The vanquished get ready to leave Trenton

Just days after losing one of the hardest fought legislative campaigns of 2007, outgoing Republican state Sen. James “Sonny” McCullough found himself on a flight to Myrtle Beach, S.C. with Democratic Assemblyman Jim Whelan, who had just ousted him from his state Senate seat by a 14 point margin.

Democrats had spent over $3 million to beat McCullough in one of the nastiest races in the state – succeeding in taking him out but not his Assembly running mates Vince Polistina and John Amodeo. But the two former opponents had, even by then, set aside their differences and were on friendly terms.

“I told (Whelan) that if I played the dirty tricks they wanted me to play, I would have beat him by 30,000 votes,” said McCullough.

The dirty trick recommended by his consultants: making thousands of robocalls with a voice impersonating Whelan imploring constituents to vote. The kicker: they were to be made between 2:30 and 4:30 am.

McCullough voided the decision, and today is regretful of just how nasty the campaign got – so much so that he and Whelan are considering holding a seminar at Stockton College about how to avoid nasty campaigns.

Today is the last day in Trenton for many legislators, and McCullough is one of the few leaving who were hoping not to have to call it quits just yet. Also departing after general election defeats are Senators Ellen Karcher and Nicholas Asselta. Vanquished from the Assembly are Guy Gregg, Louis Manzo and Sal Vega (who lost Senate primaries), Francis Bodine (who switched parties and lost a Senate bid as a Democrat), Bill Payne (who lost an Independent Senate bid), Oadline Truitt, Craig Stanley and Wilfredo Caraballo (unsuccessful candidates for renomination in the Democratic primary), and Michael Panter, who lost his bid for re-election to a third term.

For McCullough’s last day in Trenton, he plans to vote no on the governor’s new school funding formula, citing caps on the percentage of increased aid each town can get. And although he’ll remain mayor of 75 square mile Egg Harbor Township, he can finally take some time to relax – just like he thought he could for that brief moment in 2006 when he retired from his non-political job and didn’t yet know that State Sen. Bill Gormley was leaving the Senate. Soon, he’ll be able to fish on the boat he bought with a friend after his initial retirement.

“I’m back to my original thoughts back in 2006. You worked hard all your life; you’re in your mid-60s, why don’t you enjoy it a little bit?”

McCullough doubts that he’ll ever run for the legislature again, but won’t completely rule out the possibility.

“I never say never, but four years from now I might be sitting in a rocking chair,” he said.

At the other end of the state, Gregg, 58, found himself at the wrong end of a state Senate primary, narrowly losing after the powerful Littel family threw their support behind former Sussex County Freeholder Steve Oroho. Although Gregg, who served 14 years in the Assembly, was angered by the defeat enough to skip a Sussex County Republican unity breakfast two days later, he has since put it behind him.

“Tough elections and family fights are always very hard, and I would just say that those are not easy things to get over,” he said. “As a professional I also understand that it is much like an athletic event, and at the end of the day you’ve got to move on.”

Gregg, a former restaurateur, won’t rule out running for elected office again. But right now he’s exploring employment opportunities in the private sector – potentially as a lobbyist.

“My career has been kind of like I am. I’m kind of like a box of chocolates,” he said. ….“I’m not saying never, so I never close the door to perhaps putting my name on the ballot again, but at this point my pursuits are going to be in the private sector.”

Although Gregg isn’t ready to county his primary defeat as a political death, he does know what he’d like to have as his political epitaph.

“I think I’ll be remembered for being a very straight shooting direct legislator who fought very hard for small business and little guys in the middle class,” he said.

Republican-turned-Democratic Bodine, who lost a state Senate race to Republican Burlington County Clerk Phil Haines, was shown reading a golf magazine at his Assembly desk in a photograph that ran on this Web site last year. Now, he’ll have more time to play the sport and to visit his grandchildren in New England.

“My game has suffered tremendously over the last 20 to 25 years, and I’ve already begun plans working with some friends of mine,” joked Bodine when asked whether he would play more golf. “I will be 72 on Thursday. I can’t do what I used to but I feel that I can still move the ball around today.”

Bodine ruled out the possibility of running for public office again. His legacy, he said, may be his work on the transportation committee, insuring adequate bridge safety.

“I’ve had 31 good years, and I’m very satisfied,” he said.

During his reelection campaign as a newly minted Democrat, Bodine faced charges of pay-to-play for his $3,000-a-month part-time consultancy at the engineering firm Adams, Rehmann & Heggan and his 2 ½ day per week job for the Grinspec insurance company, where Gannett reported that he was paid to “make introductions.”

Today, Bodine plans to stay with the two firms.

“They beat the hell out of me, but that’s water long passed under the bridge,” he said. “…I was with a gentleman yesterday who is 90 years old. He’s a solid republican. He said ‘We didn’t care what your party was. We know you and we voted for you, because that stuff on television is not you. The long answer is that has not impacted my character among my friends and constituents throughout Burlington County."

State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, who was defeated by Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, told PolitickerNJ.com last month that he’s looking at several opportunities in the private and public sector, and would not rule out running for Assembly or state Senate.

A host of other candidates who ran in competitive races but never made it also said that they’re keeping their options open.

Attorney Joe Ariyan said that he’s “leaving the door” open to running for state Senate again in the 39th district, or possibly Assembly. His former Assembly running mate, Esther Fletcher, has already declared that she intends to run again. Meanwhile, Carl Manna, the other Assembly running mate, is concentrating on his reelection to the Dumont Council.

In district 14, Adam Bushman won’t rule anything out, but is concentrating on finishing up his PhD dissertation in I.T. Management.

In district 12, Panter is widely expected to be mulling another go for the Assembly or possibly state Senate in four years, while former running mate Amy Mallet, who’s never held elected office, said that it’s too early to know whether she’ll try again.

“When you go through something like that for as many months as we did, when it’s over there’s certainly a void there,” she said.