Did Jay Webber abandon Passaic County conservatives?

In Bergen County, conservative Steve Lonegan has a full slate of county candidates running against the dregs of the BCRO and its hapless leadership, led by Paulie "the hand" DiGaetano.  There is a weirdness within the Bergen County political establishment -- Democrats and Republicans -- in that they derive great pleasure by mimicking the folkways of a traditional Mediterranean criminal elite.  We don't get it, but it seems to turn them on.

Over in Essex County, Assemblyman Jay Webber has his own slate of county candidates.  Webber, who has taken the phrase "Reagan Republican" and made it his own, was expected to link up with Lonegan in Passaic County -- where they both faced the county machine.   Whether this "machine" is the remnants of the once powerful organization that totally dominated Passaic County or the reconstituted second coming of the same remains to be seen, but it is still formidable nonetheless.  And so it made all the sense in the world for the two conservatives to link up in common cause.

But in the rush towards the April 2nd filing deadline, they failed to agree on ballot slogan and Webber raised objections to some of those candidates recruited by Lonegan.  "It became the Jay show," said one conservative activist. 

Webber bracketed his campaign with that of Brian Goldberg, a candidate for U.S. Senate.  Goldberg is running as a fiscal and social conservative this year -- a curious conversion from the social liberalism he displayed when he ran for the same office in 2014.  Lonegan was left with the conservative insurgents running for county clerk and freeholder.  Essentially, Webber split the movement and cut the conservative insurgents off his ticket.

The only way the county-level conservative insurgency was going to have a chance at winning was to be led by well-financed conservative congressional candidates in districts 5 and 11.  They have Lonegan in District 5 -- but that is just two towns (Ringwood and West Milford).  Webber booted them from his ticket in District 11 -- that's eight towns (Bloomingdale, Little Falls, North Haledon, Pompton Lakes, Totowa, Wanaque, Wayne, and Woodland Park).

To give our readers an idea of what this did, here are two sample ballots, one from a Ringwood, in District 5, and the other from Wayne, in District 11...

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Now imagine how strong the conservative ticket would have been if it had stretched from U.S. Senate down through Freeholder in ten of the county's sixteen towns?  Instead, those conservatives running on the county level found themselves cut-off Jay Webber's ticket, all but assuring their defeat in the June primary.

Was this an act of treachery on the part of Webber?  Does he have a deal with the party bosses in Passaic County?  Why assure the defeat of the conservative insurgents and the ensure the hegemony of the machine?

There are many questions here but sadly only one certainty:  A great opportunity was missed to build a conservative infrastructure in the Passaic GOP.

Be careful Peter Murphy. John McCann will get you in trouble.

And if you are Peter Murphy, you certainly don't need that again!

Candidate John McCann served as the right-hand-man to the Democrat Sheriff of Bergen County (according to the Bergen Record).  He's the guy who switched Bergen County from GOP red to Democrat blue.  In 2016, the Sheriff ran on a ticket headed by Democrats Hillary Clinton for President and Josh Gottheimer for Congress.  John McCann worked for him then, and continued to work for him until late last year, when he departed to run for Congress (after sending Saudino a love letter about how proud he was to have worked for the Democrat).

A case in point is John McCann's sneaky little way of getting contributions to Democrat candidates.  Take this example from Passaic County.

McCann's wife used her maiden name and her office address in New York City to slip $1,000.00 to a Democrat running in Wayne Township.  Here is a copy of the report, filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJELEC):

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Why is Peter Murphy supporting someone who gives money to Democrats in his own county?  John McCann works for Democrats in Bergen County and donates to Democrats in Passaic County.  Why would any Republican with even a little self-respect have anything to do with him?

Is it because Peter is a kind of shaky guy himself?  Or maybe it's because there's a deal in the works -- one that would turn Congress over to Nancy Pelosi in the hope that the Democrats will allow the County GOP to keep a few patronage jobs over at the County Clerk's office.  Who knows?  With Peter Murphy, anything is possible.

Earlier this month (March 12, 2018) on NJTV, Passaic County Republican Chairman John Traier praised Democrat Congressman Gottheimer -- the liberal they claim they want to beat!  Traier is a placeholder for Peter Murphy, who was barred from holding the party chairmanship because of his conviction for public corruption.  Earlier this month, the Passaic GOP formally changed its rules to allow convicts to run the party organization.

Here's what Chairman Traier (Murphy's beard) had to say about the Democrat:

“Congressman Gottheimer is much more moderate than most Democrats,” said John Traier, chairman of the Passaic County Republican Committee.

“It’s very important for a congressman of either party to be sensitive to the needs of their district, and you’ve got to give them at least satisfactory grades for what’s he’s done and what he’s accomplished for Bergen, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties.”

Wow.  What an arsehole! 

Expect to see that quote on Democrat Gottheimer's direct mail and cable ads this Fall.

And when you think back and recall how this same Passaic County GOP Chairman,  John Traier, attacked conservative Republican Congressman Scott Garrett in 2016 it has to make you wonder if there is such a thing as a Republican Party in Passaic County anymore.  Maybe the critics are right.  Maybe it is just the smaller, weaker wing of the same party -- the "green" party -- on the hunt for a nice wad of hot greasy cash.