Greg McGuckin

Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli took on vacation to Italy with State Senator Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption probe, and Dennis Oury, the lawyer for the Bergen County Democratic Organization.

Jon Corzine decided to take a quick trip to Portugal to attend a global warming conference seven days before the mid-term elections. And for writing a personal check to Rocco Ricco, Carla Katz’s ‘ner do well brother-in-law.

Atlantic County Sheriff Jim McGettigan, in his dismal race for County Executive, criticized the county for hiring porn industry lawyer Eric Bernstein (he calls himself a first amendment attorney) as a labor counsel – without revealing that Bernstein represented McGettigan.
And then, after attacking him, he wrote asking for a campaign contribution.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson gave $1,850 of his own money to a group run by Lyndon LaRouche. Dumber move: he said he didn’t know LaRouche was a racist.

Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow faced assault charges after allegedly shoving a Republican Committeewoman during a rancorous Hunterdon primary.

Toms River Council President Greg McGuckin owed the IRS over $100k, and he didn’t think his opponents in the race for Mayor would find out.

Even though she knew he had been convicted of sexually assaultin  a 13-year-old girl, State Senator-elect Sandra Bolden Cunningham allowed 45-year-old Russell Wallace to work on her campaign.

Republican State Senator Nicholas Asselta spent 39 months of his life believing that Democratic Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew would no  run against him. He lost by 5,000 votes.

Perennial candidate Todd Caliguire designed a mailer that called his Senate primary opponent Kevin O’Toole “the Republican Al Sharpton” —saying that O’Toole’s “Asian/Korean” heritage gave him protection in redistricting.

Prudential executive Gabriella Morris to fill a vacant Republican seat on the Election Law Enforcement Commission. She last a couple of days before Gov Jon Corzine realized he couldn’t name a government affairs executive to regulate lobbyists.

Toms River mayoral candidates, left to right: Democrat Richard Strada, Independent Carmine Inteso, and Republican Tom Kelaher
The race for mayor in Toms River has already seen one campaign fly off the rails, a GOP party boss in turmoil and the machinery of an old guard in peril as the townsfolk stand at the brink of a federal Superfund site that’s as big as the City of Hoboken.

In the midst of all of this, the three candidates for top dog in this Ocean County town of almost 90,000, with an annual $84 million budget, faced a sleepy audience last night in the gated retirement community of Greenbriar located off Route 70. This is a traditionally Republican town that’s been home to a GOP Council and for the most part a Democratic mayor since Toms River went from a township committee to a borough council form of government in 2002. Democratic Councilman Richard Strada, a former mayor, believes he has a legitimate shot to swing the town convincingly into the blue column.

Richard Strada, the Democratic candidate for Mayor in Toms River, wants the state Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate the circumstances surrounding the proposed purchase of property formerly known as Albocondo Campground by the Toms River Board of Education.

Former Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher will replace Gregory P. McGuckin as the Republican candidate in the Toms River Mayoral race.

The Toms River Municipal Committee met tonight and elected Kelaher to fill the ballot spot left vacant by McGuckin, who formally dropped out of the race earlier today.

Kelaher, 74, served for five years as Ocean County Prosecutor before retiring in June.

Gregory P. McGuckin has withdrawn from the Toms River Mayoral race.

McGuckin sent a letter of withdrawal to the County Clerk’s office early this afternoon, said Ocean County Division of Elections Supervisor Cheryl Hopkins. No replacement has been named yet, though sources say that it may be former Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher.

McGuckin’s campaign hit major turbulence when the Asbury Park Press revealed that he owed $121,913.87 in unpaid income taxes. McGuckin said that he is dropping out because it’s in the best interest of Toms River.

The Democratic leader in Toms River says that GOP mayoral candidate Greg McGuckin should drop out of the race following reports that the Internal Revenue Service had filed $120,000 in tax liens against him.  “Mr. McGuckin’s failure to pay his income taxes over the last 4 years, is a demonstration of fiscal incompetence that we can ill afford in the Toms River Mayor’s Office and for that matter the Council," said John Furey, a former Councilman.   There is some speculation among Republicans that McGuckin, the Council President, could be replaced by former Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher.

Five years later, Republicans could be the beneficiary of "Bob's Law" -- a New Jersey Supreme Court decision to allow Democrats to replace Robert Torricelli on the ballot with Frank Lautenberg in the '02 U.S. Senate race. In two of the state's larger towns, where Republicans could win mayoral seats they had held until recent years, their potential success could be impeded by flawed candidates. A change of candidates -- it's administratively feasible to do that for at least another month -- could change the races entirely.

In Toms River, population 89,706, the Internal Revenue Service has over $120,000 in federal tax lients against Council President Greg McGuckin, the Republican candidate for Mayor. And in Hamilton Township, population 87,109, John Bencivengo, the GOP mayoral candidate, faces allegations that he sought to profit over an Anthrax scare at the Hamilton Post Office after 9/11.

Toms River Council President Greg McGuckin, the GOP candidate for Mayor, "has more than $120,000 in federal tax liens filed against him," according to an Asbury Park Press report.  "The liens totaling $121,913.87, are for unpaid individual income taxes from the years 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005," according to the news story.  McGuckin faces Democrat Richard Strada, a former Mayor, and Carmine Inteso, a Republican Councilman running as an Independent.

Toms River has been around since the 18th century, but this year's mayoral race will only be the second ever in this Ocean County town of 89,706.

That’s because the town, which until last year was officially named Dover Township, changed its form of government in 2003 from a Township Committee that appointed the mayor to the more common mayor/council setup. Since then, odd alliances and rivalries have taken shape, giving way to a Democratic mayor, Paul Brush, and a council controlled completely by Republicans.

Now that Brush is not seeking a second term, Democrat Richard Strada, a former committeeman who served a brief stint as Mayor under the old system in 1978, is facing off against Republican town council President Gregory McGuckin. Councilman Carmine Inteso, another Republican, is trying to enter the race as an independent along with a slate of three council candidates, but his petition has been challenged in court.

As usual Brush ducks responsibilityOrders Township supervisors not to attend budget workshop