Robert Colletti

Add Robert Colletti to the membership list of the Douglas Forrester Club: Republicans who were headed to the Senate, but were defeated when Democrats changed their candidates.  Colletti, a former Elmwood Park Councilman, looked like he would win the 38th district State Senate race last summer after incumbent Joseph Coniglio became the target of a federal criminal probe -- a Democratic poll confirmed exactly that.  But now, against Assemblyman Robert Gordon, Colletti doesn't have a chance.

The Record has endorsed the Democratic ticket in the 38th district: Robert Gordon for State Senate and Joan Voss and Connie Wagner for State Assembly.  MORE

With about five weeks to go before the general election, it’s risky to write off any political campaign as a lost cause. But several underdog candidates who once seemed to have a slight chance at running competitive races do not seem to have picked up steam or support from their parties.

State Senate candidates Robert Colletti, Richard Dennison, Gina Genovese and John Villapiano have all run spirited campaigns. And while none has a good shot at winning on November 6th, all four insist that their campaigns are very much alive.

Meanwhile, Seema Singh’s State Senate campaign isn’t necessarily dead, though it is on life support.

Once viewed as among the state's most politically regions in New Jersey, the 38th has become a "blue district" and Republicans will not even compete there this fall.  Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce has told Bergen County Republicans that his leadership PAC will not play in the 38th, where incumbent Joan Voss and Freeholder Connie Wagner face Republicans John Driscoll and Renee Czaplicki. 

Among Essex County Democrats, including Senate President Richard Codey, there has been active discussion today of replacing Mims Hackett in the 27th district Assembly race.  That's Codey's district, and he clearly doesn't want to deal with even a remote possibility that an unknown Republican from his hometown might actually win this fairly solid Democratic seat.

The race is complicated by the federal probe in the 38th district, where Codey's candidate, State Senator Joseph Coniglio, is the target of yet another federal corruption probe.  If Codey pushes for Hackett's withdrawal, it could be hard for him to justify his continued support of Coniglio -- even though the Bergen Senator has not been charged with any crime. (Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has a poll showing that Coniglio has a problem, but so far, the two-term Senator is resisting moves to replace him on the ballot.)

District 38 state Senate candidate Robert Colletti today said he was glad that it looks like embattled incumbent Sen. Joe Coniglio plans to stay in the race.

“I’m happy that the Democrats have finally cleared the air and have decided on their candidate,” said Colletti in a press release.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigation

PoliticsNJ.com's The Inside Edge reports that Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero will ask State Sen. Joseph Coniglio to end his bid for a third term. 

Joe Coniglio's Republican opponent, former Elmwood Park Councilman Robert Colletti, has sent out his first campaign mailer. The topic is no surprise: corruption. Coniglio, a two-term Democratic State Senator from Bergen County, is reportedly the target of a federal criminal investigation.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio is the target of a federal corruption investigation
The news that State Sen. Joseph Coniglio received a target letter from federal prosecutors can’t hurt Republican Robert Colletti’s chances to win a state Senate seat, but Bergen GOP leaders are responding to the news cautiously.

“It's always sobering when there are serious accusations that an elected official has violated the public trust, but we'll wait for the legal process to play out,” said Bergen County GOP Chairman Robert Ortiz, who was elected earlier this week.

Colletti is running a shoe string campaign in the 38th District, which normally leans strongly toward the Democrats. But Coniglio’s potential legal troubles may give the campaign a boost -- even if Coniglio is replaced by another candidate, according to Colletti’s campaign.

When Robert Colletti entered the race for the 38th district State Senate seat in April, the stories about federal subpoenas of State Sen. Joseph Coniglio weren’t much more than a blip on the political radar.
The Record published a story on Monday alleging that two biotechnology companies received $1.2 million in state grants soon after they hired Coniglio as a consultant. That report follows a federal subpoena of Coniglio’s role in helping another client, Hackensack University Medical Center, receive over $1 million in taxpayer dollars.

Suddenly, Republicans feel that Coniglio’s ethics woes could put the Democratic-leaning Bergen County Senate seat in play.