Democrats win Assembly majority, achieve 20-20 split in Senate

BYLINE: By RALPH SIEGEL, Associated Press Writer

Democrats won the day Tuesday, seizing a majority in the Assembly and forcing a 20-20 split in the Senate on the coattails of Democratic Gov.-elect Jim McGreevey.

But as is often the case, nothing is simple at the Statehouse. Now McGreevey 's diplomatic skills will be tested as the leadership of both houses remains in question and could set off political turmoil.

Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, R-Passaic, said the loss of at least 10 Republican seats in the lower house was caused by McGreevey's lopsided win over Republican Bret Schundler. "It is a fact of life that if there is a large margin above you on the ballot, it is hard to overcome," he said.

DiGaetano, the GOP majority leader, won re-election in a tight race but lost his dream of becoming the next Assembly speaker.

In the Senate, Democrats gained five seats that had been in Republican hands. They also refused to concede defeat in the 1st District, where Democratic challenger William J. Hughes Jr. trailed incumbent Republican James Cafiero by a few hundred votes.

The results of that contest should be known Wednesday, when dozens of provisional and absentee ballots are scheduled to be counted.

Three of the gains were expected as former Democratic Assembly members Nia Gill, Barbara Buono and Joseph Suliga won Republican seats. Suliga will fill the seat being vacated by Republican Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco.

On top of those, Democrat Joe Coniglio upset Republican Sen. Lou Kosco in Bergen County while at the opposite end in Gloucester County Democrat Steve Sweeney knocked off Republican Sen. Ray Zane.

Kosco was first elected to the Assembly in 1980. Zane won a Senate seat in
1974 as a Democrat but switched to the GOP last spring to avoid a primary with Sweeney.

But Democrats fell short in their effort to unseat Republican incumbents Peter Inverso in Mercer and Middlesex counties and Diane Allen in Burlington County.

Allen had a particularly awkward race against county Democratic Party chairman Lou Gallagher, a U.S. Navy reservist who was absent for the final weeks of the campaign because he was called up to active duty with the Navy SEALS. Inverso fended off a challenge from Mercer County Sheriff Sam Plumeri.

In the Assembly's most startling win, Democrats John J. Burzichelli and Douglas H. Fisher won in the district Assembly Speaker Jack Collins represented for 16 years. The Democrats upset Collins' hand-picked replacements, Michael H. Facemyer and Harold U. Johnson, in the 3rd District spanning Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties.

In Cape May County, Jeff Van Drew upset veteran Republican incumbent Assemblyman John Gibson.

And in Mercer and Middlesex counties, freshman Democrats Linda Greenstein and Gary Guear survived a rematch with Republicans Paul Kramer and Barbara W. Wright. Kramer and Wright had held those seats for four terms until the Democrats upset them in 1999, and the GOP had been counting on winning those two seats back.

Veteran Republican Assemblyman Nicholas Felice, who was among the few willing to campaign side by side with Schundler, was defeated after being shuffled into a new district. The vote tally remained too close to call last night to know whether his running mate, Assemblywoman Rose Heck, survived.

Now a partisan struggle will ensue over who shall be selected the next Senate president. That person will not only control the Senate agenda and make coveted committee assignments, he or she will serve as acting governor for seven days in January before McGreevey is inaugurated and would fill in whenever McGreevey leaves the state.

Sens. John Bennett, R-Monmouth, and Richard Codey, D-Essex, are the leaders of their respective parties and presumably will head the talks. But various coalitions could be form as promises are traded in order to secure 21 votes for any member of the Senate.

"I think we just sit down and try to talk and see what we're able to work out between the two parties," said Bennett. "I think we need to demonstrate that both parties will have a major say."

The Assembly will also have a leadership fight between Assemblymen Joe Roberts and Joe Doria. Doria has been Democratic minority leader since 1992 but Roberts is the state Democratic Party chairman in a victorious year. The two have feuded for minority leadership in the past.

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