Where are they now? BubbaByTheSea.com

Joseph Bubba served as a Passaic County Freeholder and Republican County Chairman before winning a seat in the New Jersey State Senate in 1981. He beat four-term Assemblyman (and former Senator) William Bate-- now the Passaic County Surrogate -- by a 53%-47% margin. Bubba only narrowly held the seat two years later, first in a bitter primary battle with Assemblyman Terry LaCorte, and then in a general election against Passaic County Freeholder James Roe, the brother of popular Congressman Robert Roe; Bubba won by only 974 votes. He beat Clifton attorney Donald Hetchka in 1987, Assemblyman Joseph Mecca in 1991, and former state Consumer Affairs Director Patricia Royer in 1993. He ran for Congress in 1992, when Roe retired, and lost to former Assemblyman Herbert Klein by a wide margin.

A long-running feud with Passaic County GOP Chairman Peter Murphy and Sheriff Edwin Englehardt finally ended his career in 1997 when he lost the Republican primary to Norman Robertson, then a Freeholder, by a 2-1 margin.

The 68-year-old Bubba retired to Florida six years ago and in 2004 attempted a political comeback as a candidate for the Pompano Beach City Commission. He received 235 votes -- just 8% -- in his fourth place finish. (The candidate who finished third lost by 27 percentage points and Bubba got less than half the number of votes she did.)

Today, Bubba -- sporting the Steve Ayscue look -- sells real estate for Coldwell Banker in Pompano Beach. Old friends can reach him at info@BubbaByTheSea.com.