WORST CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR 1. Chris Daggett for Governor The independent gubernatorial campaign of Christopher Daggett can be summed up in two words: five percent. Despite all the hype, the matching funds, the Star-Ledger endorsement, the fact that he was a good driver, the Codey-wannabee one-liners in the debate, the arrogant indignation, the massive ego, and the presence of Jesse Ventura’s media consultant, Daggett for Governor was a poorly run, ineffective, bad campaign. Daggett never figured out that his poll numbers were soft, that voters rarely vote for third party candidates. He railed against process issues and that tried to use some of them – like bad ballot position – to his advantage. He got outmaneuvered on a key environmental endorsement, and was unable to find anyone with gravitas beyond John Farmer Sr. to praise him. The campaign relied on some cute TV ads that were not as good as the ones Bill Hillsman created for Ventura and Paul Wellstone, and didn’t make any substantial effort to target specific voters. Daggett ends his not so excellent 2009 adventure having lost a bunch of his Republican friends, who viewed his candidacy and his campaign as a waste of time. 2. Randal Pinkett for Lt. Governor The idea of a former reality TV star running for Lt. Governor was exactly why some Democrats viewed Jon Corzine as politically tone deaf. But Pinkett didn’t know it was a trial balloon, and didn’t have the political experience to understand that you don’t publicly run for a running mate position. Democratic leaders and newspaper editorials reacted poorly to Pinkett’s bid, especially after an op-ed and press conference made Corzine look bad. 3. Joan Voss and Connie Wagner for State Assembly The two Democratic Assemblywomen won a Democratic district despite a bad campaign marked by an over-the-top mailer attacking two unknown Republicans for promulgating pornography and putting guns near schools. The faulty opposition research was eclipsed only by the bad judgment of the mailer, which cost Voss and Wagner The Record’s endorsement and some of their reputation. 4. Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino for State Assembly The two Republicans challenged incumbents David Russo and Scott Rumana in the primary and ran a campaign that seemed like Todd Caliguire Part II. It was mean spirited and poorly executed, and the only real impact it had was the indictment of their political consultant for violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act. 5. Jun Choi for Mayor of Edison The re-election campaign of another self-proclaimed Democratic rising star failed to give voters any reason why he deserved a second term. It most mostly stuff like this: “Toni the Phony’s House of Bologna… You can get any sandwich you like as long as it’s full of bologna… Just like Toni the Phony.” 6. Beth Mason for Mayor of Hoboken The Councilwoman ran twice for Mayor in 2009 – the May election (she didn’t make the runoff) and the November special. She spent nearly $1 million running for office and it seems as though she made no impact at all. 7. Arthur Marchand and George Shivery for State Assembly Blame this lost opportunity on the state GOP, who didn’t get their act together in defense of their handpicked candidates. Could Marchand, the former Cumberland Surrogate and Prosecutor, have beaten Celeste Riley in a race she won by just 1,300 votes? Maybe, but we’ll never know. 8. Doug Cabana for State Assembly In a race between two brothers-in-law, the Morris County Freeholder lost his second bid for the GOP Assembly nomination, despite endorsements from most of the Republican establishment and a decent amount of money. He still doesn’t get it. 9. Chris Calabrese for Bergen County Freeholder It’s got to kill Chris Calabrese that the Bergen GOP won two Freeholder seats and he would probably have been one of them if not for a stupid flyer that bragged about the total number of votes he got in 2008 (a presidential year) that made other GOP candidates look bad. This was a stupid mistake . 10. Craig Stanley for State Assembly The former five-term Assemblyman got crushed in his second consecutive Democratic primary after he couldn’t convince family member Phil Thigpen to give him the line. The support of the Payne machine couldn’t help a bad campaign. CORRUPTIONGATE 2009 “One-month Pete. That’s the moniker that should stick to Peter Cammarano, the former mayor of Hoboken. It’s not as poetic as Anne of the Thousands Days. But Anne Boleyn lost her head. One-Month Pete just lost office.” ― The Record’s Alfred Doblin (8/4/09) “I think about how close to evil I came.” ― Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville), who says he turned down legal work offered by Assemblyman Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) on behalf of Solomon Dwek. (8/3/09)
THE NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Barbara Keshishian, President Wendell Steinhauer, Vice President Marie Blistan, Secretary-Treasurer Vincent Giordano, Executive Director Richard Gray, NJEA Assistant Executive Director/ Research Director
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