Mike Premo

Remember all those ethics complaints during the campaigns?  Wonder what happens to them?

We’ll see tomorrow, when the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards meets to rule on the five complaints that have been filed since the committee last met.  But if history is any guide, they’ll mostly be dismissed. 

While legislators who sit on the committee say that complaints occasionally have at least some level of validity, some say they’re filed more to get a headline in the heat of a campaign rather than pointing out a real, troubling ethical infraction.  They also say they’ve noticed it happening more often in recently, with candidates taking advantage of a committee – one with a reputation for being toothless and ineffective -- for their political ends.   

Indeed, 2007 was the year of the ethics complaint, with 10 filed so far- the most of any year on record, going back to 1972.  Five have been settled, all of which were dismissed.

If it were a Lex Luthor-lookalike contest between the campaigns' respective leading men it would be difficult to pick a winner, but it is not that in the 12th district, though the chief handlers of two proud and competitive women here are not unaware of their own head-to-bald-head rivalry.

Tom Fitzsimmons, campaign manager for Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, likens the Democrats to the out-of-sorts and ultimately out-of-their-element Hessians on the eve of the Battle of Trenton. Mike Premo, campaign manager for Democratic Senator Ellen Karcher, chooses another metaphor - but he sticks with the military imagery.

Mike Premo, campaign manager for Democratic Sen. Ellen Karcher, describes the ground game as part of his candidate's GOTV effort.