Peter Cammarano

The tidal wave unleashed this week by the FBI and the US Attorney's Office across New Jersey will likely re-calibrate the campaign for Governor.  While the corruption did not touch the Governor personally in any way, the investigation of his DCA Commissioner and the arrest of the protégé of his long-time counselor and advisor Angelo Genova are certainly too close for comfort, and re-set the general election campaign in terms unfavorable for the Democrats.

It is true that Governor Corzine's approval ratings, favorable standing, and ballot strength were all at all time lows, according to all independent public opinion polls.  It is also true that the Governor received no apparent "bounce" from the visit last week by President Obama.  The latest Strategic Vision poll after the visit showed an even stronger Christie lead.

But it is also true that the Governor's spending of his vast personal wealth on early negative advertising had an opportunity to tilt the playing field to his advantage, as his opponent could not match him dollar for dollar.

The Governor has spent in excess of $4 million since the primary for this purpose.

Hoboken Council President Dawn Zimmer

HOBOKEN - Defeated by him in a runoff election on June 9th, Council President Dawn Zimmer today called on Mayor Peter Cammarano to resign.

"I have read the complaint and these are extremely serious charges against him," Zimmer told PolitickerNJ.com. "I am urging him to resign. He should strongly consider it, particuarly since last week he was calling for Mr. (Hector) Claveria (a local, busted housing authority commissioner) to resign. These are extremely serious charges."

Zimmer said she believes everyone is innocent until proved guilty, but noted the rough political times the city weathered in recent months.

"Right now my biggest concern is the people of Hoboken," Zimmer said. "It was time to come together. I had accepted that he's mayor and I knew it was going to be a dance. Right now, we're up in the air again, and that's a hard place for Hoboken to be in."

The council president reiterated her disappointment with Cammarano for taking money from developers in his mayoral campaign, and did not appreciate statewide officials intervening to the degree they did in local politics.

"But I never imagined him (Cammarano) taking bribes," said Zimmer, who talked to corporation counsel shortly before speaking with PolitickerNJ.com.

HOBOKEN - If Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns amid federal corruption charges and Hoboken holds a special election, sources say Council President Dawn Zimmer - who lost a runoff election to Cammarano in June - would be the favorite to win.

Councilman Michael Russo, whose own father, Anthony, was jailed in 2004 on corruption charges in connection with his time as mayor from 1993 to 2001, is also another potential candidate for mayor. 

The young Russo's name went into circulation late Thursday afternoon.

Russo had contemplated a run at the empty mayor's seat earlier this year but backed down when internal polls showed him failing to gain traction beyond the 3rd Ward.

He ended up backing 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason.

As they headed into the teeth of their head-to-head June contest, then-Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer wanted to know why At-Large Councilman Peter Cammarano hadn't reported his campaign contributions to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Every call PolitickerNJ.com placed to Zimmer or to her campaign resulted in the councilwoman's repeated question about why Cammarano hadn't met the deadline.

In the 11th hour, on election day, June 9th, in point of fact, the Cammarano campaign released to the local press a list of campaign contributors and accounting of its finances, but these contributors were not listed on the ELEC website prior to the election.

The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office today against Cammarano reveals a mayoral candidate in the throes of a competitive May 12th mayoral campaign, intent on exchanging promises of expediting development projects to a federal cooperating witness for cash - $5,000 before the election and $5,000 after; the second payment to come in time for the runoff with Zimmer.