Wayne DeAngelo

Corzine enters IBEW Local 269 tonight in Lawrenceville.

LAWRENCEVILLE - Gov. Jon Corzine embraced labor here at IBEW Local 269 just before completing his day of campaigning on the night before Election Day.

"Get out there and vote," Corzine roared to a room packed with men who claim membership in this electrical workers union numbering 1,200 strong from around Central Jersey.

"Everything is what happens, not what people speculate," he told PolitickerNJ.com moments later when asked about his trust in the strength of the Democratic Party machine. "We think we have the better operation, and it's up to people to execute."

Asked why the voters of New Jersey should give him another four years, Corzine said, "I'm the best guy to get us out of this recession on the issues that matter: education, healthcare, partnership with the president; I'm in a much better position on every front, not for giving tax cuts to people making over $400,000 a year."

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-South Brunswick), and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) were in the room.

The Home News Tribune has urged the ouster of the most incumbent legislators this year: six.  The HNT called for the defeat of Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro), Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton), Joseph Egan (D-New Brunswick), Upendra Chivukula (D-Franklin), Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield), and John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville).  Only Peter Barnes (D-Edison) survived the wrath of the editorial board.  But the HNT also endorsed three incumbent Democrats for re-election to the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders. 

The Courier-News wants five incumbents, all Democrats, to be defeated: Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), Gerald Green (D-Plainfield), Egan, Chivukula, and Diegnan.  They endorsed three GOP incumbents, Peter Biondi (R-Hillsborough), Denise Coyle (R-Bernards), and John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown) and Barnes.

The Courier-Post wants four Democratic legislators gone: five-term Assemblymen Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) and Jack Connors (D-Pennsauken); and two special election winners -- State Sen. James Beach (D-Voorhees), who went to the Senate after John Adler became a Congressman; and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton), who won a special election convention earlier this year after Douglas Fisher resigned to become state Secretary of Agriculture.   The Gloucester County Times also advocated the defeat of Riley, and the Burlington County Times said Coway should go.

The Record endorsed Republican challengers running against Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley), Joan Voss (D-Fort Lee), and Connie Wagner (D-Paramus); they endorsed ten incumbents for re-election - seven Democrats and three Republicans.  The Record also called for the ouster of Democratic Freeholders in Bergen and Passaic counties.

The Press of Atlantic City endorsed a Republican challenger against freshman Assemblyman Matthew Milam (D-Vineland).  The newspaper backed five incumbents - one Democrat and four Republicans.

Two Central New Jersey daily newspapers went in different directions today in their endorsements of candidates for the State Assembly in the politically competitive fourteenth district:  the Trenton Times backed the Democratic incumbents, Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) for re-election, while the Home News Tribune endorsed the two Republican challengers, businessman Rob Calabro and attorney Bill Harvey.

The Times praised Greenstein for her sponsorship of the Party Democracy Act, designed to break the control exercised by some county political bosses over their organizations and candidate selection, and sais that DeAngelo "is a reliable supporter of constructive policies" and focuses on job creation and green technology.

The HNT says that Greenstein, first elected in 1999, has "had a seat at the legislative table throughout all of the missteps and failures of the Gov. Jon Corzine administration and the aborted term of Jim McGreevey before that. She has signed on to countless measures along with the rest of her party colleagues, sharing some of the responsibility for the costly direction of the state."

Greenstein, the editorial said," is also too much of an apologist for the slow pace of reform. She acknowledges that some lawmakers can't be trusted, and yet seems apathetic to trying to change a governing process obstructed by such unworthy characters. She claims to be dissatisfied with Trenton's culture but in the end seems most concerned with protecting her own power."  They say that Greenstein "at least acknowledges that some problems do exist in how Trenton operates."

"But if she won't do anything about them, does it matter?" the newspaper wrote.

WEST WINDSOR - The four major party assembly candidates in the 14th Legislative District met this morning for their first and only debate of the campaign season.

The forum, attended by about thirty senior citizens, was organized by two retiree groups and focused on property taxes, Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) regulations, senior issues and same sex marriage.  Incumbents Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) asserted their independence from Gov. Jon Corzine and the Democratic establishment, while Republicans Rob Calabro and Bill Harvey branded themselves as small business owners facing the same tax pinch as the rest of the district's residents. 

All four candidates came out against at least some of the provisions of bill A-500, which barred municipalities from paying other towns to take on their affordable housing obligations.  Greenstein abstained on the bill - a vote she characterized as a "soft no," while DeAngelo voted in favor of it.  That led to one of the only contentious exchanges in an otherwise civil debate. 

"Only three Democrats did not vote yes on that bill, and I was one of them," said Greenstein.  "The meaning of that vote is no.  You might say it's a soft ‘no,' but it's a ‘no.'"

Calabro, a restaurant and Italian food market owner from Hamilton, hammered Greenstein for not voting the way she really felt, and then criticized DeAngelo for voting yes.

"Abstain is undecided to me," he said.  "We're here to make a decision, not to be a soft ‘no' or a soft ‘yes.'"

DeANGELO, MILAM, ALBANO & MORIARTY PUSH CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION

Measure Would Invalidate Any Consumer Contract That Requires Consumers to Give Up Their Right To File A Complaint

(TRENTON) – Amid continued concern about consumer fraud, Assemblymen Wayne P. DeAngelo, Nelson T. Albano, Matthew W. Milam and Paul Moriarty are pushing legislation to invalidate any contract that requires customers to waive their right to file a consumer fraud complaint.

DeANGELO & GREENSTEIN PRAISE HORIZON-CAPITAL HEALTH SETTLEMENT

(14th LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT) – Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein and Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo today praised Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s announcement that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Capital Health System have ended their insurance dispute.

CALABRO & HARVEY CALL CORZINE’S PLAN FOR HIGHER TAXES AND FEWER STATE WORKERS WILL BE A FINANCIAL DISASTER FOR THE 14TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT

New Jersey Republicans admit that there is little possibility they'll turn over control of the Assembly this year, but they have hyped their chances in some sleeper districts where they don't typically compete.

Fundraising reports released today show that some money is being raised in those purported sleeper districts, but not much. 

In the 4th District, Republicans Domenick DiCicco and Eugene Lawrence have raised $69,887 - most of which comes from attorneys all over the country.  That's about half of the $134,473 incumbent Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Twp.) and newcomer Democratic running mate Bill Collins have raised. 

"Obviously District 4 is a place where we expect to do well," said Republican State Chairman Jay Webber.

Republicans haven't talked much about District 7, which is considered a Democratic district even though GOP Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) has won there five times.  But their Assembly candidates there - Leah Arter and Harry Adams - have raised almost $90,000 and have spent $77,263 (The Assembly Republican Victory committee took enough notice to donate almost $5,000). The two Republican candidates have $12,250 on hand. 

Chris Russell, a political consultant for Arter and Adams, said the campaign against incumbents Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) and Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken) is "under the rader." 

"We know the district is difficult, but we figure the only way to put them is position is the old fashioned way," said Russell, who cited the candidates' aggressive ground game.   "If they're in position, we'll strike, and I think right now, they're definitely outworking Conaway and Connors on the ground."

Conners and Conaway have raised a combined $196,603 and have about $53,000 on hand. 

District 14 was supposed to be one of the Republicans' top races this year, but their recruitment efforts fell through after Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede dropped out at the last minute.

Claim of Independence by Greenstein & DeAngelo Runs Into Stubborn Thing Called “The Truth”

The race for Assembly Speaker is causing political headaches for Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro),  who will  steer clear of an endorsement until her own re-election campaign is over.  On Friday, Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo announced that the entire Middlesex Democratic Assembly delegation would back John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) for Speaker.  That put Greenstein, a five-term Democratic lawmaker from Middlesex, in hot water with Mercer County Democrats, who are backing Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) for the post.  Greenstein's district is evenly divided between Middlesex and Mercer.

Spicuzzo's announcement that Greenstein was backing Wisniewski upset Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, who is backing Watson Coleman.  Hughes convinced Greenstein to back off her pledge to Spicuzzo and remain comfortably on the sidelines.    For Wisniewski, it means that a campaign that was just hours old already had a defection.

This is bad news for Watson Coleman, who was assuming the support of Greenstein and hoping for the backing of Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton).  With African American legislators sidelined as another candidate, Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) mulls a bid for Speaker, all Watson Coleman really has at this point is one vote from her running mate, Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), and her own.