The Hurley Line: The First Look at the Key Elections of 2019
By HARRY HURLEY
Political Columnist
The ink isn’t even dry on the election certifications of 2018 and yet, Decision 2019 has already begun.
The “odd” calendar years are always very exciting and highly competitive in New Jersey. This upcoming New Year will be no exception.
In this issue, we will break down the key races in Atlantic and Cape May Counties as follows:
First, at the top of the ticket in Atlantic County there will be two openings for the New Jersey General Assembly. I fully expect the two incumbents, (both are Democrats) Vince Mazzeo and John Armato will be running for re-election.
Mazzeo stands a good chance for re-election for the following reasons: He’s in the majority party. He will be well-funded. He’s extremely likeable. People vote for the candidates that they “like” more so than for any other reason. Additionally, Democrats are making significant inroads in Atlantic County elections.
The most vulnerable year to run is in your first re-election bid. That is where Armato finds himself. He’s a good man, who served our country honorably in the military. He loves public service and electoral politics. He’s been successful at both.
In 2017, it was hard to find Republican candidates. That had never been the case in the past 100 years. Ultimately Brigantine Councilman Vince Sera and former Margate Councilwoman Brenda Taube stepped-up last time around and ran during a tough Republican environment.
The Republican field for 2019 is already crowded and it’s still only 2018. Hopefully, the initial dirty political tactics by Atlantic County Freeholder Board Chairman Frank Formica won’t be a sign of what’s to come.
Here’s a breakdown of Formica’s recent self-indulgent, circus stunt. Formica had barely survived his Freeholder re-election bid, where it took him nearly two weeks after the election to pull-out a very narrow win over Democrat Celeste Fernandez. Formica’s margin of victory was a little more than 1,700 out of more than 84,000 total votes cast.
No one could have predicted in a sane manner what Formica would do next. Suddenly, out of no where, on Sunday, November 18, 2018 Formica declared his candidacy for the New Jersey General Assembly in District 2.
Never mind that his recent election would not even be certified until two days later. It looks so bad to announce your next campaign before your current election is even officially over.
It’s way too ambitious and a real turn-off for all normal people. Formica also did his fellow Republicans very dirty. Formica knew that Freeholder John Risley and Somers Point City Councilman James Toto had long ago made it crystal clear that they were running for the Assembly in 2019.
Formica had even encouraged Risley to run and pledged that he would raise money for Risley’s campaign. Formica also knew that Risley and Toto had long been scheduled to announce their candidacies on Monday, November 19, 2018 at 7:05 a.m. on WPG Talk Radio 104.1’s “Hurley in the Morning” program. Formica knew this, because they had told him. They trusted him.
Formica despicably chose to jump ahead of their planned announcement, and he announced his own surprise bid less than one day before their official announcement. It is literally one of the sleaziest and most disloyal, dirty tricks that I’ve covered during my career.
During our on-air, breaking news interview with Risley and Toto, they both publicly confirmed the facts that I’ve reported here. Formica’s announcement has been met with disdain and ridicule. He’s off to a terrible start. Only favorable internal party politics can save his bid due to the dishonorable way that he chose to launch it.
At this time, Risley is one of the favorites (for the two openings). He has successfully run at large in all of Atlantic County (23 municipalities) for years and he barely lost-out on an Assembly Nomination to former Assemblyman Vince Polistina in 2007.
The field could get even more crowded soon, as Sera and former Brigantine Mayor Phil Guenther are both contemplating making a run for the Assembly. The Atlantic County Republican County Committee Members in the following communities will decide who the two Republican Nominees will be.
New Jersey’s 2nd Legislative District is comprised of 17 Atlantic County Municipalities as follows:
New Jersey’s 2nd Legislative District is one of 40 in the state. It covers Absecon City, Atlantic City, Brigantine City, Buena Borough, Buena Vista Township Egg Harbor City, Egg Harbor Township, Folsom Borough, Hamilton Township, Linwood City, Longport Borough, Margate City, Mullica Township, Northfield City, Pleasantville City, Somers Point City and Ventnor City as of the 2011 apportionment. The 2nd Legislative District is exclusively made up of municipalities from Atlantic County since 1967.
In another “Hurley in the Morning” exclusive, Dennis Levinson has confirmed that he is running for re-election. He has served as Atlantic County Executive since 2000. He enters this campaign as a prohibitive favorite for re-election.
Prior to his time as County Executive, Levinson served as a long-time Freeholder at Large and the Chairman of the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeeholders.
Atlantic County is the most efficiently and effectively run County in the state. Levinson has only spent only 1/2 of 1 percent of Atlantic County’s borrowing capacity. This is unheard of throughout America, especially considering the deep Great Recession we were dealt in 2008, that persisted for a number of years.
Despite declining property values, high unemployment and other harsh economic realities, Levinson and the Freeholder Board did not resort to borrowing our way to prosperity, (which never works).
Freeholder Rich Dase will be seeking re-election in Atlantic County’s District 4. He has held the position since 2007 and he enters the 2019 campaign as a prohibitive favorite for re-election.
Every 12 years, the District 4 race falls at the same time as County Executive. Dase is very fortunate to be running on the ticket with Levinson. A Freeholdre term is for
3 years and the County Executive term is for four years.
In neighboring District 1, in yet another “Hurley in the Morning” Exclusive, Cumberland County Republican Party Chairman Michael Testa officially declared his candidacy for the New Jersey State Senate.
This is the soon-to-be open seat, which will be vacated by United States Congressman-elect Jeff Van Drew.
During our on-air interview with Testa, former New Jersey Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno called-in and and publicly announced her unconditional support and confirmed that she was sending a check to become the first financial contributor for Testa’s campaign.
Testa is a consensus-builder and the front-runner at this time. Former New Jersey Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi is also currently weighing a potential bid for the Senate. Fiocchi served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2014 to 2016.
In my view, the best thing for the Republicans in District 1 to do is to field both Testa and Fiocchi on their state legislative ticket, because they’re going to be facing the vaunted Van Drew team, which have proven to be winners time and time again.
I hereby boldly predict that it will be a Back to the Future moment within the Democratic Party in District 1. Here’s what I believe is about to unfold.
First, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak will be appointed to fill Van Drew’s Senate seat. This opens up a slot for the Assembly. I predict that the Democrats will then appoint former Assemblyman Matt Milam to his old seat.
Andrzejczak first joined the Assembly by filling the vacancy left by Milam in March, 2013. Assemblyman Bruce Land will run for re-election to his current Assembly seat. This is Land’s first re-election bid.
For my fellow political junkies, I promise that 2019 is going to be a most interesting and entertaining election season.
Harry Hurley is the president of Harry Hurley Consulting and Communications, LLC. He hosts the daily talk radio program “Hurley in the Morning” 6-10 a.m., weekdays on Townsquare Media, WPG Talk Radio 104.1 FM & 1450 AM, where he also serves as the senior programming consultant. Harry was elected to both the Philadelphia (2014) and New Jersey (2015) Radio Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Harry Hurley has also been selected (2015-2018) as one of the Top 100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts in America by Talkers Magazine. Hurley is also doing national fill-in, on-air talent work for FOX News Radio on their nationally syndicated platforms. He has hosted various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.harryhurley.com. Send comments to HarryHurley@aol.com
