Thom Ammirato

Two weeks after failing to topple Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) from his perch on top of the beleaguered Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO), leaders of the dissident Republican faction GOP Strong are unsatisfied with his efforts to unite the party.

After overwhelmingly defeating GOP Strong-backed chairman challenger Carl Mazzie – which came a week after fending off a challenge to his assembly seat that was also backed by the group – Rumana said that he would look into creating a system of four co-chairmanships.  

GOP Strong co-chairman Michael Mecca, however, said that he hasn’t heard anything about the plan – or anything from Rumana -- over the last two weeks.

Bravo Photo

New Jersey housewife Danielle Staub has not ruled out a campaign for Congress against U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) next year, according to her spokesman, Thom Ammirato.

"At this point Ms. Staub is fielding numerous offers and has ruled out nothing.  Her advisors will be discussing her future shortly," said Ammirato, a Republican strategist who recently signed on as Staub's official spokesman.

But is the controversial star of Bravo's TV reality show, The Real Housewives of New Jersey a Republican?

"I don't know, but she can become one," said Ammirato.  "She would have to of course meet with the approval of (Passaic County GOP) Chairman Scott Rumana to see if she could get the line."

Staub, a 48-year-old mother of two, recently moved from Franklin Lakes to Wayne, which is in Pascrell's district.

According to her Bravo bio, Staub is active in her local parish and attends mass regularly.  She has admitted to being arrested 25 years ago, but has denied reports that she was involved in prostitution or in a cocaine ring.

Bravo Photo

New Jersey housewife Danielle Staub has not ruled out a campaign for Congress against U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) next year, according to her spokesman, Thom Ammirato.

"At this point Ms. Staub is fielding numerous offers and has ruled out nothing.  Her advisors will be discussing her future shortly," said Ammirato, a Republican strategist who recently signed on as Staub's official spokesman.

But is the controversial star of Bravo's TV reality show, The Real Housewives of New Jersey a Republican?

"I don't know, but she can become one," said Ammirato.  "She would have to of course meet with the approval of (Passaic County GOP) Chairman Scott Rumana to see if she could get the line."

Staub, a 48-year-old mother of two, recently moved from Franklin Lakes to Wayne, which is in Pascrell's district.

According to her Bravo bio, Staub is active in her local parish and attends mass regularly.  She has admitted to being arrested 25 years ago, but has denied reports that she was involved in prostitution or in a cocaine ring.

State Assembly candidate Joseph Caruso said that he and his running mate, Anthony Rottino, have raised about $100,000 for their primary bid in District 40.

While it may not be a lot compared to the amount spent in other campaigns across the state, it could be enough to run a competitive race in what will likely be a low turnout primary.

Caruso and Rottino are taking on Assemblymen Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and Dave Russo (R-Ridgewood), who have also raised about $100,000 so far, in a campaign that parallels a fight for control of the Republican Party in Passaic County.

One week after his Assembly primary, Rumana will compete for reelection to his post as Chairman of the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO) against a yet-to-be-determined challenger fielded by the splinter group GOP Strong.  Potential candidates include GOP Strong co-chair Mike Ramaglia and former West Milford Councilman Carmen Scangarello.

Despite running on the anti-Rumana line (With the slogan "Passaic County Republican Organization" as opposed to the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization) and saying he would like to see Rumana replaced as chairman, Caruso insists that he is his own man, and that his primary challenge is not playing second fiddle to the battle for control of the PCRRO - even if Rumana sees it that way.

Bergen County freeholder candidate Chris Calabrese, who was considered a favorite to win the Bergen County Republican Organization's (BCRO) endorsement, has suddenly found his candidacy in jeopardy over a flyer he distributed to county committee members.

Calabrese lost his freeholder race last year by a relatively narrow margin, but he was the top vote getter of the three Republican candidates for those positions.  He highlighted that fact in the flyer by comparing his vote totals to those of the party's other freeholder candidates over several past election cycles.

The controversy over the flyer centers on its lack of context -- that it failed to take into account the much higher turnout in 2008 than in years when the other candidates ran.

In 2007, political novices Don Diorio and Carmen Pio Costa were largely overlooked in District 36 until after Election Day, when they surprised by coming relatively close to beating the Democratic incumbents,  Fred Scalera (D-Nutley) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic).

Now, with East Rutherford Councilman Joel Brizzi making an unexpected exit from the Assembly race, Diorio appears ready once again to join forces with Pio Costa for a rematch against Scalera and Schaer.  Only this time, state Republicans say they are going to play in the district in a major way, making it one of their most targeted races.

At the moment, Diorio appears to be the favorite to win the backing of the Republican chairs from the three counties that comprise the district:  Bergen, Essex and Passaic.

All eighty seats in the New Jersey General Assembly are up next year, with Democrats in strong shape to keep their majority under a legislative map that creates relatively few competitive races.

Republicans feel that they have a good chance to go on the offensive this year, even if taking control of the Assembly, where Democrats have a 48-32 majority, is an unlikely prospect. Assembly Republican Executive Director Rick Wright thinks the gubernatorial candidacy of U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, one of four Republicans actively exploring a statewide bid, would boost his party’s chances to pick up Assembly seats.

“It all depends on who our gubernatorial candidate is. I know there’s a lot of excitement out there about Chris Christie. If and when he makes his decision, that will help us in our recruiting. We have people out there sitting and saying I want to see what Chris Christie does,” Wright said. “A lot of county chairmen think we have a much better chance of success in gubernatorial and legislative races if Chris Christie is at the top of the ticket.”

With two prominent Democratic leaders indicted, a subpoena dropped on the clerk of the Democratic controlled freeholder board shortly before the election, and running against three incumbents who all had been voted out of municipal offices in their hometowns over the last couple years, Bergen County Republicans still could not pick up a single freeholder seat.

“Those guys did an outstanding job, to be honest. We were in this thing right until the end. So from that perspective, I thought it was a huge improvement – especially over four years ago,” said Republican consultant Thom Ammirato, who ran the campaign.

It’s not as if the Republicans had everything working for them. Ammirato argued that, despite the corruption issue, Democrats had a myriad of advantages, most of all having Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, not to mention the power of incumbency. Presidential years in Bergen County are generally the strongest ones for Democrats. It’s the off years that Republicans tend to come closer.

Democratic lawyer Dennis Oury (left), whose indictment is expected to be announced today, with Freeholder David Ganz
Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin admits that, after a decade of Democratic gains, Bergen County will not likely return to the Republican bastion it once was.

His appeal to the voters in the upcoming freeholder and county clerk races is not to start a movement for total Republican control of the county, but to create a two-party system that he feels has been sorely lacking.  That the federal investigation of his Democratic counterpart, Joseph Ferriero, and Democratic lawyer Dennis Oury may have little effect alone on the local races, but that it underscores the need to bring the Republican Party out of the political wilderness.

“I think it’s very, very unfortunate for the people of Bergen County, and it shows what one party rule leads to. The residents of Bergen deserve a two party government and this has underlined how important that is,” he said.   “The corruption, the pay-to-play in Bergen County is systemic, and the only way to change this is to bring back the two party system. Elect republicans to at least share in the running of government.”

Even if he wanted to, Yudin would be hard pressed at this point to make this election a referendum on Ferriero.  Republican consultant Thom Ammirato has polled Ferriero’s name recognition in races past, and it has not exceeded nine percent – despite the Democratic power broker’s huge influence in the every day workings of county government.

Over the last decade, Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferrerio has consolidated power with help from a group of unlikely allies: The Bergen County Republican Organization.

Ferriero developed a fundraising machine and got most of his party in lock step behind him.  But bickering and internal disputes in the GOP hurt that party’s ability to provide a counterweight, as did anemic fundraising. 

Bob Yudin, who was elected as county chairman last month, hopes to change that. 

“Since the day I was elected, I have been reaching out,” said Yudin.  “In my acceptance speech and every day I reach out and try to counsel people.  We have to stop the fighting, we have to work together, and it has been effective to some degree already.”