A trivia question, which in a roundabout way, gets to Kathleen Donovan
By Wally EdgeBefore Frank Blee lost to Sonny McCullough, who was the last sitting Assemblyman to lose a Special Election for the State Senate?
It was Paul DiGaetano, who lost a March 24, 1987 Special Election for State Senator to Democrat Gabriel Ambrosio. DiGaetano had been elected to the Assembly in 1985, and tried to move up to the Senate after veteran Democratic Senator Joseph Hirkala passed away. Bergen Republicans had swept the 1986 elections four months earlier, winning the County Executive post and all seven Freeholder seats, but DiGaetano (who was also a Passaic City Councilman) was soundly defeated. Still upset over his loss, he declined to run for re-election to the Assembly in 1987. He lost a bid to return in 1989, but won in 1991.
The 1987 Special Election was the first of four times when the Bergen County Republican Organization Men's Club passed over Kathleen Donovan to nominate someone who eventually lost a general election to the Democrats. Donovan wanted to run in the 1987 Special -- she had outpolled DiGaetano in '85 when they ousted six-term incumbent Democrat Richard Visotcky and Robert Hollenbeck -- but the Bergen Boys picked DiGaetano. By the time she ran for the Senate in November, Ambrosio already had incumbency on his side.
Donovan, elected County Clerk in 1988, sough the GOP nomination for Bergen County Executive in 2002 -- but the local powers decided State Senator Henry McNamara would be their candidate. After a lackluster campaign -- and a massive spending frenzy by Bergen Democrats -- McNamara lost to Dennis McNerney by 10,000 votes.
In 2003, Donovan had agreed to run for State Senate against Paul Sarlo, who had won the post in a Special Election Convention after Garry Furnari resigned. But the Bergen Boys -- pushed by DiGaetano and then-Senate Co-President John Bennett -- instead picked John Kelly, a 77-year-old former Assemblyman who had lost to Furnari two years earlier. Sarlo won easily.
Donovan made a second bid for County Executive in 2006, but the BCRO decided to back Todd Caliguire, a former Freeholder. Caliguire narrowly won the primary, and got smashed by McNerney in a campaign picked by PoliticsNJ.com as the worst of the year.
For extreme political junkies: If Donovan had won the State Senate seat in 1987 -- could the three-term Senator from South Bergen have beaten Bob Torricelli for Congress in the 1994 Republican landslide?
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The short answer is yes, she could have. I love this post- it
The short answer is yes, she could have.
I love this post- it shows how county committee and party insiders were just as responsible for the downfall of the BCRO as is the current leadership. In 87 it didn’t seem like such a bad move that Paul got the nod over Kathe. John Kelly, an extremely popular former assemblyman from the very Republican town of Nutley wasn't a terrible choice for senate in 2003 either, although there were issues with his age and health that hurt him during that race.
What's unconscionable is that in the 2006 primary for County Exec., Donovan, a likeable, popular moderate with the ability to raise money was passed over in a county committee vote for Todd Caliguire who was backed by the county chairman who just bankrupted the party. I'll never understand that. That was the proverbial last straw for the BCRO as we knew it.
So yes, if Republicans had a time machine they would have let Donovan run for that senate spot in 1987, but hindsight is always 20/20.
Is this a commercial for Kathy Donovan? What you forget to ment
Is this a commercial for Kathy Donovan?
What you forget to mention is that Hirkala was gerrymandered into the 36th in 1981 when former Senator Anthony Scardino accepted the position of Executive Director of the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Corporation, now the NJMC.
Hirkala tragically died on New Year's Day, 1987 and the special election was called for that March. Senate President John Russo played a key role in securing the seat for the Democrats in one of the largest GOTV operations ever organized in the city of Passaic.
Ambrosio's incumbency status was hardly a true advantage since Donovan ran very close in the 87 general. But Kathy Donovan has lost more times than she's won:
1981: Lost for Lyndhurst Commissioner
1984: Won a seat on the Bergen County Charter Study Commission
1985: Won a seat in the General Assembly
1987: Lost for State Senate
1988: Elected County Clerk
1993: Re-elected County Clerk
1996: Loses to Rep. Rothman for Torricelli's open seat
1998: Re-elected County Clerk
2002: Loses GOP Convention for County Executive
2003: Re-elected County Clerk
2006: Loses GOP Primary for County Executive
With the exception of her time as Clerk, Donovan has lost for township commissioner, county executive twice, state senate and the House of Representatives.
She also served a controversial stint as state chair under Whitman and was briefly a member of the Port Authority where she was roundly criticized for using a helicopter to attend meetings in lower Manhattan.
As to 1994, the GOP ran then Assemblyman Pat Roma who was easily disposed by The Torch.
As they said then, "a riva dirci Roma..."
Is this a commercial for Kathy Donovan? What you forget to ment
Is this a commercial for Kathy Donovan?
What you forget to mention is that Hirkala was gerrymandered into the 36th in 1981 when former Senator Anthony Scardino accepted the position of Executive Director of the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Corporation, now the NJMC.
Hirkala tragically died on New Year's Day, 1987 and the special election was called for that March. Senate President John Russo played a key role in securing the seat for the Democrats in one of the largest GOTV operations ever organized in the city of Passaic.
Ambrosio's incumbency status was hardly a true advantage since Donovan ran very close in the 87 general. But Kathy Donovan has lost more times than she's won:
1981: Lost for Lyndhurst Commissioner
1984: Won a seat on the Bergen County Charter Study Commission
1985: Won a seat in the General Assembly
1987: Lost for State Senate
1988: Elected County Clerk
1993: Re-elected County Clerk
1996: Loses to Rep. Rothman for Torricelli's open seat
1998: Re-elected County Clerk
2002: Loses GOP Convention for County Executive
2003: Re-elected County Clerk
2006: Loses GOP Primary for County Executive
With the exception of her time as Clerk, Donovan has lost for township commissioner, county executive twice, state senate and the House of Representatives.
She also served a controversial stint as state chair under Whitman and was briefly a member of the Port Authority where she was roundly criticized for using a helicopter to attend meetings in lower Manhattan.
As to 1994, the GOP ran then Assemblyman Pat Roma who was easily disposed by The Torch.
As they said then, "a riva dirci Roma..."
Roma ran in 1992. Pete Russo ran in 1994.
Roma ran in 1992. Pete Russo ran in 1994.