Tom Goodwin

Hamilton Mayor John BencivengoStrengthened by what he described as a "shared vision with my people, a cause to be accomplished and a dream come true," John Bencivengo officially became mayor of Hamilton today as he was sworn in by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith in the ballroom of the Nottingham Firehouse in front of a crowd of 350 people.

"I wish that I could have given a more cheerful address today," said Bencivengo in a nod to the town’s $10 million budget deficit. "But even if our fiscal circumstances had been better, even if we had ample surplus, I’d be saying the same things. It should be our goal, no matter the circumstances, to do more with less."

The former Republican Party municipal chairman and fired government worker ran and won on a platform of restoring common sense and accountability to government. Today Bencivengo swore always to remember that working families fund the town, and promised to present the 2009 budget on time in July.

He made the second of these vows in defiance of the record of his predecessor, Glen Gilmore, who sat on the document last year until a judge ruled he had to release it to the Township Council prior to the November election. The release of the 2008 budget, which initially showed a $5 million shortfall, helped propel the Republican Bencivengo to victory over Gilmore by fewer than 500 votes.

Steve Quain, campaign spokesman for state senate candidate Assemblyman Bill Baroni and Assembly candidates Adam Bushman and Tom Goodwin, goes over the ground game in Republican Party HQ in Hamilton.

Republican mayoral candidate John Bencivengo peruses the town's financial assessment statement in Hamilton.

It’s all politics in Hamilton a day before Election Day as Republican mayoral candidate John Bencivengo climbs out of his sport utility vehicle and walks into the office of Council President Dave Kenny.

Kenny and the Republican Council have been fighting with Democratic Mayor Glen Gilmore over the town’s budget and pressuring the mayor through the courts to release details of Hamilton’s financial health before, and not after, the mayoral election.

Moments earlier, the appellate division of the state Superior Court upheld Kenny’s appeal, and denied Gilmore’s motion to issue a stay in the release of the town’s annual financial statement. Now Bencivengo watches as Kenny receives by fax the financial statement from Bowman and Company, the company charged with preparing the information.

District 13 Sen. Joseph Kyrillos huddles with Assemblyman Sam Thompson.Stumping throughout central Jersey on Sunday, Gov. Jon Corzine dismissed the recently formed Common Sense America as a closeted anti-gay group masquerading as a champion of fiscal conservatism.

In defiance of Fair and Clean Elections in the 14th district, the Princeton-based outfit has spent an estimated $450,000-worth of ads against Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein and by extension, her running mate, labor leader Wayne DeAngelo.

"It’s not going to end up having a major impact," said Corzine, with Greenstein, DeAngelo and state Senate candidate Seema Singh, at his side in Hamilton’s Golden Dawn Diner.

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in Monroe today

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg today stood with the district 14 Democratic Assembly candidates in Monroe Township and lambasted a hard right group for continuing to run ads against Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein.

"I talk to John Kerry all the time, and he wishes he fought back harder," Lautenberg said of the failed 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, who was Swift-boated by a right wing attack machine.

In the 14th district, three men are waging a tough campaign for that second Assembly seat behind popular incumbent Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein.

The favorites would appear to be Republican Tom Goodwin and Democrat Wayne DeAngelo. Both men are from Hamilton in Mercer County, the most populous town in the 14th district, where the parties are well organized and where a large number of independent voters go to the polls. 

But the third man in the contest, Goodwin's running mate Adam Bushman, a veteran and former Jamesburg councilman, has racked up some key newspaper endorsements along with the backing of the New Jersey Education Association.

The 14th District features a match-up at the top of the ticket between a man generally regarded as the Republican golden boy, Assemblyman Bill Baroni of Hamilton Township, and former rate payer advocate, Democrat Seema Singh of South Brunswick Township, who is the state’s first Indian-American woman candidate for Senate.

Then there’s the brawl below, where Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein of Plainsboro hopes to hold onto her seat to win a fifth term by turning back Republican challengers Adam Bushman of Jamesburg and Tom Goodwin of Hamilton. Joining Singh and Greenstein on the Democratic ticket as the second Assembly candidate is Wayne DeAngelo of Hamilton.

The known Trenton quantities are favored here, which means both Baroni and Greenstein have the edge. Greenstein has a workhorse reputation and high name recognition, is pro labor and pro environment with a long record of public advocacy in elected office and as a lawyer. With his regular guy image, pro labor views and endorsements to show for it, Baroni appeals to working class families. Like Greenstein, he also likes to boast that he has enough of an independent record to entice the district’s core independents, who make up 73,183 of the voters in the 14th, compared to the Republicans’ 17,681 and the Democrats’ 29,366.

Tom GoodwinBackground: Trenton-born Republican Tom Goodwin moved to Hamilton when he was 8. He holds an Associate's Degree from Mercer County Community College, a Charter Financial Consultant’s Degree from American College, and a Charter Life Underwriters’ Degree from American College.

Fourteenth District Republican Assembly candidates Tom Goodwin and Adam Bushman today criticized their opponent, Wayne DeAngelo, for telling a newspaper that indicted officials shouldn’t step down unless convicted.

Republican legislative candidates in the 14th district will announce today that all three candidates have qualified for the maximum amount of public financing -- a combined amount of nearly $1.6 million -- for the fall campaign.  State Senate candidate Bill Baroni and Assembly candidates Tom Goodwin and Adam Bushman have each received 800 contributions of $10 each.  The three candidates will also sign a "Fair and Clean Campaign Pledge."