Steven Rothman

There has been some infighting within Barack Obama’s New Jersey campaign since the February 5 Democratic primary – and the turf battle has resulted in a major political victory for Congressman Steven Rothman. Last week, Obama sent a letter to the Democratic State Committee changing the official representative of his state campaign from Mark Alexander to Rothman and his Chief of Staff, Bob Decheine.

The matter was settled on a conference call that included representatives of the state Obama leadership, including Rothman, Alexander, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and State Senators Loretta Weinberg and John Adler.

Rothman, a six-term Congressman from Bergen County, is the only member of the New Jersey delegation to endorse Obama. Alexander, a Seton Hall University law professor, ran Obama’s New Jersey campaign after serving as his national policy director.

Three former District Directors for Congressman Steven Rothman have moved on to successful political careers: Adam Zellner was named today to serve as the Governor’s new Policy Director; Brendan Gill is the campaign manager for Frank Lautenberg’s 2008 re-election campaign; and Michael Soliman is U.S. Senator Bob Menendez’s State Director.

The Record's Herb Jackson wrote about 2012 congressional redistricting in his Capital Games column this week, noting a PolitickerNJ.com fantasy map that pitted Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen and Democrat Bill Pascrell against each other in a general election contest.  Jackson reported that Democrats would like to see Steven Rothman pick up Scott Garrett's portion of Bergen County and force Frelinghuysen into a primary with Scott Garrett after New Jersey loses one of its thirteen House seats after the 2010 census.

Several presidential campaigns are sponsoring events tonight so that New Jersey supporters can watch the returns of the Iowa Caucuses.  

John Edwards' New Jersey campaign will host a caucus “watch” party at 7 PM tonight at Tumulty’s Pub, 361 George Street, New Brunswick.  State Sen. Joseph Vitale will be the host.

Barack Obama’s campaign is sponsoring parties tonight in Newark (8PM at the Robert Treat Hotel, 50 Park Place), Jersey City (7:30 PM at the home of Vanessa Czaplicki, hosted by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and State Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham) , North Arlington (7PM at the McGorty residence, hosted by Congressman Steven Rothman), and Cherry Hill (8PM at the Coastline Bar and Restaurant, 1240 Brace Road).

Hillary Clinton’s New Jersey campaign office will open at 5:30 PM tonight at 130 West State Street in Trenton.

Roselle Park felt a little bit like Des Moines last night, when about 200 Democrats gathered at an Italian restaurant for the New Jersey Democratic Caucus, where the results didn’t mean much but Democratic passion was on full display.

But if the results actually held water, then the world of New Jersey politics is topsy-turvy, because Hillary Clinton – who continues to lead state polls by 30% margins -- was eliminated in the first round of caucusing, coming in short of the 15% threshold with 27 members – 6 less than Dennis Kucinich’s 33.

And ultimately John Edwards, who barely makes a dent in New Jersey polls, prevailed with 76 supporters to Barack Obama’s 68 and Kucinich’s 34.

The event was conceived and organized by Jeff Gardner, co-chair of New Jersey for Democracy, and John Bartlett, Chairman of the Executive Committee of New Jersey’s Democratic Future.  Gardner had seen the Iowa caucuses four years ago, and thought it would be fun to imitate.  The two organizers invited every candidate – except one.

The three Congressmen most often mentioned for a seat in the United States Senate -- Rob Andrews, Frank Pallone and Steven Rothman -- have endorsed Democratic incumbent Frank Lautenberg for re-election to another six year term in 2008.  But that doesn't mean a whole lot: none of the three were giving even slight consideration to challenging the 83 3/4-year-old Senator in the Democratic primary, and were just waiting in the wings in case the man who wants to serve until he's ninety -- at least -- decided he wasn't going to run.  That could still happen, but don't count on Lautenberg, who was miserable during his brief two-year retirement after the 2000 election, to leave -- something Andrews, Pallone and Rothman seem to understand, albeit with some frustration.

Barack Obama’s campaign is strongly disputing an Inside Edge report that Seton Hall Law Professor Mark Alexander was fired as their national Policy Director.  The campaign announced this week that Alexander was returning to New Jersey to direct Obama’s state operation for the February 5 Democratic presidential primary.

“The post by Wally Edge this morning is completely inaccurate,” said Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki.  “We have relocated several senior staffers to key February 5th states, including our Deputy Political Director, our mid-western political director to Missouri, and western field director to California and so on.”

Something to think about when watching the brewing feud between Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and State Senator Loretta Weinberg: is history doomed to repeat itself?

The Republican starnglehold over Bergen County politics in the 1960's began to crack in 1970 after a bitter feud between Republican State Chairman Nelson Gross, a former Assemblyman and Bergen County GOP Chairman, and the most popular votegetter in Bergen County, Sheriff Joe Job.  The war become so intense that when Gross ran for the United States Senate in 1970 (Republicans controlled state government and Gross was viewed as a major contender against incumbent Harrison Williams), Job filed as an Independent.  Williams won the county by about 30,000 votes -- about the same number of votes cast for Job.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg on Monday will formally announce her endorsement of Barack Obama for President, joining U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman in what Rothman describes as "the effort to expand Obama’s support in New Jersey and across the region."