FLORHAM PARK – Morris County sheriffs tend to stay around awhile. There have been only four in the last 72 years.

Republican James Gannon seems determined to live up to that standard. He remarked at a fundraiser Tuesday night that he’s the county’s 77th sheriff.

“And in 40 years, there will be a 78th,” he said.

Gannon, who is seeking reelection to his second, three-year term, talked about how he’s kept the promises he made three years ago in terms of fighting the opioid epidemic, combating the threat of terrorism (a suspected terrorist from Morristown was just arrested last week) and practicing fiscal prudence.

It was a swanky setting – the Park Savoy  – and the hundred or so supporters enjoyed the joke about Gannon keeping the job for four decades. They also enjoyed beverages, fine cuisine and even cigars on the patio overlooking a golf course.

This was the sheriff’s night, but it was impossible to overlook both the recent death of state Sen. Anthony R. Bucco and the subsequent politics now surrounding it. Gannon began the proceedings with a respectful moment of silence for the late senator.

It wasn’t talked about from the podium, but the evening ensued as Morris Republicans learned that Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco, the senator’s son, will seek his father’s Senate seat at a mid-October GOP convention while still seeking re-election to the Assembly in the 25th District.

If he wins, he will simply resign from the Assembly and join the Senate. Of course, under this scenario, he will join the Senate even if he loses his Assembly seat. Talk about a pretty neat consolation prize. It is a foregone conclusion Bucco will win the convention, although there will need to be a formal vote and someone may run against him. There is no law that says a deceased lawmaker must be replaced by a relative, but it is done so often by both parties there might as well be one.

While the overall scheming here is seen as the best way for Republicans to hold the Assembly seat, it gives Democrats a splendid issue. After all, Bucco will be running for an Assembly seat in November he has no intention of taking.

This type of manipulation is not all that unique. As was pointed out by some Tuesday, Cory Booker is doing the same thing.

That’s a valid point.

The Democratic Legislature changed the law to allow Booker to run in 2020 for both his New Jersey Senate seat and possibly for president or vice president. With Booker’s presidential campaign on the ropes – he was at zero percent in a poll coming out Wednesday – all this could be moot, but the intent is important. And the intent was that Democrats are allowing Booker to run for two offices simultaneously, knowing he could only take one job.

This isn’t exactly the same thing Bucco is doing. He is not running for two offices at the same time; he is running for one while presumably having another already in his back pocket.

Nonetheless, if the point here is for some to say that “everyone” does this sort of thing, the point was made.

Bucco by the way issued a statement Tuesday officially announcing his intention to seek the Senate seat. It said nothing about the Assembly.

Gannon, of course, has a much more straightforward election ahead against Democrat Bill Schiavella.

The sheriff said he’s tackling the opioid epidemic head-on, noting that his office has trained about 1,800 people to dispense Narcan to combat overdoses. That already has saved 37 people.

Then there’s the sheriff’s Hope One van, which travels around the county bringing addiction counseling and other related services to people where they live.

Pointing out that law enforcement these days tends to cross over into social work, Gannon said these initiatives are “about helping people.”

Still, there are the sheriff’s more traditional duties like running a jail.

With bail reform significantly reducing county jail population, Gannon saw both a financial and practical opportunity. The jail now takes inmates from nearby Sussex County, thereby using available space in the Morris lockup and realizing a fiscal benefit.

As for the jail population in 40 years, that is to be determined.