Sandra Bolden Cunningham

Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone

Two freshman legislators from Hudson County endorsed Rob Andrews for U.S. Senate today, bucking Hudson County Democratic Chairman/Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s decision to back Lautenberg.

State Sen. Ray Lesniak was the kingmaker in the race for Senate Majority LeaderThe surging south got a seat at the table today, with third district state Sen. Stephen Sweeney chosen as majority leader after a hard fought, emotional battle with state Sen. Paul Sarlo.

Although the decision-making process was closed and the official decision was unanimous, sources say that Sweeney had the support of 14 of the 23 member caucus. Backing Sweeney were the expected south Jersey contingent -- Jeff Van Drew, Jim Whelan, Fred Madden, Dana Redd and John Adler. But he also had support from Senators from the rest of the state -- Brian Stack, Sandra Bolden Cunningham, Barbara Buono, Nicholas Scutari, Bob Smith, Ray Lesniak, Joe Vitale and Loretta Weinberg.

Katz talks to New York Post, the thorn in Booker’s side, Talarico’s resignation, Devereaux pleads guilty, Cape May County Republicans lead charge to oust Wilson, Giuliani fundraiser in Passaic County, Stack won’t make peace just yet, Vega faces potential recall, Cunningham gets big numbers in Ward F, Oroho’s victory attributed partly to geography, most female nominees ever.

Stack wins, Cunningham wins, Booker’s slate wins five out of six, Hudson County Civil War will continue, Webber wins, O’Toole wins

Corzine officially nominates Raber, Raritan shoving match, Booker campaigns for Cunningham, Corzine will sign dual office holding ban, 40 threats against Corzine, EPA stops water quality testing at the shore, Codey intercedes in psychiatric hospital dispute, East Hanover Councilman resigns.

Louis Manzo
31st District State Senate candidate

What’s at stake: Viewed as a Kucinich-like longshot from the moment he stood beneath a statue of Honest Abe and quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Manzo winning in southern Hudson County would shift the balance of power away from the organization to a Stack-Manzo duopoly.

What makes him tick: His critics depict Manzo as a wild-man, but no one criticizes his surgeon-like dissection of public policy. Then there’s another dimension to Manzo that makes him a difficult opponent. While some public policy nerds prefer a snifter of brandy and a pipe by the fireside, Manzo remains to the core a Jersey City scrapper and campaign fiend, who takes to constituent hands like a seal at a sushi bar.

Liability: The Stack-Manzo alliance professes public pride in being a Robin Hood-Little John outfit, which solemnly looks out for the little guy. But the candidates are also standing guard over lucrative contracts in Union City, which means fat city for Manzo, whose Metro Insurance receives an annual $200,000 check from the school district.

X Factor: The Cunningham campaign is waiting for a Howard Dean meltdown from Manzo.

Best quote of the campaign: On his plan to shift the funding source for schools away from property taxes, Manzo said, "You tax the top 1 % of income earners who are not paying their fair share by a long shot. That’s where you get your money. It’s a no-brainer."

Conventional Wisdom: Receiving the endorsement of popular Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop on Wednesday bolstered Manzo’s improbable march, but he still hasn’t faced the wrath of Swibinski, who so far has treated the assemblyman as a gnat while focusing total attention on Stack. That could change if Manzo opponent Sandra Bolden Cunningham can’t get out of damage control city, and if it does change and the campaigns amp up to all-out ugly mode, Manzo could find himself in a brawl. But he remains a longshot in the face of Cunningham, DeGise, and former Council President L. Harvey Smith.

Sandra Bolden Cunningham
31st District State Senate candidate

What’s at stake: Ever since Lee J. Cobb yanked down his collar and showed the knife scar he had on his neck in "On the Waterfront," the wharf rats who replenish the coffers here have operated under the grim assumption that Hudson County is a man’s game. To Cunningham’s defenders, the old boys network of Hudson County needs a shake-up, and if her husband was the first African-American mayor of Jersey City, she will make history of her own by becoming the first woman senator to represent the district.

What makes her tick: If there are politicians who project all of the sweaty self-doubt of having to fulfill a master’s edicts, Cunningham comes across conversely as a proud, dignified legacy-bearer, who answers to her husband’s memory only. In many ways she’s the anti-Hudson County candidate, unnerving to her critics who call her the ultimate diva. If the object is to go for the kneecaps here and act as though that’s simply the way it’s done, Cunningham is the master of projecting incredulous disgust over the whole business.

Liability: Cruising almost on auto pilot for weeks, the Cunningham campaign hit choppy weather with Randall Wallace, a convicted sex offender who served time for raping a 13-year old, and who collected signatures for the campaign. Wallace bowed out of campaign work this week, according to The Jersey Journal, but not before sending the Cunningham airbus into a nosedive.

X Factor: Cunningham received a sustained pounding in the local press for refusing to step up and debate Manzo. First she disapproved of the debate formats, and then said she simply wouldn’t be able to stand in the same room with her opponent. But on Tuesday, facing a scrutiny-surge over the Wallace affair, she debated Manzo in a forum that will be televised this weekend. If she holds her own against the assemblyman, it could buck up the troops.

Best quote of the campaign: Responding to former Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann’s charge that she’s so aloof from political campaigning he bets she doesn’t even own a pair of tennis shoes, Cunningham blasted back: "Not only do I own a pair of tennis shoes, but I’m training to run the New York Marathon in November. It’s 26 miles, and I don’t think Gerry McCann is going to join me."

Conventional Wisdom: The Wallace connection has hurt the campaign, and infuriated those who believe Cunningham should have strongly denounced Wallace and admitted a mistake in initially keeping him on board. But the fast-striding Cunningham stopped long enough at least to debate Manzo this week, and with the big money backing from the organization, the name of a beloved late mayor who enjoyed overwhelming support, and at least two former big name enemies conspicuously on her side, she can pull numbers in Jersey City, and remains the favorite.

New Jersey Department of Corrections PhotoThe Jersey Journal is reporting that a convicted sex offender is working on Sandra Bolden Cunningham's State Senate campaign. Russell Wallace, convicted of assaulting a 13-year-old girl, is a volunteer. Cunningham's spokesman says he knew there was a registered sex offender on their team and defended the campaign's actions.

Brown allowed to run in district 13, Cunningham on hold
If a decision rendered today by the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL) holds up under the scrutiny of the Attorney General’s Office, Robert Brown of Old Bridge will be allowed to run as a candidate in the district 13 Democratic Primary.

The state Division of Elections initially rejected Brown’s primary signatures because he submitted them as general election signatures.