TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Sandra Bolden Cunningham and Teresa Ruiz, which prohibits the sale and purchase of more than one handgun per person, within a 30-day period, was signed into law today.

According to the sponsors, the law will help to prevent “straw purchasing,” or purchasing a firearm for someone who is not legally allowed to buy one.

State Senate candidate At-Large Councilman Luis Quintana (center, with microphone) stumps for his ally, Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, in 2007.

If Hudson Democrats have chewed up most of the headlines lately, Essex County Dems are trying to gut through their own troubles, as sources say investigators with the state Attorney General's Office today continued their probe of absentee ballot fraud in connection with the 2007 race of state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark).

The unrest cuts at the heart of Newark's most reliable Democratic Party GOTV operation: the North Ward.  

Sources say investigators conducted a search at the offices of Carmine Casciano, commissioner for voter registration in Essex County, part of a comb-through they've undertaken in there for weeks.

Four people have already been charged with ballot fraud as a result of a complaint filed by state Senate candidate Luis Quintana, the at-large councilman, who was crushed by Ruiz in their 2007 contest.

Despite the backdrop of bad news for Essex Democrats who are already looking at depleted machinery in neighboring Hudson, North Ward Democratic Party political operative Phil Alagia, who ran Ruiz's campaign, is set to begin his job as political director for the Corzine '09 campaign on Monday.

The state Attorney General's Office indicted three more people for election fraud in connection with absentee ballots they collected and submitted as workers for the 2007 state senate campaign of Teresa Ruiz, according to a release issued by the AG's Office.

A fourth Ruiz campaign worker, Antonio Santana, was previously indicted on March 23 on charges he fraudulently changed votes on absentee ballots during the election.

According to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni, a state grand jury returned two indictments today charging three individuals in the ongoing investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. 

Some Democrats may wish Attorney General Anne Milgram would take the summer off, especially since it's an election year.  Instead, Milgram has been going after Democrats in Essex, Middlesex and Union counties.

The Star-Ledger reported tonight that investigators from Milgram's office seized a computer last week from the office of the Essex County Superintendent of Elections in connection to their indictment of Antonio Santana, a volunteer on the 2007 campaign of State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark).  Santana is accused of changing an absentee ballot in Ruiz's favor - a tactic that had no effect on the final results of the election.  But an investigation into the Ruiz campaign is an annoyance to her political mentor, Newark Democratic leader Stephen Adubato, and to Essex County, where Ruiz works as Deputy Chief of Staff to the County Executive. 

Milgram has also won an indictment against Assemblyman Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy), and has been conducting a probe of Union County Democratic Chair Charlotte DeFilippo.  State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) and Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan have formed a legal defense fund to help pay for DeFilippo's lawyers.

Lesniak and State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are battling with Milgram over her pick to run the state Division of Civil Rights, Chinh Le.  Lesniak and Scutari sent a letter to Gov. Jon Corzine complaining that Le is not licensed to practice law in New Jersey, according to a Star-Ledger report

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Sandra Bolden Cunningham and Teresa Ruiz, which would prohibit the sale and purchase of more than one handgun per person, within a 30-day period was approved today by the full Senate by a vote of 21 to 15.

            According to the sponsors, the bill is intended to prevent “straw purchasing,” or purchasing a firearm for someone who is not legally allowed to buy one.

            “Gang violence has become a way of life in communities around the State,” said Senator Cunningham, D-Hudson.  “Though we have gun laws on the books, more must be done to prevent straw purchases.  It is my hope that other states will follow our lead and craft similar legislation to help protect residents from gun violence.”

            “This legislation is about reducing gun violence and saving lives,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union.  “The effects of illegal gun violence and the wounds it causes are far-reaching in that they not only touch victims, but also families and communities as a whole.  The passage of this bill would be a significant step in the right direction toward reducing the number of illegal, unlicensed guns on the streets and increasing safety for the people of this State.”

RUIZ/VITALE BILL TO GIVE DISABLED RESIDENTS MORE CONTROL OVER ASSISTANCE SERVICES CLEARS SENATE

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Teresa Ruiz and Joseph F. Vitale which would revise the “Personal Assistance Services Program” (PASP) to grant disabled New Jerseyans more control over their service plan received approval today from the full Senate by a vote of 39-0

“This legislation would allow disabled New Jerseyans to choose the service plan that best fits their particular needs,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union. “Currently, the majority of the people enrolled in the PASP program have limited choices because county agencies have the final say in who provides the care and how much money is spent. Through this bill, more say would be given to the recipients of the program’s benefits, and allow them to take an active role in selecting who they trust to handle such an integral part of their lives.”

The Governor in Essex on Wednesday evening.

WEST ORANGE – The Governor of New Jersey usually doesn’t wait long to address a collective of his own party, but this being Essex in a gubernatorial election year, the governor stayed on ice during a drum roll ceremony that was as much a buildup of Essex as it was a buildup to Gov. Jon Corzine.

Corzine didn’t appear to mind – and with reason.

“Barack Obama won nearly 250,000 votes in Essex last year,” the governor roared when he finally took the microphone. “If you give me 250,000 votes, this election’s signed, sealed and delivered” – a reference to the Stevie Wonder anthem a deejay played to introduce Corzine, subliminally strengthening the governor’s linkage to Obama, who  favored the song last year on the campaign trail.

The all-day buzz was that this Essex County Democratic Convention would present the unmistakable photo op of former Gov./Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange) and Corzine onstage together, arms raised in a ceremonial show of solidarity as the blockbuster credits rolled. 

RUIZ-GORDON BILL TO AUTHORIZE ENERGY COST SAVINGS INVESTMENT BY BPU SIGNED INTO LAW

PISCATAWAY – A bill sponsored by Senators Teresa Ruiz and Bob Gordon which authorizes the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to invest in energy cost savings programs for industrial and commercial energy consumers was signed into law today by Governor Corzine at a public bill signing ceremony at the Busch Cogeneration Facility at Rutgers University’s Busch campus.

“Clean, renewable energy and co-generation grants make New Jersey much more attractive to business investors and represent the future in environmentally-friendly energy production,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union, and a member of the Senate Economic Growth Committee. “Particularly as we work to encourage businesses to locate to the Garden State, these programs will reduce our carbon footprint and lower energy costs for consumers across the board. I applaud the Governor for working with us to promote energy alternatives and for making New Jersey a national leader in low-impact energy production which will revitalize our economy and preserve our natural resources for future generations.”

From left: U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Sen Ronald Rice, Andre Reames, Bill Payne, Freeholder/Councilman Donald Payne, Jr., and Craig Stanley

NEWARK – Democratic Party stronghold Essex was supposed to be quiet this season as Newark and the environs reflect on a North Ward-City Hall lovefest and prepare for the reelection campaign of Gov Jon Corzine. 

Now the Payne family appears mobilized on the primary horizon here in the 28th District and potentially in the 29th, though insiders say it's unlikely they will be able to escalate a fullscale battle, even if they choose to fight.

After getting bumped out of office by an Adubato-Booker alliance in 2007, family scion former Assemblyman Craig Stanley (D-Irvington) is trying to scratch his way back into the legislature and finding little organizational support in the process with two weeks to go before the April 6th state filing deadline.

Essex sources on all sides say there’s little or no chance Chairman Phil Thigpen will award the District 28 party line to Stanley over incumbents Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Belleville) and Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) - not in a gubernatorial election year when an unpopular Corzine faces more than a warm body challenge from the Republican Party, and party chieftains are intent on trying to keep his troops in line. 

Thigpen himself is cryptic on the Stanley issue.