Ralph Caputo

Eight members of the New Jersey State Assembly are in danger of losing party support if they seek re-election in 2009:

BELLEVILLE - A day after P.J. Mac Donald beat one of FreeholderAssemblyman/Freeholder Ralph Caputo (D-Belleville) Ralph Caputo’s three vanquished candidates to fill a vacated 3rd Ward seat, Mac Donald campaign signs on his Washington Avenue headquarters came down.

In their place now stand Bob Russo for Freeholder signs.

"Ralph Caputo’s school board candidates got wiped out, and now his council candidates got blown out," said Russo campaign manager Gary Iacobacci. "What happened last night means Bob can actually win Belleville. It’s a dire situation for the incumbent."

A defiant Caputo said the Russo people are mistaken if they believe Elvin Pereira’s 70-vote margin loss to Mac Donald in the 3rd Ward demonstrates Caputo’s weakness in the 5th district, which includes Belleville, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Montclair and Nutley.

CAPUTO INTROS LEGISLATION TO HALT SALE OF 'DRUG LOOK-A-LIKE' CONSUMABLES IN NEW JERSEY

Measure Designed to Combat an Increasing Number of Products Utilizing Advertising, Packaging that Directly References Illegal Substances

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo today introduced legislation that would prohibit the sale of any food, beverage, or other consumable in New Jersey that uses advertising or packaging that mimics or references illegal drugs or similar substances.

Ward Two Councilman Steve Rovell 

BELLEVILLE - Less than a week before Election Day, both sides open up with everything they’ve got, and the resulting facial expressions and body language indicate that some of the shots have landed.

A glossy mail piece hits the tightknit blue collar neighborhoods off Franklin Avenue that run up against the Parkway on the other side. The man whose face appears in unflattering photos on those mailers storms to the microphone at a rally for him and his running mates.

"It’s pure and utter B.S.," cries Ward Two Councilman Steve Rovell, referring to challenger Mario Drozdz’s charges that Rovell was part of a team that increased taxes $10 million in thee years, indulged in political favoritism and hired nearly a million dollar’s worth of town employees who don’t live in Belleville.

Ward Three Council candidate Paul "P.J." Mac Donald, right, with his ally, Belleville Mayor Ray Kimble. 

BELLEVILLE - All over town, the headquarters of candidates are shuttered on a Monday afternoon, with the exception of Paul "P.J." Mac Donald’s campaign digs on Washington Avenue.

The mood is grimly combative in this roomful of politicians and former cops as Mac Donald recounts what led him to this point, eight days before the May 13 election.

"There was an empty seat and some friends asked me if I’d be interested in running," he says. "I went down to the mayor’s office and sought his support. I called every public official and every one of them gave me his blessing.

"Then I called Caputo."

ASSEMBLY PANEL CLEARS PACKAGE OF BILLS TO IMPROVE HOSPITAL EFFICIENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY

Measures Would Help To Stabilize Financial Health of State's Hospitals

(TRENTON) - The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee today released a multi-bill legislative package aimed at stabilizing the long-term financial health of the state's hospital industry to stave-off future hospital closings.

The measures are sponsored by Assembly members Herb Conaway, MD, Ralph R. Caputo, Albert Coutinho, Jerry Green, Linda Greenstein, Gary Schaer, Grace Spencer, Connie Wagner, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

CAPUTO TO INTRODUCE BILL TO HALT SALE OF ENERGY DRINKS, ENERGY SUPPLEMENTS TO MINORS

Measure Would Help Prevent Development of Long-Term Health Problems in Youths

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo today announced he is drafting legislation that would prohibit minors in New Jersey from purchasing super-caffeinated energy drinks and nutrition supplements.

The retirement this year of Johnny Jones from the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders left a vacancy, which Newark Mayor Cory Booker wanted to fill with long time South Ward ally Terrance Bankston. 

On Saturday, however, the party selected Rufus Johnson - chief of staff to Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), the man Booker defeated for mayor in 2006.

Johnson will run on the line with incumbent freeholders Ralph Caputo, Linda Cavanaugh, Carol Clark, Blonnie Watson, Bilal Beasley, Patricia Sebold, Samuel Gonzalez and Donald Payne, Jr.

Rep. Rob Andrews is making his second bid for statewide office, challenging Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic Senate primary

As he launches a primary campaign for Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat, Rep. Rob Andrews says he’s less prickly than he was 11 years ago when his failed campaign for governor left him holding grudges and questioning the value of a man's word.

The congressman from Camden was bothered by then-Essex County Chairman Thomas Giblin’s 1997 decision to withdraw his support for Andrews to instead back north Jersey product James E. McGreevey for Governor.

“I took it personally and that was my mistake,” said Andrews, 50, who felt vindicated but no less intensely frustrated after McGreevey’s spectacular fall.

“Someone who might have backed McGreevey and not me was not a bad person,” Andrews said.

“He is a foolish person,” the congressman added, “but not a bad person.”

Its geography just above Newark's North Ward makes Belleville look like a natural complement to the political kingdom of Steve Adubato, who nevertheless denies he's personally backing anyone in nonpartisan municipal races in this hardscrabble town, with a population that hovers around 34,000.

"Belleville's always worried about me going over there," said the North Ward Democratic leader. "I was looking for a place for a charter school once. I went over to Belleville. That would have been great for Belleville, but they weren't interested."

The specter of Adubato in Belleville's May 13th elections comes in part as a result of Assemblyman (and Freeholder) Ralph Caputo's support of three candidates who have teamed up to try to unseat Mayor Ray Kimble's slate. Adubato and Caputo go way back, to when the latter lived in Newark before moving to Belleville. And, of course, it was Caputo who was part of the district 28 ticket that last year ousted Sen. Ron Rice's running mates, Oadline Truitt and Craig Stanley.

"Change is in the air," mused the new assemblyman, consciously invoking the clear-the-decks campaign slogan currently most associated with presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.