Senate – Page 4 – Hank Kalet

Greenstein to stay in Assembly

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein will not be seeking the 14th District state Senate seat being vacated by state Sen. Peter Inverso. Ms. Greenstein, a Demcorat, will instead seek re-election to her fifth Assembly term leaving South Brunswick resident Seema Singh to battle Assemblyman Bill Baroni for the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat.

The 14th District includes Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick, as well as Hamilton, Plainsboro and West Windsor.

Ms. Singh had won the Democratic nomination last month with endorsements from both the Mercer and Middlesex County party organizations. Those endorsements were issued before Sen. Inverso, a Republican, announced last week that he would not seek re-election.

Mr. Baroni had originally planned to seek re-election to a third term in the Assembly, but opted for the Senate run when Sen. Inverso announced his retirement. He has been endorsed for the seat by Sen. Inverso and by numerous organizations, including the South Brunswick PBA.

Because of speculation that Sen. Iverso might retire, Ms. Greenstein and Ms. Singh had agreed that the pair might switch ticket positions.

In a telephone interview at about 2 p.m. today with South Brunswick Post reporter Paul Koepp, Ms. Greenstein said that friends and colleagues had encouraged her to run for the Senate seat, but that she opted to seek Assembly re-election because she felt she could be more effective in the lower house.

In addition to Assemblyman Baroni, the Republican ticket includes two Assembly candidates — former Jamesburg Borough Councilman Adam Bushman and Hamilton Township Councilman Thomas Goodwin.

The Democrats are expected to select a candidate for the second Assembly seat on Saturday. Politics NJ is reporting that the choice has been narrowed to former Hamilton Council President Daniel Benson and former Hamilton Councilman/labor leader Wayne D’Angelo.

She is expected to issue a formal announcement this afternoon.

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Endorsements are piling up

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein may be running out of time.

Another group has come out for Assemblyman Bill Baroni in his campaign to replace state Sen. Peter Inverso, who is retiring from his senate perch this year.

Baroni snatched several major labor endorsements from state public employee unions and laborers. Today, it won the endorsement of a South Brunswick union, according to Politics NJ.

PBA Local 1066, which represents police officers in South Brunswick, has endorsed Bill Baroni for State Senate. “We work hard at protecting our communities and Bill works hard at protecting our future from corruption and abuse”, said PBA Delegate James Ryan. “Bill has been one of New Jersey’s hardest working legislators and we have maintained an open dialogue since his election to the Assembly.”

Greenstein had an uphill climb to begin with against Baroni and as the endorsements mount that climb becomes even more steep.

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On a related note, some readers of the paper the last few weeks may have noticed that we have spent time covering the legislative races. That represents a change — one our readers seemed interested in. We will be covering the race this year by focusing on those issues that have a direct and indirect impact on Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick.

And we plan to endorse.

The Dayton papers — the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press — cover towns with a total population of about 80,000, meaning we represent about 40 percent of the district. Add the two Packet towns — Plainsboro and West Windsor — and we have a majority.

I’ll pass along more lateras we develop our coverage guidelines.

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Gray beards and the 14th

I posted this as a comment on Blue Jersey, but thought it was worth posting here, as well:

An issue that keeps coming up — I’ll address it tomorrow in a column for the South Brunswick Post — is that the Dems may opt for what I’ll call a graybeard from Hamilton to lend gravitas to the ticket, someone like Gil Lugossy or Skip Cimino who allegedly have deep roots and a better shot at winning. Forget that neither would have a snowball’s chance in hell of beating Baroni (not sure anyone does, really), such a move has three main drawbacks:

1. It would replace a woman candidate, of which there are far too few in this state, with an white man with white hair.

2. It would replace an Indian-American with a white man with white hair at a time when Indian-Americans are a growing constituency in the district.

3. With the mess this state is in, we need candidates with a fresh perspective. Not sure how Cimino would qualify.

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Flux in the 14th

An interesting take from Politics NJ calculations and turmoil that followed the announcement yesterday that Sen. Peter Inverso is not seeking re-election. The upshot is that the Democrats could go for an older candidate from Hamilton — Gil Lugossy or Skip Cimino — though that seems an absurd approach when dealing with someone like Bill Baroni.

(S)ome Democrats insist Baroni is beatable in a toss-up district, pointing specifically to his strong connections with the upper echelons of a national Republican Party in trouble.

There is some thought that a Hamiltonian with experience in elected office and deep community roots — ideally going back to the Chambersburg migration from Trenton to Hamilton — a (former Sheriff) Gilbert Lugossy, for example, or a (former Assemblyman) Anthony Cimino — would provide exactly the kind of gravitas transfusion at the top of the ticket that could propel the Dems to victory in November.

Anything is possible, I guess. But Baroni has built deep connections not only to Hamilton, but to Democratic South Brunswick — the district’s second largest town. He has carried the township in both of his runs, making him the only Republican aside from Inverso to carry South Brunswick in about a decade. (Even retired Police Chief Michael Paquette couldn’t carry his home town, losing it to Greenstein by 40 votes and Baroni by about 60.) The chances of an old lion having real success in South Brunswick at the expense of Baroni appear slim, though I suspect that the overwhelmingly Democratic voters of Monroe and Plainsboro would be there for the taking (Monroe and Plainsboro were the only towns in the district to back Dan Bensen, Greenstein’s running mate).

And all the talk about Hamilton, though, ignores this fact: Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein lost Hamilton in 2003 by about 2,000 votes and in 2005 by about 700 votes, yet she’s still standing, primarily because she has a huge base in Monroe and Plainsboro.

As for tying Baroni to the national party — this is a real stretch. Yes, he is close to John McCain, but he also vocally endorsed the civil union legislation, is a proponent of clean elections law and ethics reform and has already won endorsement from CWA. Not exactly the profile of a Bush acolyte.

Plus — and this is key — no one knows how the botched tax reform effort will play out electorally. Will the Democrats’ failure to deliver on anything other than a tax credit cost them votes in high-tax towns like Hamilton and West Windsor? I wouldn’t bet against it.

The only thing we know for sure is that Sen. Inverso’s retirement has altered the dynamic in the district.

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Baroni’s statement

Sen. Peter Inverso has just made it official. He is stepping down. He also announced that he is endorsing Bill Baroni for his seat.

Public service is a privilege and an honor carrying with it the commitment to put the public interest before self-interest. I have always let that guide me in fulfilling my legislative responsibilities. I am immensely grateful that the people of my district have placed thier trust and confidence in me and permitted me to represent and serve them in the state Legislature for nearly 16 years. This was not an easy decision for me to make, The increasing demands of leading an outstanding community bank with public ownership into an exciting period of expansion and opportunity, and my desire to devote more time to my wonderful wife and growing family have converged and convinced me that, after nearly a quarter of a century of public service, this is the right decision for my family, my employer and me.

Here is the full statement from Assemblyman Bill Baroni:

I am saddened by Senator Peter Inverso’s retirement. I’ve known Pete Inverso since I was 3 years old, and he continues to serve as my mentor in politics. Senator Inverso leaves behind a legacy of honesty, ethics, good government, and independence. I am ready to continue Senator Inverso’s legacy.

So there you have it.

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