Clara Nibot

Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz, the Republican candidate for State Assembly in the 37th district, appears to have a valid complaint against a fellow Republican, Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan.  The sample ballots in District 37 list the Democratic incumbents, Loretta Weinberg, Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle in a larger, bolder font than the GOP challengers.  While the incumbents have qualified for the "Clean Elections" designation, there is nothing in the law that allows Clean Elections candidates to have their names printed in bigger type on the ballot; indeed, the law specifically requires the names of candidates to be the same size.

In many counties, a State Senator being criticized for ethical woes by her own County Chairman could cause a race to become suddenly competitive. That's not the case in the 37th district, where Republican Clara Nibot has practically no chance to oust incumbent Loretta Weinberg next month. The Nibot campaign was effectively over when she failed to qualify for public financing in the Clean Elections pilot program. You have to wonder if Joseph Ferriero and Weinberg would have attacked each other if the Republican ticket had $300,000 to spend.

Clara Nibot, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 37th district is trying to make an issue of opposition research from her opponent, incumbent Loretta Weinberg.  What makes this interesting is that Weinberg is looking for information on Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, not Nibot.

Mildred Barry Hughes, a Democrat from Union County, was the first woman to win election to the New Jersey State Senate when she won in 1965. She previously served three terms in the State Assembly.: Rutgers University Libraries PhotoIt's a minor correction at best: speaking at a meeting of Women Advocating for Good Governmen (WAGG), a division of the Women's Political Caucus of New Jersey, State Senator Diane Allen she was the eighth woman in New Jersey history to be sworn in to the State Senate. "It still upsets me," Allen said. "Hundreds of years -- eight women."

But actually, Allen was the ninth woman to serve in the State Senate. She was preceeded by Mildred Barry Hughes (D-Union) in 1966, Jerry English (D-Union) in 1971, Wynona Lipman (D-Essex) in 1972, Anne Martindell (D-Mercer) and Alene Ammond (D-Camden) in 1974, Leanna Brown (R-Morris) and Catherine Costa (D-Burlington) in 1984, and Martha Bark (R-Burlington) in 1997. Allen and Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) took office in January 1998.