Stephen Borg

No matter who wins the race for State Senate and Assembly in District 36, Stephen Borg will be on the winning side: he is the Publisher of the Herald News, and the Publisher of The Record. The Herald News endorsed the re-election of Democratic incumbents Paul Sarlo, Gary Schaer and Frederick Scalera; The Record endorsed the three Republican challengers.

This could be the year New Jersey gets to see if Stephen Borg, the 39-year-old Publisher of The Record, decides to show he is as tough and influential as Richard "Skip" Hidlay, the Executive Editor of the Asbury Park Press.  In 2003, Hidlay took on politicians viewed as ethically challenged and played a key role in the defeat of one of the state's most powerful elected officials, Co-Senate President John Bennett.  The Record has been hard on State Senator Joseph Coniglio, who is the target of a federal corruption investigation as he seeks re-electon to a third term in November -- though not to the level that the APP was on Bennett. 

Assume, just for a moment, that GOP State Senators Nicholas Asselta and James "Sonny" McCullough win re-election in November, and that Republican Jennifer Beck defeats incumbent Ellen Karcher in the 12th district Senate race.  Under that scenario, Democrats hold on to control of the Senate, 21-19.

But consider this: Bergen County's 38th district leans Democratic, and the GOP hasn't won there in six years.  But Democratic State Senator Joseph Coniglio appears to have some genuine ethics problems, and if things continue to get worse for him -- and if Stephen Borg decides to take a page from Skip Hidlay's '03 playbook -- this is the type of district where voters could still be convinced to vote Republican.  And if Republican Robert Colletti wins, the Senate would be evenly split -- 20/20 -- for the next four years.  That would mean a return to the Co-Senate President system that New Jersey experienced in 2002 and 2003, when Richard Codey and John Bennett shared power in the upper house.