GOP picks successor to man who quit race after book fallout

Republicans in northern New Jersey have selected someone to succeed their Assembly candidate who dropped out of the campaign after his book of rants about gays, Asians and others surfaced.

Oradell attorney Fernando Alonso tells The Record he is honored the party sought his help and picked him Thursday as their candidate.

It is not clear whether Alonso will be allowed on the ballot since the deadline for changes passed. Republicans are pressing a judge to allow Alonso's name to appear.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Robert Yudin said he's hopeful the Passaic County judge will let Alonso on the ballot. But he also acknowledged "the possibility that the judge will say there's not enough time."

Alonso would succeed Anthony Cappola, who bowed out last week after a book he wrote more than a decade ago surfaced. In it, he stereotyped Asians as bad drivers, told gays to keep their sexual orientation private and said moms nursing publicly should cover up.

In a statement last week, Cappola said he was sorry if he offended anyone and he took responsibility for the book.

Republicans denounced Cappola's language in the 223-page book, which took aim at numerous groups and contained many spelling and grammatical errors.

The Assembly is at the top of the ticket this November, and Republicans hope to challenge Democrats for the majority in the chamber. Democrats now control it 48-32.

The seat in the northern New Jersey district that Cappola had been running for was considered one of a handful of competitive races in the November election. Both seats there are currently controlled by Democrats.

If allowed on the ballot, Alonso would join Mark DiPisa.

Each Assembly district has two seats in New Jersey, with Democrats and Republicans typically fielding a two-person ticket.

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