Joseph Coniglio, described during his federal corruption trial as a man with unspectatular intellectual aptitude, was elected to the New Jersey State Senate in 2001, defeating three-term Republican State Sen. Louis Kosco (R-Paramus) by 3,543 votes, a 53%-47% margin. 

Redistricting altered the 38th district, which had been a competitive legislative district through the 1980’s, in favor of the Democrats 2001.  Two large Democratic towns, Fair Lawn and Fort Lee, were added to the district.  Joseph Ferriero, who was in his fourth year as the Bergen County Democratic Chairman, picked Coniglio, a 58-year-old plumber and union official, to run for the Senate with the hope that the former two-term Paramus Councilman would hold down Kosco’s hometown Paramus plurality and build margins in other parts of the district.  The strategy worked: Coniglio won Fair Lawn by 1,145 votes, Fort Lee by 2,141 and Cliffside Park by 1,989.  He lost Paramus by just 877 votes.  In 1997, Kosco won Paramus by 2,781 in his 57%-43% victory over Democrat Valerie Vainieri Huttle.

Besides redistricting, Coniglio benefitted from some coat tails at the top of the ticket.  In the race for Governor, Democrat James E. McGreevey carried District 38 by a 61%-39% margin over Republican Bret Schundler. In the race for two State Assembly seats, Republican Rose Heck won re-election by a narrow 468 vote margin, but Democrat Matt Ahearn ousted GOP incumbent Nicholas Felice in a race where just 803 votes separated the top vote getter from the candidate in fourth place.

After the ’01 election, Republicans and Democrats each had twenty Senate seats and Republicans viewed Coniglio as one of their top targets in 2003 as they sought to regain control of the Senate.  Heck gave up her Assembly seat to run for the Senate, but the GOP could not compete with Democrats financially and Coniglio won his Democratic-leaning district 56%-44%, by a margin of 4,756 votes.  Republicans also lost Heck’s Assembly seat.

Add Robert Colletti to the membership list of the Douglas Forrester Club: Republicans who were headed to the Senate, but were defeated when Democrats changed their candidates.  Colletti, a former Elmwood Park Councilman, looked like he would win the 38th district State Senate race last summer after incumbent Joseph Coniglio became the target of a federal criminal probe -- a Democratic poll confirmed exactly that.  But now, against Assemblyman Robert Gordon, Colletti doesn't have a chance.

The Record has endorsed the Democratic ticket in the 38th district: Robert Gordon for State Senate and Joan Voss and Connie Wagner for State Assembly.  MORE

With about five weeks to go before the general election, it’s risky to write off any political campaign as a lost cause. But several underdog candidates who once seemed to have a slight chance at running competitive races do not seem to have picked up steam or support from their parties.

State Senate candidates Robert Colletti, Richard Dennison, Gina Genovese and John Villapiano have all run spirited campaigns. And while none has a good shot at winning on November 6th, all four insist that their campaigns are very much alive.

Meanwhile, Seema Singh’s State Senate campaign isn’t necessarily dead, though it is on life support.

Once viewed as among the state's most politically regions in New Jersey, the 38th has become a "blue district" and Republicans will not even compete there this fall.  Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce has told Bergen County Republicans that his leadership PAC will not play in the 38th, where incumbent Joan Voss and Freeholder Connie Wagner face Republicans John Driscoll and Renee Czaplicki. 

Among Essex County Democrats, including Senate President Richard Codey, there has been active discussion today of replacing Mims Hackett in the 27th district Assembly race.  That's Codey's district, and he clearly doesn't want to deal with even a remote possibility that an unknown Republican from his hometown might actually win this fairly solid Democratic seat.

The race is complicated by the federal probe in the 38th district, where Codey's candidate, State Senator Joseph Coniglio, is the target of yet another federal corruption probe.  If Codey pushes for Hackett's withdrawal, it could be hard for him to justify his continued support of Coniglio -- even though the Bergen Senator has not been charged with any crime. (Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has a poll showing that Coniglio has a problem, but so far, the two-term Senator is resisting moves to replace him on the ballot.)

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigation

PoliticsNJ.com's The Inside Edge reports that Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero will ask State Sen. Joseph Coniglio to end his bid for a third term. 

Joe Coniglio's Republican opponent, former Elmwood Park Councilman Robert Colletti, has sent out his first campaign mailer. The topic is no surprise: corruption. Coniglio, a two-term Democratic State Senator from Bergen County, is reportedly the target of a federal criminal investigation.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigation
The news that State Sen. Joseph Coniglio received a target letter from federal prosecutors can’t hurt Republican Robert Colletti’s chances to win a state Senate seat, but Bergen GOP leaders are responding to the news cautiously.

“It's always sobering when there are serious accusations that an elected official has violated the public trust, but we'll wait for the legal process to play out,” said Bergen County GOP Chairman Robert Ortiz, who was elected earlier this week.

Colletti is running a shoe string campaign in the 38th District, which normally leans strongly toward the Democrats. But Coniglio’s potential legal troubles may give the campaign a boost -- even if Coniglio is replaced by another candidate, according to Colletti’s campaign.