Thomas Smith

Just to be clear, would-be candidates don't wait until funerals to begin campaigning for open seats.   It took Hudson County Democrats less than an hour to convene conferences following the death of Jersey City Mayor/State Sen. Glenn Cunningham died in 2004.  Campaigns were underway before the funerals of Assemblymen Melvin Cottrell (R-Jackson) and Thomas Smith (R-Asbury Park), and there were political discussions at the funerals of Assemblymen Monroe Lustbader (R-Short Hills) and Alan Augustine (R-Scotch Plains). 

It took less time for Essex Democrats to pick Evelyn Williams (D-Newark) for a State Assembly seat after the death of Donald Tucker (D-Newark) than it did to pick Oadline Truitt (D-Newark) after Williams was arrested for shoplifting days after she took office.

Posturing doesn't always wait for an actual death certificate.  When State Senators Byron Baer (D-Englewood) and Walter Kavanaugh (R-Somerville) became ill, potential successors began to shore up votes in anticipation of a retirement.  And make no mistake: the campaign to succeed 85-year-old U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg has been underway for the last eight months.

Here's a scenario: a former Jersey City mayor quits the post to make an unsuccessful bid for governor. After an eight year absence from the local political scene, he returns to run for mayor against 10 candidates, including an incumbent with a big war chest but who is under fire for raising property taxes, and a rising star named Cunningham.

The main issues in the campaign are taxes, crime and housing.

Sound familiar?

It probably does, and it's not just because that's one probable story line for the 2009 election.

Former Assemblyman John Villapiano is testing the waters for a possible State Senate bid in 2007. He wants the Democratic nomination to run in the 11th district, where longtime Republican Senator Joseph Palaia is retiring, and has met with Senate President Richard Codey to discuss his possible candidacy.

Villapiano was a Monmouth County Freeholder in 1988 when Assemblyman Anthony "Doc" Villane resigned to become Commissioner of Community Affairs in Governor Thomas Kean's cabinet. He won a September 1988 Special Election against Thomas Villane, the son of his predecessor, and was re-elected in 1989. But after voting to support Governor James Florio's tax increase, he lost his seat in 1991 to Republicans Steven Corodemus and Thomas Smith. He lost a 1993 rematch to regain his seat.

Villapiano has some baggage relating to his personal financial situation, and that is causing some Monmouth Democrats to take some time before signing off on his candidacy. Matthew Doherty, who ran a strong race for Assembly in 2005 -- and is likely to win a Belmar Council seat this year -- is also considered a possible Senate candidate.

Corodemus, now in his eighth term, is seeking support for the Republican nomination to succeed Palaia, as his his running mate, Assemblyman Sean Kean.