Steven Rothman

It was an interesting weekend in the 38th district, where Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero picked a State Senate candidate that he was initially reluctant to go with.  Two-term Assemblyman Robert Gordon is hardly a party hack: back in 1996, the ex-Fair Lawn Mayor refused to abide by party's decision to back then-Bergen County Surrogate Steven Rothman for an open congressional seat and challenged him in the Democratic primary.  Since going to the Assembly in 2003 -- he replaced Matt Ahearn, who left the Democratic Caucus to join the Green Party after a fight with local Dems -- Gordon has been viewed as an independent reformer, although he never publicly commented on Coniglio's ethics woes.

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Newark Mayor Cory Booker stopped short of giving the “If Frank Lautenberg runs, I’ll support him” line that other Democrats use, saying that he “hasn’t even thought” about who he will back in the 2008 race for U.S. Senate.

That raises an interesting scenario: with two independent polls showing more than six out of ten New Jerseyans -- and a majority of Democrats -- think the 83.667-year-old Lautenberg is too old to serve another six years in the Senate, could Lautenberg lose a Democratic primary?

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Bergen County Democrats would like Kathleen Donovan to become a Superior Court Judge within the next year, since that would increase their chances of winning the County Clerk’s post that has eluded them since Donovan first won in 1988.

There has been speculation about Donovan’s judicial ambitions before, and some Republicans say he greatest obstacle has been State Senator Gerald Cardinale, a fellow Republican who has been allied with Donovan rivals over the years. Their feud goes back to 1989, when Donovan supported Jim Courter for Governor against two Bergen candidates, Cardinale and former Attorney General Cary Edwards.

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