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Posted by Pepe Bonmot
on April 02, 2002 at 16:15:31:
NJ: Menendez Feud With Jersey City Mayor Could Affect Other Congressional Elections.The Bulletin's Frontrunner
April 1, 2002 Monday SECTION: US House Stuart Rothenberg writes in Roll Call (4/1), "Although supporters of Rep. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) dismiss the possibility that the Congressman's problems with Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham (D) could dog his Capitol Hill career, allies of the mayor have a different view.
'There will be an offensive against Bob Menendez on every front -- in Hudson County, throughout the 13th district, in Trenton and in the halls of Congress,' promises Bill Ayala, Cunningham's chief of staff. Whether Ayala can deliver on his threat is unclear. But there is no
denying that Menendez has a fight on his hands back home, and his opponents in New Jersey's Hudson County hope they can use the lawmaker's political ambitions -- which currently involve his fight for the House Democratic Caucus chairmanship -- against him. At its core,
the Cunningham- Menendez feud is a battle for power and patronage in a county known as a Democratic bastion." And, "Cunningham has vowed to put together his own line in Hudson County, with a slate of candidates to oppose the county Democratic organization's. Of
course, that also means a candidate to run against Menendez. It doesn't come as a shock that allies of Menendez dismiss the notion that Cunningham will be able to recruit a serious primary opponent for the Congressman. But Cunningham isn't stopping there. Since both
Reps. Steve Rothman (D) and Donald Payne (D) have a slice of Hudson County in their districts, each will have to decide whether to run on Menendez's line in the county. Supporters of the mayor say they will recruit opponents for the other two Congressmen if they agree to
run on the same line as DeGise. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D) will also have to decide on which line he'll run in Hudson County."
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