Tony Bucco

Breaking News: Christie Announces Formal Endorsement of His Own State Senator, Tony Bucco

New Jersey's casino laws leave little doubt that even the appearance of conflict of interest is unacceptable. Governor Corzine must reveal documents that would confirm definitively whether he is invested in a hedge fund with close ties to the casino industry.

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Senator Tony Bucco responded to Jon Corzine's baseless accusations regarding the Department of Justice:

Only Governor Corzine and the industry that peddled destructive subprime debt could believe it is 'frivolous' to disclose multibillion deficits and structural funding problems to the public and potential investors.

The six Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee have sent a letter to Chairwoman Barbara Buono that asks her to call the committee into session this summer. The committee's task would be to develop a plan to close an unprecedented $8 billion structural deficit and a more than $2 billion deficit in the unemployment fund. The letter points out that Governor Corzine is avoiding questions about how he plans to do to deal with this $10 billion crisis. "When there is a gap in leadership at the top, others must step in to fill the void, " said Senator Anthony Bucco, senior Republican member on the budget committee and Republican budget officer.

Republican Leaders Senator Tom Kean and Assemblyman Alex DeCroce stated today that the Senate and Assembly Republican caucuses were united in their opposition to Governor Corzine’s fiscal 2010 budget and members would not be supporting the spending plan.

Tony Bucco, right, and Amy Bucco

BOONTON TWP. - The candidates' detractors fear a disengaged 25th District electorate will conclude the name "Tony Bucco" on today's ballot is a manuever by a veteran senator whose flair for populism has forced him into the Assembly race, or simply a case of mistaken identity.

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.), left, and Tony Bucco, Jr.

Aside from the House of Atreus implications of Tony Bucco and Doug Cabana being brothers'-in-law and a family health scare, this three-men for two-seats 25th Legislative District contest hasn't devolved into the awful bloodbath of, for example, the 40th Legislative District race one county removed in this mountain country terrain.  

Tony Bucco campaigns in Mount Arlington

An internal poll from the District 25 Assembly campaign of Tony Bucco reveals a sizable lead for the Boonton Twp. attorney, but at least one rival campaign said the polling is based on name ID and the obvious recognition enjoyed by the candidate’s father, state Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Boonton).

Bucco released the results of the May 19-21 poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, which shows him leading his nearest competitor  by 22 points in the June 2nd Republican Primary.   

The poll finds Bucco – identified in the poll simply as Anthony Bucco - receiving 40% of the vote, compared to 18% for Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) and 14% for Freeholder Doug Cabana at 14%. Twenty-eight percent of voters described themselves as undecided.

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) tonight in Mt. Arlington.

MT. ARLINGTON - Establishment buzz portends at last – and again! - the political demise of veteran Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) in this cycle as he runs against the son of a Republican workhorse and a popular freeholder, and yet at this 25th Legislative District candidates’ forum tonight, it’s Carroll who injects theatrical pizzazz into a roomful of local GOP diehards, crumbling stiff upper lips into broad grins. 

Eschewing the microphone after back-to-back podium performances by Tony Bucco, Jr., and Freeholder Doug Cabana in front of the Mt. Arlington Republican Club, Carroll strides across the dance floor and drives his heels with dramatic impact - equal parts Patrick Henry, Cicero and flamenco - as he projects his voice from the far side of the banquet room.

“Most new ideas are bad ideas,” he announces, bearing down on Bucco, who has just promised the room he intends to take “fresh” ideas to Trenton. 

“We don’t have to look for new ideas we’ve had them from hundreds of years,” Carroll thunders. “We just have to go back to what works.”