Roy Wesley

Sidna Mitchell, who came within 880 votes of unseating Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) in 2003, met with Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce and Mercer County GOP Chairman Roy Wesley today to discuss the possibility to entering the State Assembly race in the fourteenth district.  The GOP leaders want to replace 21-year-old college student Brian Hackett with Mitchell, a 70-year-old former newspaper editor who served as Deputy Executive Director of the state Council on Affordable Housing under Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.

Correction: Reports that Middlesex County GOP Chairman Joseph Leo was at the meeting was incorrect. 

Republicans, who tout the fourteenth as one of their target districts, found themselves without Assembly candidates against Greenstein and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) last week after their two candidates, Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede and former Cranbury Councilman Wayne Wittman, unexpectedly pulled out of the race. 

Gov. Jon Corzine and Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan have ventured into the non-partisan waters of Robbinsville politics to endorse Republican Miguel Edwards in his bid for Councilman.  Edwards is running on a slate headed by Councilwoman Sonja Walter, who is challenging Mayor David Fried.  Fried is a Republican who came within three votes of ousting GOP County Chairman Roy Wesley last year. 

The endorsements by Corzine and Cryan came through remarks at the Mercer County Democratic convention last Saturday.  The two are backing Walter for Mayor.

Mercer County Democratic Chairman Rich McClellan said today that Republicans' criticism of one party rule cuts both ways.  

If Mercer County Republican Chairman Roy Wesley is going to complain that unilateral Democratic control of Mercer has led to bloated, inefficient and corrupt government, he said, then Wesley should acknowledge as much for Hamilton, a large municipality with a Republican mayor and all-Republican council.  

“Roy Wesley has been trying to tell anyone that will listen that one party leadership at the County level is a bad thing.” said McClellan.  “All I’m asking him to do is to show some ethical honesty and oppose one party rule by Republicans in Hamilton Township also.  That seems reasonable to me.”

HAMILTON -- Mercer County Republicans endorsed restaurant owner Rob Calabro as their candidate in the 14th Legislative District at their convention tonight.

Calabro, a Hamilton resident who ran unsuccessfully for freeholder in 2007, did not attend tonight’s event, opting instead to stay home with his pregnant wife and two young children.  He was nominated by Hamilton Republican Municipal Chairman Frank Ragazzo and introduced by state Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer).  He fills the spot in which Republicans hoped to have Hamilton Council President Kelly Yaede, who flirted with a run but decided against it, leaving the local GOP scrambling to find a suitable replacement.  

Calabro’s name was the only one entered for the party’s endorsement to run against incumbents Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer) and Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex).

Baroni said that Calabro, who owns Porfirio’s Market and Café, will not merely be a placeholder until the party can find someone higher profile. 

From the Democratic side, there is no shortage of snickering at the ineptitude of Mercer County Republicans who have been unable to find State Assembly candidates in one of the few districts where Democrats admit their incumbents are vulnerable.  The Mercer GOP is holding their convention tonight and the Middlesex GOP will pick their candidates on Saturday.  With just hours to go before the balloting begins, Republicans have no one to take on incumbents Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton).

Less than a week ago, Republicans had their ticket: Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede and former Cranbury Councilman Wayne Wittman.  Both have subsequently changed their minds.  Yaede apparently decided to run more than a week ago, but held off notifying party leaders.  Her withdrawal comes two weeks after she was introduced as a candidate at an Assembly Republican fundraiser and met with gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  Sources say that Yaede has been flip-flopping about an Assembly bid for the last two months, being in the race one day and out the next.  She has Hamilton Republicans so angry that there is speculation that the local GOP might dump her from their ticket in 2011.

With Mercer County facing a $43 million budget shortfall and County Executive Brian Hughes raising the possibility of public worker layoffs, local Republican Chairman Roy Wesley wants to know why Sheriff Kevin Larkin is collecting a pension for the job he’s still working.  

On January 1st, Larkin met the requirements for the Police and Fire Retirement System, at which point he started receiving a pension of about $85,000 per year.  But he remains employed as sheriff, concurrently collecting his regular salary of $129,364.

Wesley thinks that, while legal, Larkin’s collection of the benefits represents a double standard, and that Larkin should either resign or wait until he actually retires to collect the pension.  As a public official, he said, he ought to set an example.  

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has won endorsements from nine of thirteen Republican municipal chairmen in Mercer County, as well as the backing of GOP County Chairman Roy Wesley and all four of the county's Republican mayors.

Christie was also endorsed by former Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti.  As U.S. Attorney, Christie prosecuted Prunetti's Chief of Staff, Harry Parkin.  Parkin's 7 ½ year prison sentence was the longest of any of the more than 100 public officials Christie sent to jail.

Other Mercer County Republican leaders supporting Christie include: U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), State Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Hamilton), Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo, Ewing Mayor Jack Ball, Robbinsville Mayor David Fried, and Hightstown Mayor Robert Patten.

"Chris Christie and I share a commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society including victims of human trafficking, pornography, forced labor and other crimes and horrific human rights abuses," said Smith.  He is a strong and innovative leader and as Governor, Chris Christie will fight for what is just and right for the people of New Jersey."

With the 2009 gubernatorial field still far from settled, the majority of Republican county chairs PolitickerNJ spoke to today refused to commit absolutely to anyone, though many said they leaned toward Christie.

Monmouth County Republican Chairman Joe Oxley would not formally endorse Christie before he even entered the race, but said he was hopeful that he would jump in.

“At this point I think that clearly everybody’s anticipating, hoping and expecting that Chris may very well enter the race. I certainly can tell you he’s a personal friend, and I think he’s got broad support in Monmouth County,” he said.   

This week's Winners & Losers: Click Here.