Things are heating up again in the Bergen County GOP Chairman’s race with just three weeks to go before the convention.
As if they’ve ever cooled off, Save Jerseynas!
The latest? Incumbent Chairman Bob Yudin has called for a special county committee meeting on May 31st to determine whether this ugly contest’s third chairman candidate, late entry, John McCann, should be permitted to remain in the race.
Interestingly, Chairman Yudin’s email to county committee members alleges that the move is largely in response to concerns from the campaign of his opponent, Anthony Rottino. “Dave Catuogno, who is a surrogate for Anthony Rottino, brought to the BCRO’s attention, a possible deficiency in John McCann’s petition for chairman,” explained Yudin. “Since I am a candidate for re-election as Chairman, it would be inappropriate for me to deal with the matter.”
So what’s the catch? Rottino promptly denied via email blast that his camp has anything whatsoever to do with challenging McCann’s candidacy:
No one from my campaign asserted a challenge to the validity of Mr. McCann’s petition. If Mr. Yudin believes there is a basis to challenge the petition, he should say so. If not, he should cancel this meeting. I see this as yet another attempt by Mr. Yudin to divide our party and turn county committee members against one another. As far as I am concerned, John McCann filed a valid petition and is a candidate for chairman of the BCRO. Instead of continuing the bickering and infighting, we should be focusing on real issues and talking about the future of the BCRO.”
I’ll leave the decision of who is right (and who is full of it) up to you, Save Jerseyans! All I know is that it’s a pretty bad sign for all involved when a contest as important as this one becomes mired in procedural issues at the expense of substantive topics.
Gawd, what's wrong with that county?
Rottino or bust!!!