When Joseph Caruso, a Republican activist and fundraiser, was mulling running for state Assembly in District 40 late last year, he expressed complete confidence about his electoral prospects.
"I can make one commitment: I would win. I won't lose," he told PolitickerNJ.com in November.
Six months later, and after taking on small businessman Anthony Rottino as a running mate, Caruso gives off even more confidence.
"I'm even more [confident] today than I was," he said, after seeing "peoples' comments when you knock on their doors, when you call them. It's not just like ‘I'm going to vote for you' – they actually engage in the issues. The amount of emails and texts of people supporting me – it's overwhelming."
Caruso and Rottino are challenging freshman Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) and ten-term incumbent David Russo (R-Ridgewood) in a race that, to Caruso's frustration, is seen as deeply entwined with a power struggle for control of the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization (PCRRO), which Rumana chairs.
In what is so far a light turnout election, Caruso said that the lack of voters neither helps nor hurts his candidacy.
That's not a farfetched a theory. Last year, after former Passaic County Republican Chairman Peter Murphy – who did jail time earlier this decade for a corruption conviction – re-started his GOP Strong PAC, Rumana opponents signaled to him that he could keep his assembly seat if he just gave up control of the PCRRO.
Since then, Caruso and Rottino have slated up with GOP Strong's municipal and county-wide candidates. The PAC has contributed some money to Caruso, be it through Murphy or his close ally, current GOP Strong Chairman Mike Ramaglia. They share a spokesman, and the PAC even sent out a controversial flyer over the weekend bashing Rumana and Russo. And they have spent the bulk of their campaign going after Rumana, with Russo as more of an afterthought.
"Honestly, Dave's a gentleman," said Rottino, who complained that Rumana would not engage them in a debate, although Russo did. "Dave wants to talk about issues, Joe and I want to talk about issues. Scott doesn't want to talk about issues. He attacked me personally, attacked Joe personally."
Caruso and Rottino counter that, like the GOP Strong candidates, he's slated with gubernatorial hopeful Steve Lonegan. Nobody, he said, has accused Lonegan of being a tool of Murphy. Moreover, Caruso and Rottino have sent out a flyer attacking Rumana for his past alliance with Murphy, referring to him as a "convicted political boss." Moreover, he said, the donations from the PAC have made up a small amount of the campaign's total funds.
"It's kind of frustrating to hear ‘Peter Murphy, Peter Murphy, Peter Murphy,' and we want to talk about what's going on in our district," said Rottino.
Rottino, for his part, filed a lawsuit against Rumana and Russo last month after they put out a mailer accusing his now-inactive development company of building low-income housing with public bonds in Newark and East Orange. Though based on an accurate newspaper article, Rottino says his company walked away from the deal.
Win or lose today, Rottino said, he will not drop the lawsuit.
"It wasn't a campaign stunt. He lied," he said. "You're responsible for your actions and words."
