Robert Gordon

If Robert Gordon is picked for the 38th district Senate seat, Bergen County Democrats will need to hold a Special Primary Convention to nominate a candidate for his Assembly seat.

The race for State Senate in the 38th district has come down to one of those smoke filled rooms kind of contests between Assemblyman Robert Gordon and Paramus Mayor James Tedesco.  Democratic insiders say they believe both candidates have agreed to support the candidate of the party leadership and not mount a floor fight at Sunday's Special Primary Convention of the full County Committee, although that is a relatively standard line at this point in the process.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg today praised the integrity of two potential Senate candidates in the neighboring 38th district, and said that Democratic Party leaders should let the elected county committee members should make the decision.

"Senator Joseph Coniglio made a very tough decision. The legal system will now run its course, and I wish him well," said Weinberg. "I also certainly hope that none of our own democratic party leaders, nor any Republican will insinuate that my colleagues, Assembly members Bob Gordon or Joan Voss, are somehow implicated in this investigation because they received subpoenas. I know them both to be hardworking legislators of great integrity."

The timing of Joseph Coniglio's announcement was terrible for Robert Gordon, a Democratic Assemblyman from the 38th district with an interest in seeking Coniglio's State Senate seat. Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption investigation, dropped his bid for re-election to a third term around 5:30 PM yesterday, just as Gordon, who is Jewish, was preparing to start his observance of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. That means Gordon might not be able to begin campaigning until Friday afternoon for an election that might come on Monday evening. (Monday is the deadline to replace candidates on the ballot, although over the last five years, the courts have made that deadline highly flexible.)

State Sen. Joe Coniglio has agreed to drop his re-election bid, sources sayState Sen. Joseph Coniglio, who is the target of a federal corruption investigation, has agreed to drop his bid for re-election in the 38th district. Coniglio had resisted internal pressure from Bergen Democratic leaders to drop out of the race, but has now told Democratic officials that he would end his bid for a third term.

But Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero is strongly denying that Coniglio is dropping out, saying the report is "absolutely not true."

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigationThe two Republican Assembly candidates in the 38th district say that Assemblymen Robert Gordon and Assemblywoman Joan Voss should "admonish the actions" of their running mate, State Sen. Joseph Coniglio. Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption investigation, is running a joint campaign with Gordon and Voss.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio offered his first detailed response to allegations that he used his legislative post to help his employer, the Hackensack University Medical Center.  Coniglio is a target of a federal probe, which sometimes is a precursor to an indictment.

Today, his campaign manager, Brian Hague, issued a lengthy statement responding to a decision of the bi-partisan Joint Committee on Ethical Standards to reopen a previously-dismissed ethics complaint filed against Coniglio.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigationThe Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards will revisit a complaint filed against State Sen. Joe Coniglio that they had previously dismissed.

Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan had filed a complaint to the committee earlier this year, accusing Coniglio of helping Hackensack University Medical Center, which had recently hired him as a plumbing consultant, lobby for state aid. The complaint was dismissed after Coniglio said he did not make any requests for the grants and merely voted on them.

Four legislators have been indicted this year on federal corruption charges, and a fifth has been told he is the target of a federal probe.

CHARGED: State Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden); State Sen. Sharpe James (D-Essex); Assemblyman Alfred Steele (D-Passaic); Assemblyman Mims Hackett (D-Essex).

TARGETED: State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Bergen)

SUBPOENAED: State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union); Assemblyman Robert Gordon (D-Bergen); Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D-Bergen); Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack (D-Hudson)

UNCLEAR: U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is reportedly the target of a federal corruption investigationIf Joe Coniglio is not going to run for reelection for his state Senate seat, he doesn’t seem to know it.

Coniglio was in full campaign mode last night, attending the Lodi concert of a band called Kenny Vance and the Planotones, which he sponsored along with his Assembly running mates Bob Gordon and Joan Voss. While Bergen County political circles have been abuzz about whether the Bergen County Democratic Organization will ask the 38th district state Senator to drop his re-election bid, Coniglio has not made himself scarce.

“Come on, let me see some smiles,” said Coniglio, who wore a white hat with his name on it as he and his wife passed out paper fans bearing the words “I’m a fan of Senator Joe Coniglio, Assembly Members Bob Gordon, Joan Voss.”