Assemblyman Dave Russo (R-Ridgewood), who’s running for reelection along with Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) in the 40th District, said that his fate is tied to gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie.
“I just hope there’s some turnout, because we’re on the line with Christie. If Christie does well, I hope we do well,” said Russo, who expressed concern that some rain this morning and scattered thunderstorms this afternoon might dampen turnout.
Russo was not campaigning this morning. He was headed to court to represent a client, and planned to spend this afternoon at his law office. He said his campaign did put together a get out the vote effort, sending some young people out to knock on doors and hand out literature.
Russo, who has served in the state Assembly since 1990, has kept a low profile in what has become a nasty primary race. Opponents Joseph Caruso and Anthony Rottino have mostly attacked Rumana, who frequently shot back allegations that they are puppets of former Passaic County Republican boss Peter Murphy in his quest to take back control of the party. That group, GOP Strong, has a slate of candidate running in today’s primary, and one week from today, Rumana will have to face off against their candidate for another term as Passaic County Republican Chairman.
Although Russo does not blame Rumana for getting sucked into a competitive primary because of Passaic County Republican divisions – Rumana found himself in a primary in 2007 because of a Bergen County Republican split – he does find the dynamics of the race hard to read. It’s him versus three candidates who either reside in Wayne or have deep roots there (Rottino recently moved to Franklin Lakes).
“You never know because it’s a sort of different dynamic where you have four candidates. Two are from Wayne, and one lived in Wayne until a couple years ago,” said Russo. “It’s really a strange situation where I can’t figure out how the vote is going to turn out and break.”
