The retirements of Assemblymen John Rooney (R-Northvale) and Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) makes Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) the senior member of the lower house.  DeCroce took office on January 26, 1989, after winning a special election convention.  The senior member of the Legislature is Richard Codey (D-Roseland), who was elected to the Assembly in 1973 and to the Senate in 1981; Codey and Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) went to the Senate on the same day.

Assemblyman John Rooney (R-Northvale) has served in the Legislature for 26 years, making him the longest serving current assemblyman.  This is his last day.

“Two years ago I was in horrible shape,” said Rooney, who suffered a series of problems with his knee and hip that led him to consider retirement. “I kind of made up my mind back then I was going to pack it in.  I’m feeling a lot better.  Had things been better then, I probably would have stayed.”

Rooney listed three things he says were his biggest accomplishments: the creation of the Division of Developmental Disabilities; passing a parental notification law for abortions, although it was overturned by the State Supreme Court; and amending the state constitution to change the way legislative vacancies are filled.

Rooney, an electrical consultant, does not want to retire, and he has something in mind: to become commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which he thinks his occupational background and years on the Environmental and Solid Waste Committee has prepared him for.

Today is the last day in office for seven members of the State Assembly: Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Sandra Love (D-Laurel Springs), Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), John Rooney (R-Northvale), L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City), and Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy).  Merkt have up his seat to seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and Smith ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Jersey City; the others did not seek re-election.

Roberts, the Assembly Speaker, announced in September that he would not seek re-election to the seat he has held since replacing the late Francis Gorman (D-Gloucester City) in a 1987 special election.  Rooney is the most senior member of the Legislature; he won a 1983 special election after Joan Wright took a job in the Kean administration.  Vas dropped his re-election bid after federal and state corruption indictments, and Smith was arrested in July in connection to Operation Bid Rig.

Anthony Bucco, Jr. (R-Boonton), Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge), Domenick DiCicco (R-Franklin Twp.), Angel Fuentes (D-Camden), Charles Mainor (D-Jersey City), Donald Norcross (D-Camden) and Robert Schroeder (R-Washington) will take office tomorrow.  Bucco replaces Merkt, DiCicco won Love’s seat, Fuentes and Norcross will assume the seats left open by the retirements of Roberts and Cruz-Perez, Mainor replaces Smith, and Schroeder succeeds Rooney.

The Corzine campaign expects "that the margin will be tight" in the race for Bergen County Freeholder, and predicts that incumbent legislators from both parties will win re-election, according to a briefing memo prepared by the governor's re-election campaign. 

The Corzine campaign views District 36 as "reliably Democratic" and notes that the Republicans have targeted Assemblymen Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley) because "they think it will be more competitive without the popular Senator (Paul) Sarlo at the top of the ticket. 

"We do not expect the seats to change hands," the memo said.

The Democrats acknowledged the local 37th district split between State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), their candidate for Lt. Governor, and the Bergen County Democratic Organization, but said that Weinberg and Michael Kasparian, who became the County Chairman following Joseph Ferriero's indictment, "have been able to establish more harmony."

In District 38, "there was concern that the ticket would be held down by residual issues with former Senator Joe Coniglio's conviction on corruption charges," the memo said.  But "recent polling has been extremely positive, and we expect that both Assemblywomen will retain their seats."

In a blunt analysis, the Corzine campaign conceded that they will not win Republican Assembly seats in the 39th and 40th districts.  "Unfortunately, we expect the Republicans to win reelection this November," the memo said about District 39, and in District 40 said "we do not think they will be able to unseat the Republicans this fall."

PolitickerNJ.com has prepared a Casualty List for the New Jersey Legislature for each year since 2001.

Fourteen-term Republican John Rooney, the senior member of the State Assembly, becomes the fifth legislator not seeking re-election in 2009.  Three Assemblymen are seeking another office: Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) is running for Governor; Michael Doherty (R-Washington) is seeking State Senate seat; and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) is a candidate for Mayor. Assemblywoman Sandra Love (D-Gloucester Township) is retiring. And Eric Munoz (R-Summit) passed away earlier this month at the age of 61.

Former gubernatorial candidate Robert Schroeder easily won the endorsement of the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) in his bid to succeed John Rooney as an Assemblyman from the 39th district.  Schroeder beat former River Edge Councilman John Felice, 194-32.  In a district where Democrats have not won a legislative race since 1977, Schroeder becomes an overwhelming favorite to go to the Legislature.

Look for Schroeder, a 49-year-old millionaire businessman who self-funded his 2005 campaign for Governor, to emerge as a leader within the Assembly Republican caucus next year.  The Washington Township Committeeman will have the ability to help raise money for other GOP Assembly candidates this year.

A key vote is scheduled for Saturday in Bergen County, where Republicans in the 39th district will pick a new Assemblyman to replace John Rooney.  Rooney, who has served in the Legislature since 1983, announced this week that he will not seek re-election.  Democrats have not won this district since 1977.

Four Republicans are seeking the endorsement of the Northeast Republican Organization (NERO): Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Montvale), Washington Township Committeeman Robert Schroeder, former River Edge Councilman John Felice, and Harrington Park Councilman Thomas Bettancourt.  The Bergen County Republican Organization will award the organization line to the winner of the NERO convention.

Robert Schroeder, who spent $2.1 million - most of it his own money - in pursuit of the 2005 Republican nomination for Governor, is now the leading candidate for an open State Assembly seat in the Bergen County-based 39th district.  The Washington Township Committeeman won the endorsement today of the incumbent, John Rooney, who is stepping down after 26 years in the Assembly. 

As a gubernatorial candidate, Schroeder won the organization line in Ocean County, and scored a victory at the Northeastern Republican Organization convention in Bergen County.  But he won just 6% of the vote in the GOP primary, finishing fifth in a field of seven candidates.  He did beat former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano and former Bergen County Freeholder Todd Caliguire.

Schroeder now faces former River Edge Councilman John Felice (the son of former Assemblyman Nicholas Felice) and Harrington Park Councilman Thomas Bettancourt for the support of the Bergen County Republican Organization.  Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Montvale) is seeking re-election to an eleventh term, and while she is favored to win the Northeastern Republican Organization (NERO) convention on Saturday, it is possible that two other candidates might do so. The NERO vote will determine the line.

Assemblyman John Rooney (R-Northvale), the longest serving member of the state assembly, will not seek another term and has endorsed Washington Township Councilman Bob Schroeder to take his place.

Rooney, who has served in the lower house since 1983 and has been mulling retirement for over a year, made his decision official in a letter to fellow Bergen County Republicans dated March 2. 

“I would like to thank you for all your past support in 14 election and re-election campaigns during my 26 years as your Assemblyman in District 39.  It was truly appreciated,” he wrote.  “This letter is to inform that I am withdrawing my name as a candidate for this office in the upcoming NERO convention.”

Rooney went on to write that Schroeder, a former Republican gubernatorial primary candidate who owns a military contracting business, has the support to fend off Democrats if they make another major play for the district, as they did in 2007. 

The Northeastern Republican Organization (NERO) will meet on Saturday to endorse a candidate for Governor, a prequel to the Bergen County Republican Convention on March 19 and an important test of strength as former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan face off in Lonegan's home county.