Calls on DiGaetano To Vacate Chairmanship If He Wants To Remain A Candidate  

Call 201-207 1824

Coming off a strong victory last night in the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization candidate selection committee election, the District 40 legislative team of Corrado – Rooney – DePhillips is calling for a fair and democratic candidate selection process in the Bergen County portion of the district.

State Senate candidate Kristin Corrado and her General Assembly runningmates, Kevin J. Rooney and Christopher DePhillips were awarded the PCRRO line on Wednesday in the June 6 Primary Election.  They are now asking Bergen County Republican Organization Chairman, Paul DiGaetano, who is also a candidate for the District 40 Senate seat,  to either step aside as chairman or remove himself as a candidate in order to assure that BCRO selection process is fair and unbiased.

The   Corrado – Rooney – DePhillips ticket say they have yet to receive an official notice from DiGaetano detailing how the District 40 selection process will work in Bergen County. It has been rumored that DiGaetano wants to conduct a BCRO policy committee screening meeting next week where all candidates in the county will be interviewed to receive BCRO backing prior to the BCRO convention on March 23.

The Corrado-Rooney-DePhillips team rejects the policy committee idea saying the committee will be stacked with DiGaetano supporters and would not be a fair process. They also say there are time constraints that make a policy committee hearing problematic.

They are also rejecting a DiGaetano proposal that has been floated to have the entire BCRO from all 70 towns vote on who gets the organization’s nomination in a district that covers just seven Bergen municipalities.

“Why in the world should someone from Fort Lee, Little Ferry or Englewood have a vote in who represents Wyckoff, or Franklin Lakes, or Ridgewood in the legislature,” says Rooney. “They don’t know our issues or our people.”

DePhillips, who also serves as the District 40 chairman, said the only fair process for legislative candidate selection by the BCRO is to allow the county committee members from the seven Bergen municipalities that comprise District 40  to vote for their choice.

The only democratic and fair process that Chairman DiGaetano can support is to allow the duly elected county committee people in District 40 to vote their preference on who will carry the BCRO banner in the June 6 Primary Election,” said DePhillips.

DePhillips said he prefers that state Republican committee monitor the BCRO convention to insure that only eligible voters from District 40 are permitted to vote.

The Corrado-Rooney-DePhillips team stated that DiGaetano should step down as chairman prior to the BCRO convention to reduce the likelihood that DiGaetano will use his power as chairman to influence voters.

“We all have difficult choices to make in life and Mr. DiGaetano must decide if he wants to be BCRO chairman or a state senate candidate. He can’t realistically do both, ” added the ticket.