuit of two seats, including one left vacant by retiring Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), a Republican candidate for governor.

Tony Bucco at his pasta dinner event in the Zeris Inn on Thursday evening.

MOUNTAIN LAKES – They’ve seen other candidates in neighboring districts arrive at the brink of running and then back down with the awful idea of a bad economy turning even worse. For if there’s nobility in serving the public, there is also the catastrophic fear of accepting that service to the detriment of the more foundational forces of job and family.

What’s the good of circulating a glossy mailer advertising first-rate business credentials and a great looking family, when in fact the family sits at home with no food on the table because dad is out pouring the contents of their nest egg into his campaign, and a once thriving but now unmanned business simultaneously goes belly up?

Yet as hard as it is to run, to pick up the phone and beg for money in a flat-lined economy, the four 25th District Republican primary candidates in pursuit of two seats – all attorneys who fulfill at least some government contract work, some more than others - are going anyway, lousy economy be damned.

“We’re in the early stages of this campaign, and I’m in whether I raise $10 or $100,000,” said Randolph Councilman Gary Algeier, who intends to rely on writing columns and door-to-door campaigning probably more than fundraising.