Republican Bergen County sheriff withdraws endorsement of Democratic county executive, freeholder candidates
October 6, 2014, 11:20 AM Last updated: Monday, October 6, 2014, 3:17 PM
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN
staff writer
The Record
Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino – a Republican who won re-election last year – on Monday withdrew a videotaped endorsement he gave over the weekend to the Democratic candidates running for county executive and freeholder, calling it “a mistake.”
“In no way were my comments intended to be a public endorsement of any candidates for office this year.” Saudino said in a prepared statement.
“Regrettably, after watching a video of my comments, it is clear there is no other way to interpret it,” he added. “It was a mistake and for that I apologize.”
County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said he saw the video on YouTube Saturday. It has since been taken down, he said.
Yudin said the tape showed Saudino endorsing Democrat James Tedesco for county executive and Democratic Freeholders David Ganz and Joan Voss.
They are opposed by Republican County Executive Kathleen Donovan and GOP Freeholder candidates Bernadette Walsh and Robert Avery.
“Kathe and Bob Avery and Bernadette Walsh are not running against the sheriff,” Yudin said Monday. “They are running against Tedesco, Ganz and Voss.”
“While I am saddened that the sheriff has done this, the campaign is against their Democratic opponents,” Yudin added. “We have moved on.”
Saudino’s withdrawn endorsement is the latest twist in an ongoing rift between Saudino and Donovan, who ran together as a team when they were first elected in November 2010.
The two Republicans have been feuding almost from the time they took office in January 2011.
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Walsh is going to take away his toys, “no MRAP for you Saudino !”
I’ll bet someone from the County Republican organization called the Sheriff and told him not to expect any party contributions to future campaigns unless he pulled his endorsement.
All the more reason why we do not need a sheriffs department it is a mistake.
#3 don’t you mean a county pd? who guard the inmates?
What does county government do but provide redundant services for more than a half a billion dollars?
For Sheriff Saudino to do this, well, as a local committeeman for his political party, I just don’t know! What a head scratcher! I can only imagine Chairman Yudin’s eyebrows going up, up, and away after hearing about this stunt. Saudino cuts a nice image in terms of a law man, but I have not gotten to know him personally, and over time, I have seen and heard tell of things that cause me to wonder if we’ve got the right person in this post. Never speak ill of another party member, right? But what if they are morphing into another Charlie Christmas right in front of your eyes? I have to admire Yudin, though. He never lets anything cause him to lose his cool.