Valerie Huttle

Hillary Clinton campaigns in Hackensack today, where she was endorsed by Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero: Getty Images Photo

In her first public campaign stop in New Jersey since September, Hillary Clinton made an appearance tonight at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack to accept the endorsements of Bergen County Chairman Joe Ferriero and a host of other elected officials from the powerhouse.

The appearance came immediately after Clinton attended a $2,300 per head fundraiser at the Stony Hill Inn across town, and afterwards she was off to another rally to appeal to the Hispanic vote in North Bergen. Earlier today, she was in Pennsylvania to accept the endorsement of Gov. Ed Rendell.

The Hackensack crowd, which Clinton campaign officials estimated at 700 to hear Clinton speak at the school's gymnasium with 1,000 more overflowing into its auditorium, had to wait. Clinton arrived about an hour and a half late, leaving Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire to keep the crowd entertained, adlibbing jokes and poking fun at other elected officials.

As the dust settles in Bergen County and the political parties spin the election results, you can expect to hear the Republicans talking a lot about Rutherford.

It’s where Republican challenger John Hipp trampled Democratic incumbent Mayor Bernadette McPherson -- beating her by a margin of 2-1, and tying the council 3-3, with two Republican candidates ousting incumbent Democrats.

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero wants Gordon Johnson to "heed is own advice" and decide if he wants to serve in the State Assembly or on the Englewood Council.  Johnson, a Democrat, called for the elimination of dual officeholding at a government reform press conference this week.

“I am calling on the Assemblyman and the Councilman to lead by example and follow his own suggestion,” Ferriero said in a letter to Johnson. “Without the action to back it up, Gordon’s plan amounts to little more than a lecture to the people of the 37th District to ‘Do as I say…not as I serve."

Johnson and his running mates, State Sen. Loretta Weinbeg and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, recently offered a five-point plan aimed at ‘cleaning up New Jersey.’ The plan calls for eliminating potential conflicts in the legislature by eliminating dual office holding and requiring that those who serve in the Senate or Assembly hold ‘legislator’ as their sole means of employment.

Longtime rivals: State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe FerrieroFour weeks before Election Day, the intra-party battle between State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero heated up today after three Democratic state legislators held a press conference to allege abuses by Democrat-controlled “shadow governments” – local authorities that they say have little or no oversight from Trenton.

The main target of the legislators was the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority, where Ferriero serves as Chief Counsel. She says that the PVSA has spent over $3.2 million on government relations consultants and $12 million on legal fees since 2001 – with about $4.5 million going to Ferriero’s law firm.

Longtime rivals: State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe FerrieroThe 37th district Democratic legislators sent Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero a letter last night expressing frustration at comments from the organization’s lawyer, Dennis Oury.

In Tuesday’s Bergen Record, Oury told columnist Charles Stile that he planned to go to court to challenge pay to play legislation passed in 2004 and 2005 that was sponsored by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg. The initial legislation set standards for choosing no-bid contracts and limited certain kinds of contributions, while a later piece of legislation allowed local governments to pass stricter pay-to-play laws.

Democratic State Sen. Loretta Weinberg is a strong favorite to win re-election in a Bergen County district the GOP has not won since 1971.

For Republicans to stand any chance at all, their candidates say they’ll need to qualify for public financing from the Clean Elections pilot program.

But right now they’re not even close.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero are a team: Democrats said today that Weinberg, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle will run on the BCDO line in the June Democratic primary with incumbent Freeholders Tomas Padilla, Elizabeth Calabrese and James Carroll.  Three Freeholder candidates initially recruited by Weinberg will remain on the ballot, as will her Sheriff candidate against incumbent Leo McGuire.