DENVILLE – Sex tends to spice up a lot of things – even a race for surrogate.

Isabella Alfano, a GOP candidate for Morris County surrogate in the June primary, got some instant attention Monday night when she said of opponent Heather Darling, there are “topless photos of her” on the Internet.

But that really wasn’t all of it.

Alfano also had composed a Facebook post that accused Darling of advancing her political career through an improper relationship with Edward V. Rochford, a former county sheriff.

“No one even knew who you were three years ago,” said the post,  which was clearly aimed at Darling, who was elected freeholder two years ago.

Alfano said she deleted part of that post after learning that Rochford was not married, as she previously thought, when he had a relationship with Darling. Still, as many have learned, nothing truly gets deleted from the Internet.

Darling is a weightlifter who has entered bodybuilding competitions. So, it’s possible that’s where some of the discussed photos may have originated.

Alfano made her comments at a GOP candidates’ night. Darling, who was there, did not publicly respond, although a supporter of hers yelled out that the comments were out of line.

Afterwards, Alfano said she had to respond to what she said was an insulting and derogatory Facebook post by Darling.

Alfano is not a lawyer and has not identified herself as such. However, she said Darling’s post and the accompanying comments suggested she was misrepresenting herself as a lawyer. So, Alfano said she posted the comments to defend herself and her character, Darling, for her part, says she has never accused Alfano of claiming to be an attorney.

We are reminded of the old saying that all is fair in love and war, and, of course, politics. Still, bringing up a candidate’s past personal relationship is not standard fare.

Just for the record, Alfano, Darling and Michael P. Carroll, a forgotten soul in this skirmish, are seeking the GOP nod to replace Republican surrogate John Pecoraro who is retiring.  The Democratic candidate is Michael Thompson. Other than Alfano, all three are lawyers.

Surrogate is an important, but largely invisible, position. With that in mind, I pontificated a few months ago that it’s hard a to make a race for surrogate exciting.

Guess I was wrong.