Singh

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Administrative District Coucil of New Jersey has endorsed Republican Bill Baroni for State Senate in District 14.

Laborers International Union Local 472 has endorsed Bill Baroni’s campaign for State Senator in the 14th Legislative District.  “Bill Baroni has always been a loyal friend to our members and has been there for us, and now we will be there for him,� said Local 472 Business Manager Louis A. Giammarino.  “We will be actively engaged in making sure Assemblyman Baroni is victorious in his campaign for State Senator and we will be out knocking on doors for him.�

CWA Local 1039 President Thomas J. Palermo announced today that he will support Republican Bill Baroni for State Senate in the 14th district. This is the third CWA local to come out for Baroni since incumbent Peter Inverso's unexpected retirement announcement two days ago.

"Bill has been a great supporter for the state workers and continues to be a friend of labor," Palermo told PoliticsNJ.com. Locals 1033 and 1034 have already said they would back Baroni, a two-term Assemblyman from Hamilton.

Over a sixteen year legislative career, State Sen. Peter A. Inverso has won five times in a tough and independent-minded district, leaving potential Democratic candidates with the unpleasant sensation that if they faced him, it would probably mean months of door-to-door drudgery followed by a loss.

Now Democrats are trying to agree on a strategy to defeat popular Assemblyman Bill Baroni, who received the support of the Mercer GOP organization tonight by acclamation.

At Saturday’s Mercer County Democratic convention, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein and state Rate Counsel Seema Singh talked about the upcoming campaign. Operating under the assumption that Inverso would run, Greenstein decided run for re-election to the Assembly, while Singh, who has worked for three Governors but has never run for public office, would take the shot against Inverso, and chalk the inevitable defeat up to experience.

If Inverso decided not to run, however, Greenstein and Singh today acknowledged an agreement to possibly switch places on the ticket, agreeing to back each other.

It looks like New Jersey will have three competitive State Senate races: Republican incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough against Democratic Assemblyman James Whelan in the Atlantic County-based second district; Democratic incumbent Ellen Karcher vs. GOP Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck in the Monmouth-based twelfth; and for the open seat in the Mercer/Middlesex 14th, where Assemblyman Bill Baroni faces state Rate Counsel Seema Singh.  

State Sen. Peter Inverso and his grandson, Peter John Inverso

Five-term Republican State Sen. Peter Inverso will not seek re-election, and becomes the 12th Senator -- and ninth Republican -- to retire this year. Staffers at the Senate Republican leadership office have confirmed that Inverso will announce his retirement today at a news conference in Hamilton.

Assemblyman Bill Baroni is expected to seek the GOP nomination for State Senate. Senate Republicans say that Inverso will endorse Baroni for his seat.

On Saturday, Mercer County Democrats endorsed Seema Singh, the state Ratepayer Advocate, as their candidate for Senate. Baroni vs. Singh offers a contest between Baroni's base in blue collar Hamilton and Singh's appeal to a growing block of Asian American voters in the 14th district.

Mercer County Democrats -- unusually mum on why they dropped James Stevenson as their candidate -- finished their convention without finding a candidate to run against two-term Republican Assemblyman Bill Baroni.

Stevenson, the first African American to win election to the Hamilton Township Board of Education, quietly dropped his Assembly bid at the request of party leaders.  A Democratic source says that there was something in Stevenson's record that made Democrats uncomfortable with his candidacy.

Stevenson was to have run with Linda Greenstein, a four-term Democratic Assemblywoman from Middlesex County.

Seema Singh, the state Rate Counsel, was picked by Mercer Democrats to run against five-term GOP State Senator Peter Inverso.   Singh becomes the first Asian-Indian to run in a competitive legislative district.

Mercer County Democrats have picked James Stevenson, the first African American to win a seat on the Hamilton Township Board of Education, to run for State Assembly in the fourteenth district.  Stevenson, a well-known community leader and coach, will challenge Republican Assemblyman Bill Baroni. 

Stevenson says he will run a door-to-door campaign, similar to the one waged by Baroni when he ousted Democrat Gary Guear in 2003.

State Ratepayer Advocate Seema Singh, with Senate President Richard Codey and BPU Commissioner Jeanne Fox
Seema Singh, the state Rate Counsel in the Public Advocate's office, has emerged as the leading Democratic candidate for State Senate in the 14th district against GOP incumbent Peter Inverso.

Inverso, 68, has not yet announced if he will seek re-election to a sixth term. He was elected in 1991, ousting veteran Francis McManimon, and has survived serious challenges in the politically competitive Mercer-Middlesex district.