Peter Murphy

Republicans won all three hotly contested races for County Clerk.  The biggest upset came in Passaic County, where Kristin Corrado, a former assistant counsel to the governor, defeated Woodland Park Councilman Keith Kazmark by a 52%-48% margin.  Cumberland County Clerk Gloria Noto and Salem County Clerk Gilda Gill were also re-elected despite facing aggressive Democratic challenges.

The Passaic County Clerk's office returns to Republican hands after five years of Democratic control.  In 2004, Karen Brown ousted popular GOP Clerk Ronni Nochimson.  Brown quickly fell out of favor with county Democratic leaders and she did not seek re-election.  Democrats picked Kazmark over Nochimson, who switched parties two years ago.  Corrado is allied with a faction of the Passaic County GOP headed by former GOP County Chairmen Peter Murphy and Michael Mecca; she had won a contested primary over the candidate backed by the Passaic County GOP organization.  Her victory, to some extent, marks a political comeback for Murphy, who served time in a federal prison earlier in the decade and was prosecuted by the newly-elected Governor, Christopher Christie.

Two weeks after failing to topple Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) from his perch on top of the beleaguered Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO), leaders of the dissident Republican faction GOP Strong are unsatisfied with his efforts to unite the party.

After overwhelmingly defeating GOP Strong-backed chairman challenger Carl Mazzie – which came a week after fending off a challenge to his assembly seat that was also backed by the group – Rumana said that he would look into creating a system of four co-chairmanships.  

GOP Strong co-chairman Michael Mecca, however, said that he hasn’t heard anything about the plan – or anything from Rumana -- over the last two weeks.

Peter Murphy may have publicly endorsed the former federal prosecutor who wanted to send him to prison, but he didn't really mean it.  Totowa, the base of the former Passaic County GOP Chairman's political power, voted strongly in support of Steven Lonegan for the Republican nomination for Governor.  Lonegan beat Christopher Christie 1,040 to 470, a 69%-31% margin.  Totowa gave Lonegan the largest municipal plurality in the state, and his fourth largest percentage.  Lonegan's best town was Bogota, where he was Mayor for twelve years; he won 80% of the vote there.

PolitickerNJ.com

Assemblyman/Passaic County Republican Chairman Scott Rumana

WAYNE – Tonight is the culmination of a three year feud that has divided the Passaic County Republican Party, but Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) – whose chairmanship is on the line tonight – didn’t break a sweat.

Between glad handing with supporters and quickly dining on some salad and pasta at the Grand Chalet on Route 23, Rumana pinned the blame for the party’s lackluster decade on the leadership of former Chairman Peter Murphy, who founded GOP Strong – the group that has spent the last three years,and especially the last six months, going after him with a vengeance.  

Tonight, Rumana faces a challenge from Carl Mazzie, who has the support of GOP Strong but does not claim membership in the organization.  Voting was scheduled to end at 9:00, but 10 minutes past the hour dozens of committee members remained waiting in line.  

“We had everything.  At one time we had everything,” said Rumana, who began his political career when the Republican Party still dominated Passaic County.  Now it’s been seven years since they've won a county-wide election.

The hard fought battle for control of the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO) might come to a head tonight, when a splinter group allied with a former party leader will attempt to oust Chairman Scott Rumana.

Rumana, who is also an assemblyman and a former mayor of Wayne, wants to hold on to his chairmanship.  The rival organization, GOP Strong, is all but officially backing Totowa attorney Carl Mazzie, a former Rumana ally.

But, as the Herald News reported this morning, Mazzie went to court yesterday to delay the reorganization meeting until all sixteen of the county's municipal clerks have certified results for over 500 county committee races. Superior Court Judge Margaret Mary McVeigh said she would decide whether the meeting would go forward unless the opposing sides came up with a compromise.

Rumana was confident that the court would rule in his favor, and said no compromise was necessary.  By tonight, he said, most municipal clerks will have certified the results.  Committee candidates whose statuses are still unresolved will be able to cast provisional ballots

"About 95 percent or more of these people are unchallenged, guaranteed winners - they go into the voting machine. The balance of that 5%, if there's any question about whether they've won, they go to provisional ballots," he said.  "Every vote will be counted, and if those provisionals have any impact on this race, then we'll worry about it."

There is no identifiable winner in the Passaic County Republican war between County Chairman Scott Rumana and two of his predecessors, Peter Murphy and Michael Mecca - although there will be one soon as individual contests for County Committee seats are certified.  Republicans expect Rumana to face a challenger when the county GOP organization meets to elect a leader next week.

When Joseph Caruso, a Republican activist and fundraiser, was mulling running for state Assembly in District 40 late last year, he expressed complete confidence about his electoral prospects.

"I can make one commitment: I would win. I won't lose," he told PolitickerNJ.com in November.

Six months later, and after taking on small businessman Anthony Rottino as a running mate, Caruso gives off even more confidence.

"I'm even more [confident] today than I was," he said, after seeing "peoples' comments when you knock on their doors, when you call them.  It's not just like ‘I'm going to vote for you' - they actually engage in the issues.  The amount of emails and texts of people supporting me - it's overwhelming."

Caruso and Rottino are challenging freshman Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and ten-term incumbent David Russo (R-Ridgewood) in a race that, to Caruso's frustration, is seen as deeply entwined with a power struggle for control of the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO), which Rumana chairs.

Worth watching on Tuesday: Democratic mayoral primaris in Edison, Englewood, Morristown,  Atlantic City, Plainfield, Camden and East Orange, and Republican intra-party fights in Bergen, Gloucester and Passaic counties.

West Milford Council Candidate and Peter Murphy ally, Mike Ramaglia, is the subject of two election law violation complaints

Peter Murphy allies, Anthony Rottino and Joseph Caruso, have once again shown a disregard for New Jersey Election Law. As candidates for the 40th District Assembly seats they may have authorized, with the assistance of Murphy’s “GOP Strong,” robo-calls which fail to identify the responsible groups.