Faced with the choice of sticking with his Assembly reelection campaign or moving to the Senate to replace his late father, Anthony M. Bucco apparently is opting to do both.

Morris Republicans Tuesday confirmed a plan that sounds like one of those “only in New Jersey” moments.

This scenario calls for Bucco to accept an appointment to the Senate, but still seek reelection to an Assembly seat he doesn’t really want. That is why one Morris Republican unimpressed with the idea observed it could be disastrous for the GOP.

Not surprisingly, Democrats are paying attention.

Chip Robinson, the county’s Democratic chair, said Tuesday that the defining issue in the campaign will be Bucco running for a seat he is not planning to take.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

State Sen. Anthony R. Bucco, who was liked and well-respected on both sides of the aisle, died Sept. 16.
The law is clear: When a vacancy occurs, it is filled by a convention of relevant county committee members. In this case, that’s District 25 covering  parts of Morris County and one town, Bernardsville, in Somerset.

Organizing such a convention normally would be the purview of the Morris County Republican Committee, but sources say the state Republican Committee has superseded the county organization and will make the decision about the convention. It certainly seems a bit strange that the local committee is being bypassed. A spokesperson for the state GOP was not immediately available to comment.

At any rate, given the fact it’s common for lawmakers who pass away to be replaced by relatives, the younger Bucco is an obvious GOP convention choice to replace his father.

But then, there’s his Assembly campaign. One scenario suggested that if Bucco ascended to the Senate, he would give up the Assembly campaign. That would necessitate another convention to fill out the GOP Assembly ticket for this November. There was also the possibility of naming a so-called placeholder to the Senate. That would be an individual who would take the seat, but agree not to run for it when next year’s special election to fill it rolls around.That would allow Bucco to run for and stay in the Assembly – until he seeks the Senate seat next year.

Those options apparently have been shelved in favor of a plan that sources say was conceived with help from the state Republican Committee.

The thinking is that Bucco will be appointed to the Senate at an October convention, but will not officially join the Senate until next January, premised on if there weren’t any planned Senate sessions between October and the new year (*there’s a Senate voting session on December 16th and several committee days scheduled before then).

So, Bucco – theoretically at least – can still run for the Assembly, despite the fact he may be waiting to join the Senate.

Still, there are some questions here.

Suppose Senate President Sweeney calls a session in late October to swear in new Senator Anthony M. Bucco? What happens then?

Then there’s a larger question of Bucco running for an Assembly seat he is not going to take. That’s because he likely would have been named a senator before the Nov.5 election.

Just how do you run a campaign for a seat you plan to be vacating?

But in one way, this makes some political sense for Republicans. If Bucco left the race, the GOP Assembly ticket would consist of two newcomers with little name recognition – Brian Bergen and someone else. So under this plan, the Assembly ticket will include Bucco, a man who is relatively well known. The obvious GOP thinking is that this is the best way for Republicans to hold the seat in a district more competitive than it used to be. And if Bucco wins, he would not accept the seat, necessitating yet another convention to fill it.

The Democratic candidates are Lisa Bhimani and Darcy Draeger. Their campaign manager said in a statement that Bucco should commit to serving a full, two-year term in the Assembly.

“If he cannot make that pledge, he should allow the Morris County Republicans to choose a real candidate, not be bullied by Bucco wanting to have it both ways,” the statement added.

Obviously, there will be more to come on this evolving tale of inside politics.