Azzolina put political clout behind Dems
Local officials dubious on effect of anti-GOP mailing
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a pamphlet distributed township-wide in Middletown is worth $6,000, and may even have cost a Republican Township Committee seat.

Joseph Azzolina

Former GOP state Sen. and state Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina sent out more than 12,000 pamphlets titled "Republican Corruption in Middletown" a week before the municipal election, and some believe the mailing may have helped the Democrats win at least one seat on the Township Committee.

Though Republican Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger won re-election, Democratic candidate Sean Byrnes won the other open committee seat, a big victory for the Democratic Party in Middletown, which now has two of the five committee seats.

Some say Azzolina's pamphlet, which cost him over $6,000 to send to some 12,000 residents in Middletown, may have swayed the election toward Byrnes.

The pamphlet included statements that could have been considered damaging to the Republican Party as it praised the Democratic candidates and denounced the opposition.

In the letter, Azzolina, a longtime Republican legislator, said "[it] breaks my heart to break from the Republican Party after 40 years, but it's the right time."

He then took aim at the Republican Party chairman in Middletown.

"Our local government has been controlled by Peter Carton, who has controlled elected officials to line his own 'deep pockets' by being bond counsel for Middletown's $80 million debt and multimillions in bonds for school construction, while representing developers through other lawyers in getting many projects quickly approved because Carton controls the Zoning and Planning Boards and the Middletown Sewerage Authority appointments," Azzolina said in the letter.

Azzolina has said that his letter swayed the election outcome in favor of the Democrats, while Carton has said that it had the reverse effect.

Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Caliendo doesn't know whether Azzolina's letter changed anything at all.

"I have no clue whether it affected anything," Caliendo said. "It's really hard to tell. Maybe we'll find out in a month or two if it had any effect at all, but I don't know how Carton thinks it backfired. Just look at how the election came out."

Caliendo said that he only found out about the letter a few days after it was sent out and that Azzolina has sent out pamphlets in the past, so it wasn't a big surprise.

"If someone has the money to do it, why not?" Caliendo said. "It's just a man voicing his opinion."

Although Azzolina did not mention Scharfenberger by name in the pamphlet, the mayor and his running mate were referenced in the subtitle.

"Peter Carton is the Republican leader-dictator," Azzolina said in the letter's subtitle. "A vote for the Republican mayor and his running mate [Tristan Nelsen] is a vote for Peter Carton and his regime."

Scharfenberger agreed with Caliendo's assessment of the pamphlet.

"It's hard to say if it had an effect on the election, if any," Scharfenberger said Wednesday. "It came out later on in the pre-election process, but it did go out to 12,000 houses telling them to not vote for Tristan or myself."

Azzolina referred to the Republican candidates as a "corrupt gang" and "Carton's pathetic puppets," while referring to Carton as a "selfish power broker" and talked about his "dirty tricks."

"The Carton clique use 'derision and venomous' attacks to destroy Sean Byrnes' character and reputation," the letter said.

Now that the election is over and a second Democrat, in a previously all- Republican government, will be taking a seat on the Township Committee, Scharfenberger said he has nothing against Azzolina.

"It's a very aggressive way to put out your ideas," Scharfenberger said. "But if he wants to spend the money to send out these pamphlets, then he has every right to do it."

Azzolina represented the 13th District in the state Assembly from 1992-2006, also serving from 1986-1988 and 1966- 1972. He served in the state Senate from 1972-1973.

He lost the seat in the June 2005 GOP primary, and was replaced in the Assembly by fellow Republican Amy Handlin, who took office in 2006 when Azzolina's term ended.

Azzolina, 82, president of the Food Circus Supermarket chain, has distanced himself from the township's Republican Party since the township's Republicans failed to support his family's bid to build a major mixed-use development known as Town Center.

Critics opposed the project, citing traffic concerns on Route 35 and the fact that it would have been located in one of the only remaining open space areas in Middletown.

After losing his Assembly seat, Azzolina said he would use his voice as a private citizen to speak out against local Republicans.