Loretta Weinberg

TEANECK -- Both sides in the hotly contested council election in this town play down their part in the long-standing feud between Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero and state Sen. Loretta Weinberg.

But here on Weinberg’s home town, that rift is impossible to avoid.

Sitting down for a roast beef and chopped liver sandwich at a kosher eatery called Noah’s Ark on Cedar Avenue, councilman Elnatan Rudolph said that, while he doesn’t hide his ties to Ferriero, his opponents are the ones making the rift an issue. He noted a campaign piece that depicted him as a wind up toy, with Ferriero doing the winding.

While Honis and the two other candidates who act as her semi-official running mates dismiss partisan politics, Rudolph doesn’t buy it.

“They can tell you that. But it’s the same people who worked for (Weinberg), the same county committee men and women, who are supporting them in the race,” he said.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) thinks that a Teaneck councilwoman’s “gas chamber” comment was not intended to offend her Jewish colleagues, but that Monica Honis erred by not saying she’s sorry.

“I think it was a slip of the tongue, and I think that she should have immediately apologized,” said Weinberg, who’s not endorsing anyone in her home town’s council race. “And if she didn’t immediately do it, she should have at the subsequent council meeting.”

At a block association meeting on Monday, Honis, who’s up for re-election, said that picking her and not her two running mates would be like sending her “to the gas chamber.” Honis’s Jewish counterparts on the council took offense to that statement, saying that it was an insensitive reference to the holocaust.

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, one of the sponsors of the Assembly version of paid family leave, which came out of committee today. 

The lobbyists' feeding frenzy continued in Trenton today as representatives from both the business and labor communities zeroed in on lawmakers in the hallways of power and attempted to elicit the promise of a yes or no vote on the issue of paid family leave.

The measure would extend state liability insurance to employees for up to six weeks, enabling workers to care for themselves, a newborn or a sick relative. Funding would come from the workers contributing on average a dollar a week from their salaries.

As news stations projected Sen. Hillary Clinton beating Sen. Barack Obama in New Jersey, Obama supporters at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange tried to fight off their disappointment.

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman praised Obama's gutsy performance and reminded the candidate's supporters that few gave the Illinois senator a chance when he began his campaign.

"We had a huge turnout in Jersey City," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who questioned the performance of new voting machines in his city.

On the eve of the New Jersey presidential primary and with most polls showing his rival trying to maintain a slight lead here, Sen. Barack Obama made a last stop in the Garden State today, telling voters that his message of hope is not one of naivete but of common purpose.

Senate President Richard Codey at the Wilshire Grand Hotel todayAfter getting one question cleared up in the affirmative with Sen. Barack Obama, Senate President and former Governor Richard Codey today officially endorsed Obama for president at a press conference in his hometown of West Orange.

"What’s the skinny on the fact that you’re part Irish?" Codey said he asked Obama in a 10 minute conversation with the presidential candidate this morning, six days before the Feb. 5 primary.

"I am," Obama told him.

"Is that on your father’s side?" Codey cracked.

"It’s O’bama," Senator Loretta Weinberg informed the Senate President.

The Obama campaign will hold a rally for their presidential candidate in Bergen County tonight. U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, a Northeast Regional Co-Chair of Obama for America, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, State Senator Loretta Weinberg, and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson will headline the event.

The rally is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Hackensack Civic Center, 215 State Street. 

Chalk up another prominent New Jersey politician who thinks Bob Menendez would be a fine vice-presidential pick in the extremely improbable event that Hillary Clinton chooses him as a running mate.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg.

Weinberg, who supports Barack Obama, praised Menendez for his recent work on causes like Iraq, the economy and health care. 

“I think that the more time he spends on that as opposed to other areas, I think the better US Senator he’s become, and I think that people in New Jersey should be very proud of him,” said Weinberg. 

Weinberg said that the U.S. Attorney’s investigation into Menendez in 2006 should not hurt his prospects.

Women state legislators supporting Barack Obama for President stood together at Democratic State Committee headquarters in Trenton on Monday to put a collective exclamation point on their endorsement of the Illinois senator.

Senators Shirley Turner and Loretta Weinberg; and Assemblywomen Linda Greenstein, Elease Evans, Cleopatra Tucker and L. Grace Spencer said Obama is the candidate best equipped to deliver change.

Loretta Weinberg has signed off on John Molinelli's renomination as Bergen County ProsecutorJust a month and a half ago, the re-nomination of Bergen Prosecutor John Molinelli to another five year term looked to be in jeopardy.

The revelation that he had accompanied outgoing state Sen. Joseph Coniglio on a trip to Italy while the Senator was under federal investigation raised doubts among top Democratic officials whether he should be reconfirmed. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Henry McNamara and Democratic Sen. Loretta Weinberg had already exercised senatorial courtesy for different reasons, refusing to sign off on Molinelli's nomination.

But today, the prospect of Molinelli securing another term looks much more likely, even if he has several more political obstacles to overcome.