Joseph Ferriero

Sen. Bob Menendez, earlier this year with Hillary Clinton: Getty Images Photo
No longer as involved in the day-to-day mechanics of local politics, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in back to back statewide elections has proved to be his party’s New Jersey go-to guy.

The former mayor of Union City got out the machine-backed Feb. 5 vote for Clinton with a war cry - "We have an opportunity in Hudson, Hudson, Hispanics, Hillary and history." And leading up to June 3, he helped U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9) stare down a party uprising in Bergen County that might have weakened crucial organizational support for U.S. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)

Clinton won by ten points here with significant Latino support, and Lautenberg buried U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) yesterday, 61-34%.

Bergen County Democratic Organization Chariman Joseph Ferriero toldBCDO Chairman Joseph Ferriero PoltiickerNJ.com moments ago that he is endorsing Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

"Yes, you will be receiving my statement from Lautenberg," said Ferriero in response to the question of whether he intends to endorse the senator.

The statement arrived directly and in part included Ferriero's commitment to the U.S. Senate candidate selected during the county convention process.  

"I have determined that it would be precipitously inappropriate and
contrary to the Bergen County Democratic Organization bylaws to convene a second nominating convention to consider both of these candidates," the chairman said in his statement, referring to Lautenberg and U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, who yesterday announced his primary challenge of the senator.

Hillary Clinton campaigns in Hackensack today, where she was endorsed by Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero: Getty Images Photo

In her first public campaign stop in New Jersey since September, Hillary Clinton made an appearance tonight at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack to accept the endorsements of Bergen County Chairman Joe Ferriero and a host of other elected officials from the powerhouse.

The appearance came immediately after Clinton attended a $2,300 per head fundraiser at the Stony Hill Inn across town, and afterwards she was off to another rally to appeal to the Hispanic vote in North Bergen. Earlier today, she was in Pennsylvania to accept the endorsement of Gov. Ed Rendell.

The Hackensack crowd, which Clinton campaign officials estimated at 700 to hear Clinton speak at the school's gymnasium with 1,000 more overflowing into its auditorium, had to wait. Clinton arrived about an hour and a half late, leaving Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire to keep the crowd entertained, adlibbing jokes and poking fun at other elected officials.

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in Bergen County on January 23 to pick up the endorsement of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and other party leaders and elected officials, according to Ferriero.

Clinton campaign spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said that no date or location is yet confirmed for Clinton's New Jersey visit.

Bergen has the fourth highest number of Democratic primary voters in the state, and his support is widely viewed as an important cog in Clinton’s bid to win New Jersey in the February 5 primary. Ferriero will host a fundraiser for Clinton following his endorsement announcement.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie wants to be clear on this point: his appointment of his former boss to a lucrative position overseeing a legally troubled medical implant company bears no resemblance to the way Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero runs his political organization.

“If you want to make the Joe Ferriero analogy, I think is a real stretch,” answered Christie to a question posed Bergen Record columnist Al Doblin. “I’m not calling up the U.S. Attorney General the next day and saying you need to write a $25,000 check to the Bergen County Democratic Organization.”

Just a few days shy of the seventh anniversary of his appointment to the U.S. Attorney Post, Christie is embroiled in one of the few instances during his term that has drawn open criticism from Democrats. Christie, the seemingly untouchable U.S. Attorney and Republican golden boy, engaged in an hour-and-half long question and answer session with Bergen Record columnist Alfred Doblin last night at Bergen Community College, touching on everything from his political prospects to the most shocking case he’s ever prosecuted. Most importantly, however, he defended himself against recent Democratic criticism for hiring former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Is Kathleen Donovan headed to the bench?In Bergen County, Republicans only have one county-wide elected official: Kathleen Donovan, the County Clerk since 1988.

That could soon change.

Multiple sources from both parties say that Donovan’s name has been suggested to Gov. Corzine for a nomination to a Superior Court judgeship by Democratic state Sen. Paul Sarlo.

Donovan, a former GOP State Chairwoman and one-term Assemblywoman, would not confirm or deny the prospect of her taking a judicial post.

Two Democrats who want to run against Scott Garrett refuse to take sides in an intra-party battleBoth Democrats who want to challenge Scott Garrett for Congress in 2008 come from Bergen County, and neither wants to take sides in the war raging there between state Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero.

Dennis Shulman, a rabbi and psychologist who's blind, officially announced his long shot candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the fifth district congressional seat today. Rather than pick a side in the Democratic war in Bergen, he said that his candidacy may be able to help mend it.

As the dust settles in Bergen County and the political parties spin the election results, you can expect to hear the Republicans talking a lot about Rutherford.

It’s where Republican challenger John Hipp trampled Democratic incumbent Mayor Bernadette McPherson -- beating her by a margin of 2-1, and tying the council 3-3, with two Republican candidates ousting incumbent Democrats.

In southern Bergen County, Republicans are focusing much of their energy on one town: Rutherford.

Democratic Mayor Bernadette P. McPherson, who is also a Bergen County Freeholder, is up for re-election along on a slate with Democratic Councilmen Ray Frazier and Richard Reyes.  Currently, the balance of power on the council is 5-1 Democratic.  The Republicans have fielded attorney John Hipp for mayor, along with Rose Inguanti and John Sasso in an attempt to tie council. 

But more is at stake that just the leadership of this town of 18,000.  The election is one of the first offensive moves by new Bergen County Republican Chairman Robert Ortiz, who’s trying to slowly claw the Republicans back to power town by town.  And it just so happens that this was one of the first towns that Bergen County Chairman Joseph Ferriero turned over to Democrats, with McPherson’s election in 1999 and winning a council majority the year before that.