Joseph Palaia

Over the last fifty years, Linda Stender was one of just seven challengers – and one of only two Democrats – to come within two percentage points of unseat an incumbent Congressman when she held Michael Ferguson to a 49%-48% win in 2006. If she wins her second bid in 2008 for the seat Ferguson has decided to vacate, Stender would become the first member of the “I almost won” group to actually serve in Congress.

In the 1970's and 1980's, the Villapiano family was fairly prominent in Central New Jersey, largely due to the athletic prowess of Phil Villapiano, an All-State high school football player who spent eight years as an NFL linebacker with the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills.  He played on four bowl teams, and was a member of the Super Bowl XI championship team.

John Villapiano, who served in the Assembly from 1988 to 1990, is seeking a political comeback as a State Senate candidateThere’s a big dividing line in the 11th district, and it’s not just where the breakers catch the brunt of the ocean in Asbury under the Paramount Theater, or where the old Long Branch Boardwalk crumbled, leaving behind an eminent domain-purged stretch of high rises and attendant fufu shops.

It’s a line even older still, even more entrenched, that separates one town from another, rich from poor, where the median household income in Asbury Park is $23,081, and 30% of the16,546 population live below the poverty line, while in Rumson, population 7,137, the median household stands at $120,865.

If the latter is the district’s lavish hilltop paradise, there’s another divider in Asbury, a town in flux, where west of the railroad tracks the hard-bitten times are evident, and where to eastward the gay community continues to suffuse the place with redevelopment dollars and a touch of the Parisian. Up against the influx of gay yuppiedom, old guard dogs of the Jersey rock and roll scene like the Wonder Bar and the Stone Pony look one wayward wave removed from getting scrubbed off the map for keeps.

The leading Democratic candidate for the open State Senate seat in the eleventh district appears to be John Villapiano, a former Assemblyman and Monmouth County Freeholder. Two other prospective candidates, Belmar Councilman Matthew Doherty and Assembly Democratic staffer James Reilly, have declined to run for the Senate. The seat is currently held by Republican Joseph Palaia, who is retiring after 26 years in the Legislature. Assemblyman Sean Kean is the likely Republican nominee.

Villapiano, 55, won a 1988 Special Election to replace Dr. Anthony Villane, who resigned from the Assembly to become state Community Affairs Commissioner. He was re-elected in 1989, but lost in the 1991 Republican landslide to Steven Corodemus and Thomas Smith. His brother, Phil Villapiano, was an NFL linebacker for the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills from 1971 to 1983.

At least two candidates are actively seeking support for the Republican nomination for State Assembly in the eleventh district, where an open seat is likely. Former Wall Township PBA President David Rible and Neptune Township Mayor Thomas Catley both want to run if incumbents Sean Kean and/or Steve Corodemus run for the State Senate, where Joseph Palaia is not seeking re-election to a seventh term.

Other possible candidates include Long Branch Councilman Anthony Giordano (who lost a 2002 Special Election Convention to Kean for the late Thomas Smith's Assembly seat), former Monmouth County Freeholder Edward Stominski, Spring Lake Council President Walter Kimm, and West Long Branch Mayor Janet Tucci. Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo, and Belmar Councilman-elect Matt Moran are possible candidates on the Democratic side.

In the 37th District, State Senator Loretta Weinberg had $87,365 cash-on-hand as of the last ELEC filing in July. Her possible Democratic primary opponent, former Assemblyman Charles "Ken" Zisa, has a warchest of $74,745.

In the 11th district, where Republican Assemblymen Steve Corodemus and Sean Kean are both considering a bid for the seat of retiring GOP Senator Joseph Palaia, Corodemus has $32,147 in his account, while Kean has a $68,842 warchest.

Former Assemblyman John Villapiano is testing the waters for a possible State Senate bid in 2007. He wants the Democratic nomination to run in the 11th district, where longtime Republican Senator Joseph Palaia is retiring, and has met with Senate President Richard Codey to discuss his possible candidacy.

Villapiano was a Monmouth County Freeholder in 1988 when Assemblyman Anthony "Doc" Villane resigned to become Commissioner of Community Affairs in Governor Thomas Kean's cabinet. He won a September 1988 Special Election against Thomas Villane, the son of his predecessor, and was re-elected in 1989. But after voting to support Governor James Florio's tax increase, he lost his seat in 1991 to Republicans Steven Corodemus and Thomas Smith. He lost a 1993 rematch to regain his seat.

Villapiano has some baggage relating to his personal financial situation, and that is causing some Monmouth Democrats to take some time before signing off on his candidacy. Matthew Doherty, who ran a strong race for Assembly in 2005 -- and is likely to win a Belmar Council seat this year -- is also considered a possible Senate candidate.

Corodemus, now in his eighth term, is seeking support for the Republican nomination to succeed Palaia, as his his running mate, Assemblyman Sean Kean.

The conventional wisdom among Monmouth County Republicans seems to be that Assemblyman Sean Kean has an edge over Assemblyman Steven Corodemus if both decide to seek the State Senate seat that becomes open in 2007 when Joseph Palaia retires. That feeling, Republican insiders say, is based on a recent trend of Republican County Committee from the 11th district supporting candidates backed by Kean -- and not Corodemus -- for Freeholder and County Chairman. Corodemus, who is more conservative than his running mate (and somewhat bitter rival), could skip the convention route and challenge Kean in the Republican primary. Democrats made a huge play for the 11th district Assembly seats in 2005, but fell a little short. They are expected to take another shot at picking up legislative seats in Monmouth County, and there chances could be buoyed by a divisive contest for the Senate.

U.S. Senate candidate Tom Kean, Jr. announced today that Bill Spadea, who won 40% of the vote in his 2004 congressional race against Rush Holt in a district that includes a stretch of Route 1, "will join the fight to stop the seemingly endless cycle of tax increases from Democratic politicians as one of his official campaign surrogates."

What about the rumors that Joseph Palaia will step down from his 11th district State Senate seat before the end of his term? "No semblance of truth," Palaia told PoliticsNJ.com today. "No rumor is ever no good." Palaia, who turns 79 on February 3rd, has already announced that he will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2007 -- setting the stage for a potentially fierce primary between Republican Assemblymen Steven Corodemus and Sean Kean.