Nicholas Lonzisero

After a negative flyer her campaign issued cost her the endorsement of the state's second largest newspaper, Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) said she will change the way she campaigns.

"I think that I've matured as a candidate and as an assemblyperson, and if I choose to run again in the future, I will only do positive pieces," said Wagner, a freshman running for re-election with fellow incumbent Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee).  "And you can hold me to that."

The now infamous "Porn and Guns" mailer - which accuses Republican opponents Nicholas Lonzisero and Judith Fisher of having ties to the pornography industry and of renting space to a gun shop located near a school (both charges are based in fact, but stretched to logical extreme) - had even Democrats scratching their heads as to why incumbents in a relatively safe district would engage in slash and burn campaigning. 

Ultimately, it cost the two Democrats the otherwise wrapped up endorsement of The Record, which praised their legislative records and said the Republicans "offer mostly boilerplate Republican talking points."  Nevertheless, the paper called the flyer a "deal-breaker" and, in its last line, endorsed the Republicans.

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The District 38 Republican challengers are capitalizing on The Record's endorsement with thousands of robocalls.  

The paper's editorial said that the paper would have endorsed incumbents Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee) and Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) had they not sent out a negative mailer associating their opponents with "porn and guns."

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said that the two underdog Republicans – Ridgefield Councilman Nicholas Lonzisero and Fort Lee activist Judith Fisher – are capitalizing on the flyer's backlash.  

“Because of The Record endorsement in District 38, and because of the outrage at the two Democrats for charging the two Republican candidates with guns and porno, the campaign over the weekend is making tens of thousands of robocalls advising voters that The Record has endorsed two Republicans,” said Yudin. Read More >

Democrats went over the top negative in the race for State Assembly in District 38, and it cost them the endorsement of The Record.  The re-election campaign of Assemblywomen Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee) and Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) sent out a "Porn and Guns" mailer attacking Judith Fisher for her connection to the pornography industry because she owns a company that sells accounting software to Playboy, and Nicholas Lonzisero for renting space in a building he owns to a gun shop. 

"On the issues, we are more aligned with Wagner and Voss. They have an impressive body of legislative work already. But we, in good conscience, cannot ignore the negative tone of their campaign. For us, it is a deal-breaker," the editorial said.

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HACKENSACK – State Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) says he does not “understand the logic” of his Democratic district-mates sending out a hard hitting campaign flyer against their out-funded, underdog Republican opponents.

“Had it been my campaign, I would not have authorized a piece of that kind,” he said.  “It’s not a safe district, but [the Democrats] lead by a sizable margin, so there’s no reason to go negative.”

The mailer, issued by Assemblywomen Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) and Joan Voss (D-Teaneck), attacks their opponents over “porn and guns” – “porn” for Republican Judith Fisher accounting software to Playboy, and “guns” for Lonzisero renting a space next to a school to a gun shop, which has occupied the spot since 2002.

Wagner, who was standing near Gordon, defended the mailer.

“You know what?  Everything in there is true.  Is it a little strong?  Yes, it is,” she said.  “But it’s a campaign, and that’s what the campaign is about.”

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Bergen County Republicans are enraged by a Democratic mailer that attacks the 38th District Republican Assembly candidates over "porn and guns."

The mailer hits recipients with an image of the word "porn" spelled out in computer keys above "guns" spelled out in bullets.

"If you make your money on porn or guns, then you have something in common with the Bergen Republican candidates," the front of the mailer reads.  Turn it around, and the flyer says that Republican Assembly candidate Judith Fisher is a "consultant to one of the largest pornographic companies in the world" and that her running mate, Ridgefield Councilman Nick Lonzisero, rents property to a gun shop located next to an elementary school that is promoted by the National Rifle Association - "the same organization that's been lobbying to allow assault weapons in New Jersey." 

"It is so despicable. It shows the two Democratic candidates are wallowing around in the sewers with pig manure," said Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin.  "You can quote me on that." 

The flyer's style is fairly typical of Bergen County's notoriously down and dirty political scene.  What is unusual is that it was issued in a district that is considered a relatively safe bet for incumbents Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee) and Connie Wagner (D-Paramus) to win.

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If Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, arrested on federal corruption charges last week, resigns before September 14, there will be a special election to fill the remaining 26 months of his term.  That could force Nicholas Lonzisero, the Republican Council President, to choose between continuing his uphill race for the State Assembly in the 38th district and a winnable race for mayor.

If Suarez resigns, Lonzisero would become acting mayor until the Council appoints a replacement from three names submitted by the Ridgefield Democratic County Committee.  Since the Council is controlled by Republicans, 4-2, there is no guarantee that any of the Democratic recommendations would be accepted.

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Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said today that the corruption allegation against Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez helps put the 38th Legislative District in play.

"It is in play because of the rampant Democratic corruption, first with Senator (Joseph) Coniglio and now with Mayor Suarez," said Yudin.

The 38th is considered a relatively safe Democratic district, although Republicans have indicated that they're keeping an eye on it this year.  Even after Coniglio (D-Paramus) had to drop his candidacy for re-election to a third term after receiving a target letter from the U.S. Attorney's office in 2007, the Democratic slate, led by Robert Gordon (D-Fair Lawn) as Coniglio's replacement, won easily.

But Yudin thinks the corruption issue may have reached critical mass there.  Republican candidate Nick Lonzisero is council president in Suarez's town, and, if Suarez resigns, he will become interim mayor.  

In April, Coniglio was convicted of steering state funds to Hackensack University Medical Center, which employed him as a consultant.  Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and ex-BCDO counsel Dennis Oury are set to have corruption trials that parallel the general election.  Yudin thinks all that, combined having former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie - who got the ball rolling on the investigations that ensnared the Democrats - at the top of the ticket, will make corruption a winning issue.

Yudin's focus on corruption - or the "corruption tax" that he ran last year's unsuccessful freeholder campaigns on - has drawn criticism from some Bergen Republicans in the past.

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Former Republican state Sen. Louis Kosco said that he occasionally gets calls from his friends who follow politics asking if he feels happy to see the Democrat who beat him in 2001 in legal trouble.

With Coniglio convicted today of six counts of mail fraud and extortion, Kosco, who moved to Lacey Township from Paramus four years ago, said he's just sad.

"People call me and say ‘aren't you happy about this,' I say ‘absolutely not,'" he said.  "It's not something that I'm gloating over, believe me," he said.

Kosco spent eighteen years in the Assembly and state Senate representing District 38, which was then a swing district.  Like Coniglio, he served on the Paramus Borough Council before the moving up to the Legislature.  He even lived ten doors down from Coniglio, though he said he did not know him well.

"I spent all those years in the legislature keeping that district as clean as it could possibly be. It just makes it look bad for all the honest politicians that are there, and there are a lot of them that do the right thing," said Kosco.

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Fort Lee Republican activist Judith Fisher dropped her candidacy for Bergen County freeholder yesterday, instead choosing to run for assembly in the 38th Legislative District.

The move has the enthusiastic support of Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin, who said he encouraged Fisher – an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Fort Lee in 2007 and council in 2008-- to run for assembly instead.  

“She’s from Fort Lee and ran for mayor and did very well. It’s very important for us to reduce the pluralities in that part of the county.  I’m absolutely delighted that she’s done this,” said Yudin.

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Ridgefield Councilman Nicholas Lonzisero has filed a letter of intent with the Bergen County Republican Organization to run for assembly in Legislative District 38, according to the party's chairman, Bob Yudin.

So far, no other Republicans have come forward to run in the Democratic-leaning district, which some members of the party think maybe, just maybe could be put in play in light of the state's economic woes and the pending federal corruption trials of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) and ex-Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"We're actively recruiting now," said Yudin.

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