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: Yes, this is America and he is free to support Corzine.  But he shuld also then have the decency to admit that he is no Republican.  And he certainly shouldn't retain his position as Executive Director of the Hudson County Republican Party.  In that latter role, he is SUPPOSED to be partisan!  This borders on outright fraud.  

: It now seems obvious that the HCDO has thoroughly infiltrated the official leadership of Hudson County's Republican Party.  That is why "in Hudson County there is no Republican Party."  They answer to the Democrats!  This Czaplicki incident (if indeed it really happened, and it increasingly sounds like it did), is the rule, not the exception.  You might recall that in 2004 Jose Arango endorsed Democrat Joe Doria for State Senate.  And in previous election cycles, the county's "Republican" candidates have actually dropped out and endorsed their Democrat opponents only weeks prior to election day!  If you'd like some insight into how this happens, check out this news item: 

: GOP HOPEFUL ALLEGES FRAUD IN SENATE RACE
: Friday, May 16, 2003 

: By PETER J. SAMPSON
: STAFF WRITER 

: SECAUCUS - GOP Senate hopeful Frank MacCormack is accusing Hudson County Republican leaders of conspiring to boost the reelection bid of his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Nicholas J. Sacco of North Bergen.

: MacCormack, a Secaucus insurance agency owner who lost to Sacco two years ago, says the plotters connived to replace him on the June 3 primary ballot with a "shill" to ensure that Sacco would face the weakest Republican challenger in November.

: And, MacCormack says, he has a tape to prove it.

: The scheme, according to MacCormack, involved misleading him into believing that he would be the GOP's nominee for the 32nd District Senate seat, then filing an allegedly fraudulent nominating petition on behalf of John Pluchino of North Bergen.

: The switch forced MacCormack to circulate his own petitions at the eleventh hour to get on the ballot.

: The fraud claims, which include the filing of forged signatures and a false certification, have been forwarded to the proper authorities by his attorney, MacCormack said.

: Republican leaders called MacCormack's allegations outrageous and accused him of misusing the courts in a bid to influence the recent municipal election in North Bergen, where Sacco and his slate easily defeated an insurgent ticket.

: The alleged plot was outlined in a lawsuit MacCormack filed in state Superior Court in Jersey City naming as defendants the state, the Hudson County Board of Elections, GOP County Chairman Jose Arango, and Republican operatives Frank Gargiulo, Charles Catrillo, Timothy Kelly, and Pluchino.

: The suit sought a ruling declaring Pluchino ineligible to run in the primary.

: Superior Court Judge Arthur D'Italia ruled May 6 that Pluchino's name can remain on the ballot because MacCormack failed to contest the petition within the four-day period allowed by law. The judge, however, said the claim of fraud could be pursued.

: "I am not dropping it," MacCormack said Thursday of the fraud claim; meanwhile, an appellate court is expected to consider an appeal by MacCormack next week.

: The suit also seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, including the cost of hiring of a forensic document examiner. The expert scrutinized 52 of the 129 signatures on Pluchino's petition and concluded "it is probable" that at least 36 are not genuine.

: Although Arango is the county chairman, the suit contends his actions are controlled by Gargiulo, a longtime Sacco ally and member of the Board of Commissioners in North Bergen, where Sacco is also the mayor. Through Gargiulo, Sacco has effectively hijacked the Republican Party in Hudson County, MacCormack said.

: "This Pluchino is just a setup so that Sacco has no opposition," said MacCormack.

: Proof of the conspiracy, MacCormack claims, is contained in a conversation he taped April 23 with Catrillo, the attorney for the Hudson Republican organization and its candidate for county executive.

: In excerpts filed with the suit, Catrillo describes Pluchino as "a plant," and says Gargiulo "made" Arango pick Pluchino because "Gargiulo is worried that Sacco may get into trouble and MacCormack might win." The trouble was an apparent reference to the ongoing federal corruption investigation in North Bergen.

: "I said to Jose [Arango], 'Jose, we want MacCormack to win.' He said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. ... But the guys in North Bergen don't want it. I got to keep the peace with them. We need their votes to keep the county.' And I said, 'You know Jose, you need Jersey City's votes to keep the [expletive] county chairmanship," Catrillo said, according to the transcript.

: In court papers, Catrillo questioned the accuracy of the remarks attributed to him on the tape and argued that MacCormack, whose attorney was closely linked with anti-Sacco slate in North Bergen, maliciously used the courts to disseminate the transcript in bid to upset the local election.

: "To hold up what is a private conversation and simply publicize it by appending it to you're moving papers ... that's really underhanded," Catrillo said Thursday. "Even by Hudson County standards, that's pretty low."

: Catrillo said he believes MacCormack is the stronger candidate and lobbied for him, but MacCormack had no support from any other party officials.

: Gargiulo and Pluchino also refuted MacCormack's allegations.

: "As far as him being the stronger candidate and I'm just a plant, I really take umbrage to that and I think it's slanderous," said Pluchino, a broadcasting instructor, who lost to Sacco in his first run for office in 1997.

: Although MacCormack defeated Pluchino in the 2001 primary, Pluchino said he got more votes than MacCormack against Sacco.

: Peter Sampson's e-mail address is sampson@northjersey.com
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