Lautenberg seems poised to hold Middlesex line
By Wally EdgeIt looks like Frank Lautenberg will have the organization line in Middlesex County, despite support for Rob Andrews by three Democratic State Senators and a large group of local elected officials. Andrews backers had sought an open primary in a county that had previously endorsed the 84-year-old incumbent for re-election to a fifth term.
Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo, the Democratic County Chairman, held a meeting with a group of key Democrats yesterday to discuss the idea of putting Lautenberg and Andrews on separate lines and running candidates for Congress, Freeholder and local office on a third line. That idea fell through when it became clear that three Democratic congressmen who represent Middlesex – Frank Pallone, Rush Holt, Albio Sires – would run with Lautenberg anyway. (Linda Stender, running for Congress in District7, also said she would run on a line with Lautenberg.) And Team Lautenberg seemed prepared to recruit Freeholder candidates to run against the organization slate.
Ultimately, Lautenberg had Spicuzzo and Middlesex County Freeholder David Crabiel, the most powerful Democrat in the county, advocating on his behalf when it came apparent that the threat of a full-fledged countywide fight was a real possibility.
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It's getting hot in NJ politics.
Great news, a sitting US Senator holds a line in his own party. No, it is not the GOP. It is the Democrats for a change. No not the Real Democrats, the regular Democrats. No not the Southern Democrats, the Northern Democrats. No not the Northern Democrats but the NJ Democrats.
rival slates in Middlesex?
Crabiel and Lautenberg....old geezers sticking together....its beautiful.
Spicuzzo and Crabiel won't be the most powerful Democracts in Middlesex for long. They're part of the old John Lynch gang. Vitale, Buono, and Smith represent the future of the party in Middlesex, along with Mayors Choi and McCormac.
Will Andrews and the Senators recruit a rival slate? That could get ugly.