William Vincent Musto Archives

Joseph Simunovich, top New Jersey political figure, dies at 78

June 18, 2019 9:43 pmJune 19, 2019 9:01 am

Joseph J. Simunovich, a popular and influential fixture in North Jersey politics for the last six decades, passed away this evening. He was 78. Simunovich served twelve years as a Hudson County Freeholder and later as chairman of the New...

Robert Mueller’s right-hand-man is a New Jersey guy

February 26, 2019 12:19 pmFebruary 26, 2019 4:05 pm

The New York Times has a profile today on Andrew Goldstein, Robert Mueller’s right-hand-man in the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Goldstein is a Jersey guy who grew up in Short Hills. His father,...

The feud between the U.S. Attorney and the Senate Judiciary chairman

January 13, 2019 6:26 pm

One of New Jersey’s classic political fights was a 1970s turf war between U.S. Attorney Robert Del Tufo and New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Martin Greenberg (D-South Orange). Del Tufo had accused Greenberg of using a committee hearing to...

How Burstein got screwed out of being Assembly Speaker and Congressman

December 28, 2018 12:22 pmDecember 28, 2018 8:21 pm

Albert Burstein, who died yesterday at age 96, was part of one of a great legislative leadership battle in the 1970s and a legendary Hudson County political deal that upset his chances to win a seat in Congress. Burstein was...

Baer vs. Helstoski vs. Hollenbeck ’76

April 29, 2018 10:55 amApril 30, 2018 4:52 pm

There’s a great, mostly-forgotten story about Byron Baer and how he came excruciatingly close to winning a congressional seat 42 years ago. The congressman from the 9th district was Henry Helstoski, a six-term Democrat with a trademark crew cut who...

Once allies, Stack and Sires at opposite sides of warette

March 31, 2018 10:40 pmApril 2, 2018 8:56 am

When Brian Stack was a 25-year-old political operative in 1991, he managed Albio Sires’ campaign for Mayor of West New York against five-term incumbent Anthony DeFino. Sires was a political outsider in those days – he lost races for Congress...

The Republican screw up that made Menendez Mayor

March 13, 2018 2:02 amMarch 14, 2018 2:16 am

The success of Bob Menendez’s political career might be because of bad staff work. The story starts in 1976, when Hudson County gave Jimmy Carter a paltry 23,605 vote margin against Gerald Ford. Assembly Speaker Joseph LeFante (D-Bayonne), largely blamed...