LD 25

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.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan with Lonegan operative Morgan Levy.

MT. ARLINGTON – The Republican gubernatorial candidates’ forum here tonight sponsored by the Mt. Arlington Republican Club contained at least one surprise from the standpoint of stump speechmaking. 

Led to the front of the room by an aide, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan spent several moments groping for the microphone before confessing to the small crowd, “I’m severely visually impaired. I can’t see anyone in front of me, so if anyone wants to flip me the bird, go right ahead. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa.”

Down 23 points to former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Team Lonegan insisted their candidate has crumpled up his speech before on the trail, in Toms River, for example, to talk about his blindness, a subject he usually avoids.

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.”