Wilda Diaz

Chairman Joe Spicuzzo congratulates his Distrct 19 ticket: Aassemblyman John Wisniewski, left, and South Amboy Mayor John T. O'Leary

EDISON – One Perth Amboy mayor received homage, a second stands accused of state corruption charges and stayed away, and a third was in the house tonight here at the Pines Manor at the Middlesex County Democratic Organization’s convention. 

“He’s disappeared,” Chairman Joe Spicuzzo said of former Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, indicted last week on bid-rigging and theft charges. “I’ve tried calling him but haven’t heard from him. He must be with his lawyer.” 

Ousted as mayor last year by Wilda Diaz, Vas had originally intended to pursue his assembly seat again at a special March 25th convention, but backed down after absorbing the state charges last Wednesday.

Perth Amboy Mayor WIlda Diaz works the room at her foreclosure conference on Friday.

PERTH AMBOY – The rivers run into each other there and disgorge urb and burb remnants alike into the bay.

In the middle of a global economic crisis, in the middle of a local budget crisis, in the middle of state corruption charges leveled against her predecessor, Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz stands in the parish center of Our Lady of Fatima Church in front of a crowd of 400 residents Friday night and urges them to work with government to keep their homes. 

“Tell your friends not to be embarrassed if you can’t pay your mortgage,” she says, in English and Spanish. “If you wait two or three months, the situation will only be much worse.”

The bank teller turned bank manager turned first year mayor has welcomed several guests to speak, including representatives from Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York). 

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) prepares for Gov. Jon Corzine's budget speech at the Statehouse on Tuesday.

On hearing the news today of Assemblyman Joe Vas’s (D-Perth Amboy) arrest on bid-rigging charges, Democratic Party players surrounding what was an apparent contest for Vas’s 19th District Assembly seat reacted with little shock - and a mixture of grief and celebration.

"This is a sad day for Assemblyman Vas and his family, and an equally sad day for the people in 19th Legislative District," said Vas's running mate, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville). "Any time that a public official is involved in even an allegation of official misconduct, it puts a strain on the public trust. I hope the process undertaken today by the Attorney General’s Office moves forward as fairly and efficiently as possible." 

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, whose town concentrates the largest number of voters in the 19th, said Vas can write off trying to reclaim his 19th District Assembly seat.

Assemblyman Joe Vas (D-Perth Amboy)

In any political weather, the name “Vas” on a campaign sign would inspire a particular dynamism, as in “you go” in the Spanish familiar form - and so the name went for 18 years as the formidable Joe Vas, Perth Amboy’s first Puerto Rican mayor, ran the waterfront town.

And yet now, nearly a year after he lost reelection locally, the danger for Assemblyman Joe Vas – same man, different title at stake - may be the inclination among a majority of committee people in this scrunch of blue collar and maritime Middlesex towns called the 19th District, to simply say “scram.”

Battered, Vas nevertheless doesn’t think it’s going to happen, and even appeared indomitable today, moments before heading into a caucus meeting of the Assembly Democrats, where he serves as deputy majority leader.

“Ask any committee member about me – not someone on the outside looking in and trying to rattle the cage – ask them about me and my district office,” he said.

Convinced the committee will see it his way at a party convention on March 25th at the Forge, Vas intends to stare down a cross-river challenge from South Amboy Mayor John T. O’Leary. Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) will also screen for one of two seats, but by all accounts, the powerful chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee should have little problem securing party support.

The same can’t be said of Vas – who’s had his fights, Barry Adler two years ago and Arlene Friscia before that, not to mention his first run for mayor when he came in as the underdog – who may yet be in his toughest.

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz earns huge points from state Democrats for helping to convince Ken Balut not to challenge Jon Corzine in the Democratic primary.

Perth Amboy Councilman Ken Balut's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor was substantially shorter than Bob Torricelli's twelve day gubernatorial campaign in 2001.  Credit for Balut's speedy exit goes to Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, who met with Balut soon after the he indicated his desire to mount a primary challenge to Jon Corzine, and asked him not to do it.  Since Diaz won an upset victory in the 2008 mayoral race, toppling 18-year incumbent Joseph Vas, she has been viewed as a rising star in state Democratic politics.  Diaz is sure to have earned huge points for her role. 

No devotee of Gov. Jon Corzine, freshman Perth Amboy Councilman Ken Balut nevertheless says he doesn't get the sense there's any Democratic Party exodus in his direction, and therefore plans to end his campaign for governor. 

His decision comes after Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz advised him to rethink his plan, and a day after political consultant James Devine sent out an email declaring Balut's intention to run a scrappy, anti-establishment campaign against Corzine. 

An entrenched opponent of Democratic State Committee Chairman Joseph Cryan and a critic of Corzine's, Devine advised Balut to get in the statewide primary, and as of Sunday remained convinced the councilman would remain steadfast in his dedication to a blue collar run for governor. 

"He's exploring a run in the primary," Devine told PolitickerNJ.com. "He's laying the groundwork but he hasn't filed the paperwork. He's running." 

But following a Thursday lunch meeting with Diaz at the Barge on Perth Amboy's waterfront in which the mayor asked Balut to join her in focusing on the city rather than creating a distraction with a quixotic run for higher office, Balut admitted she had a point.

There are now two Democrats who say they will challenge Jon Corzine in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June: former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson and Perth Amboy Councilman Ken Balut.  So far, neither seems to pose a real threat to the incumbent, who despite struggling approval numbers still has a 66%-24% job approval rating among Democrats.  Bergmanson and Balut have not raised money or announced any endorsements. 

For Balut, it will be interesting to see if he can secure the backing of his chief political ally, Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz.

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz might have to decide if she'll back her own running mate for Governor or the incumbent, Jon Corzine.

There is no sign that Perth Amboy Councilman Kenneth Balut can do any better against Jon Corzine in the Democratic gubernatorial primary than the six percent that Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello won in his campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination against Frank Lautenberg last year.  Balut will have a hard time qualifying for public financing, and even if he did - which he won't - Corzine would not be compelled to debate him since Corzine is not accepting public funds for his re-election campaign.

There is some speculation that Perth Amboy Councilman Kenneth Balut is mulling a challenge to Jon Corzine in the June Democratic gubernatorial primary.  Balut, a longtime rival of Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas, was elected to the Council last year on a slate headed by Wilda Diaz, who ousted Vas by a wide margin.  He is a former PBA President and state PBA Delegate.