James Tedesco

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero must be relieved that he broke up with attorney Dennis Oury last year, after published reports today suggest that federal prosecutors subpoenaed records relating to Oury’s legal service in several Bergen towns. Oury had been a close Ferriero ally and Counsel to the Bergen County Democratic Committee, but their relationship deteriorated in 2007 after Oury made a series of mistakes: he invited then-State Sen. Joseph Coniglio – himself the target of a federal criminal probe -- on a trip to Italy; he counseled Coniglio to stay in the Senate race during a time when Ferriero was pushing to get him out; and took considerable heat for his election season comments about a lawsuit he was filing to overturn state pay to play regulations. When Coniglio finally did drop, Oury’s close relationship with Paramus Mayor James Tedesco was the main reason Ferriero and Bergen Democrats opted to go with Bob Gordon for Senate.

The number one person on the list of people Bob Gordon should thank for his nomination as the Democratic candidate for State Senator in the 38th district: attorney Dennis Oury.  Sources say that Oury's close relationship with Paramus Mayor James Tedesco was the top reason Democrats went with Gordon.  Oury has taken considerable heat this month for his election season comments about a lawsuit he was filing to overturn state pay to play regulations.

It was an interesting weekend in the 38th district, where Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero picked a State Senate candidate that he was initially reluctant to go with.  Two-term Assemblyman Robert Gordon is hardly a party hack: back in 1996, the ex-Fair Lawn Mayor refused to abide by party's decision to back then-Bergen County Surrogate Steven Rothman for an open congressional seat and challenged him in the Democratic primary.  Since going to the Assembly in 2003 -- he replaced Matt Ahearn, who left the Democratic Caucus to join the Green Party after a fight with local Dems -- Gordon has been viewed as an independent reformer, although he never publicly commented on Coniglio's ethics woes.

Assemblyman Robert Gordon will face Republican Robert Colletti in the 38th district State Senate raceBergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has endorsed Assemblyman Bob Gordon to fill the state Senate ballot position left vacant by Joe Coniglio.

“Obviously it was a difficult choice because we had outstanding candidates, and any one of them would make an excellent Senator,” said Ferriero. “But based on Bob’s experience, dedication and commitment to the people of New Jersey, I picked him.”

Gordon was under consideration along with Assembly running mate Joan Voss and Paramus Mayor James Tedesco.

The race for State Senate in the 38th district has come down to one of those smoke filled rooms kind of contests between Assemblyman Robert Gordon and Paramus Mayor James Tedesco.  Democratic insiders say they believe both candidates have agreed to support the candidate of the party leadership and not mount a floor fight at Sunday's Special Primary Convention of the full County Committee, although that is a relatively standard line at this point in the process.

It might not be a coincidence that the last three state Senators from district 38 have been from Paramus.

There was Paul Contillo, then Louis Kosco, and finally Joseph Coniglio.

Now, two of the four contenders for the position are from Paramus – Mayor James Tedesco and Bergen County Freeholder Connie Wagner (who, unlike the other three, has not yet declared an intention to run for the seat).

The Bergen County Democratic Organization has announced the meeting at which they’ll pick the replacement for State Senator Joe Coniglio. 

The meeting will be held on Sunday at 6 pm at BCDO headquarters in Hackensack.  It will be closed to everyone except staff, municipal chairs, candidates and county committee members. 

The timing of Joseph Coniglio's announcement was terrible for Robert Gordon, a Democratic Assemblyman from the 38th district with an interest in seeking Coniglio's State Senate seat. Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption investigation, dropped his bid for re-election to a third term around 5:30 PM yesterday, just as Gordon, who is Jewish, was preparing to start his observance of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. That means Gordon might not be able to begin campaigning until Friday afternoon for an election that might come on Monday evening. (Monday is the deadline to replace candidates on the ballot, although over the last five years, the courts have made that deadline highly flexible.)

State Sen. Joe Coniglio has agreed to drop his re-election bid, sources sayState Sen. Joseph Coniglio, who is the target of a federal corruption investigation, has agreed to drop his bid for re-election in the 38th district. Coniglio had resisted internal pressure from Bergen Democratic leaders to drop out of the race, but has now told Democratic officials that he would end his bid for a third term.

But Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero is strongly denying that Coniglio is dropping out, saying the report is "absolutely not true."

Bergen County Democratic sources say that Joseph Coniglio won't get to enjoy his presumption of innocence: that if the two-term Senator is indicted -- or if qualified parties feel an indictment is forthcoming -- Democratic County Chairman Joseph Ferriero will ensure his prompt withdrawal from the November Senate race. And several of those sources suggest that the new Senator will be Paramus Mayor James Tedesco, who is closer to party leadership than another contender, Assemblyman Robert Gordon. The excuse to pass over Gordon and Assemblywoman Joan Voss: both received subpoenas as part of the same Christmas Tree budget probe that let to Coniglio being a target of the investigation.