Kathleen Donovan

The 1988 political landscape in Bergen County bears little resemblance to today's.

Former President George H.W. Bush carried the county against Michael Dukakis. Bill McDowell, a Republican, was the county executive, having been elected to the newly created office of two years earlier. Republicans controlled the freeholder board 7-0, and Republican Assemblywoman Kathleen Donovan had just been elected to her first five-year term as county clerk.

Times have changed, to say the least. Democrats have a popular incumbent county executive and hold all the freeholder seats. Only Donovan has managed to stay on top of the rising Democratic tide, and stands today as the only Republican county-wide officeholder in a place where the GOP has become the perennial minority party.

After 20 years in office, Donovan is the sole obstacle to County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero's quest for complete county-wide domination - even if she holds an unglamorous office, where the primary responsibilities are overseeing election ballots, issuing passports and recording deeds and mortgages.

State Sen. Bill Baroni will chair the New Jersey Delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis
Republicans tonight elected State Sen. Bill Baroni to serve as Chairman of the New Jersey Delegation to the Republican National Convention. Baroni is the Chairman of John McCain’s New Jersey campaign. Atlantic County GOP Chairman Keith Davis and Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose were named to the Platform Committee.

Published reports that Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has been subpoenaed as part of a federal criminal probe related to his ownership of a company that helps secure government grants could – and likely will -- turn New Jersey’s political landscape upside-down. Bergen is still politically competitive, but Ferriero’s fundraising and organization has kept Democrats in the victory column. Some insiders suggest that Ferriero’s current legal woes will hamper his ability to raise money, and allow his rival, State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, to enhance her clout among Bergen Democrats.

The Bergen County Republican Organization reports that for the first time in almost five years, they will begin the campaign cycle with no debt. That’s a feather in the cap of Robert Ortiz, who became County Chairman last June after the embattled Guy Talarico resigned. The BCRO is pledging to mount the “largest countywide campaign in recent memory” as they seek to re-elect County Clerk Kathleen Donovan and compete for three seats on the Board of Freeholders.

Assemblywoman-elect Caroline Casagrande becomes the youngest woman to ever win election to the New Jersey Legislature.  At age 30, she is three years younger than Republican Barbara Curran was when she won in 1973, and three years younger than Kathleen Donovan was when she ousted Democratic incumbents in 1985. 

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.

It's put up or shut up time for Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz.

Insiders say that Ortiz was elected County Chairman last summer to replace Guy Talarico mainly because of his self proclaimed skills as a uber fundraiser. He boasted of raising funds for state and national candidates and of being a member of the New Jersey State Republican Committee Chairman's Club (although it turned out he hadn't paid his $1,000 initiation fee). The party faithful took Ortiz seriously, and candidates for county and local office eagerly awaited the flow of campaign funds for the first time in years. (Kathleen Donovan's primary campaign for county executive in 2006 raised more money than the county organization raised in two full years).