Teresa Ruiz

Assemblyman William Payne said he was "disturbed by the intrusion" of State Democratic Chairman Joseph Cryan into the state Senate race in the 29th district when Cryan last week called for indicted state Sen. Sharpe James to stand down.

"That Joe Cryan had the nerve to suggest Teresa Ruiz be appointed to that position," said Payne, "how dare he. The very fact that he would make such a statement tells me he has no regard for African-American voters. I think this state chairman has his head in the sand."

Newark City Councilman At-Large Luis Quintana today confirmed that he will run with former Newark Councilwoman Bessie Walker in his independent state Senate bid. Walker had already filed as an independent candidate for the state Assembly.

Now they're joined.

"We've always been friends," says Quintana of the former councilwoman who sought re-election in 2006 in opposition to Mayor Cory Booker's council candidates and lost. Quintana ran against her that year as part of the victorious Booker team.

They don’t make anything in Newark anymore, at least not in the classic manufacturing sense.

But those who are still tied to this biggest of Jersey cities hope to be able to craft something out of what’s left.

In the midst of a political battle to decide what that will be, M. Teresa Ruiz says her opponents want to inflate North Ward boss Steve Adubato into a poster-sized target to obscure the fact that they’re running against a Puerto Rican woman who was born and bred in the City of Newark.

Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan says that Sharpe James should resign his State Senate seat now. "Enough's enough," Cryan said. "I believe he should resign.

James, who served as Mayor of Newark from 1986 to 2006, was indicted last week on federal corruption charges. He is not seeking re-election to his 29th district Senate seat, which expires in January.

"Why not bring in somebody new and have them represent the district," said Cryan. "Teresa Ruiz would be excellent in that role. Why not step in now."

According to its critics, the Newark City Council over the past year has mostly marched to a single drummer - one that couldn’t be found, they say, in the Spirit of Newark Drum and Bugle Corps.

In what was hardly a blow the house down follow-up to last month’s mini Bastille storming of City Hall - but a telling political vignette nonetheless, residents took to the microphone at today’s council meeting to excoriate what they see as a governing body spellbound by Mayor Cory Booker. The council sat there and choked it down for the most part, before pledging to override the administration’s axing of the Spirit of Newark.

It was none other than State Sen. Ronald Rice, defeated by Booker in the mayoral election last year but reanimated with his district 28 primary re-election just last month, who led the charge for the council to take action to preserve the corps. The traveling group of some 100+ young musicians want to go to Pasadena to compete this year. They received $85,000 from the city in 2005, remained on life support with some state funding supplied by Assemblyman William Payne last year, and appeared to be going out on a long tuba note of gloom until Rice complained.

Chances are excellent that the Governor's office will receive a call from Newark --- specifically the northern part of the city -- to discuss Assemblyman William Payne's photo op yesterday.  Payne, a Democrat who is running as an Independent candidate for State Senate in the 29th district, was among a group of Democratic legislators invited to stand behind Jon Corzine as he signed the budget.  That perk won't sit well with Essex Democrats who think Payne should be shunned for his failue to support the winner of the Democratic primary, Teresa Ruiz.

As oldtimers like Bob Littell and Martha Bark, prepare to end long careers in the New Jersey Legislature, it is clear that a new generation will asume the mantle of leadership in Trenton next year.  If 32-year-old Teresa Ruiz wins in the 29th district this fall, she will become the youngest member of the Senate (and the youngest since Joseph Kyrillos won his seat in 1991), and the first State Senator in New Jersey history to have a tongue piercing.

Steve Adubato and Bill Payne
On the day she faced the cameras for the first time in campaign headquarters on Bloomfield Avenue, M. Teresa Ruiz’s voice broke with emotion as she remembered her late father, a proud Puerto Rican who raised his daughter in the North Ward. The candidate paused to collect herself, summoning her resolve as she vowed to uphold the name "Ruiz." Her voice drawing strength from the crowd’s applause in the packed room, Ruiz promised to honor the name, that it might live on in tribute to her father.

These North Ward fathers make their mark as they carry pride bigger than themselves and bigger than their families, a responsibility that inevitably puts them at odds, as it has Steve Adubato and Assemblyman William Payne.

They are two proud patriarchs, these men who were born and raised in the North Ward, whose stories cut through the same times and turf, who are now bound up with Ruiz’s emerging story as they face each other on opposing sides of this district 29 senate campaign.

While state Senator Ron Rice, Sr. is not supporting the Democratic candidate for the 29th district state Senate seat, Dick Codey is not fuming about it.

“I understand the dynamics involved. I understand the feelings,” said the state Senate President.

Congressman Donald Payne may have violated the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law by inviting donors to a fundraiser for his brother, Assemblyman William Payne, an Independent candidate for State Senate in the 29th district. Federal law requires that invitations to local campaign fundraising events note that a Member of Congress is an invited guest, not "Congressman Donald Payne cordially invites you to attend..." And the invitation did not note that contributions must be in hard dollars, with no corporate contributions permitted. This is hardly a serious infraction, and neither Payne will likely lose any sleep over it.