A rally in the cold rain (In late May no less), the feud between Nick Sacco and Brian Stack and a passionate party split in Republican Monmouth County.

Those are some of the elements of primary contests on Tuesday distinct from the governor's races. Gubernatorial battles in both parties are soaking up most of the political oxygen, but don't tell that to some of those running down ballot.

Monmouth County is GOP terrain to be sure.

But three candidates - one for Assembly in LD-13, one for county commissioner and one for county clerk  - are challenging four incumbents. (There are two Assembly incumbents)

There is a substantive issue about attempts of the county commissioners to take Monmouth Executive Airport through condemnation. It has since been abandoned, but critics have condemned it as a gross overreach.

Beyond that, the dispute is a familiar one.

The challengers, who back Bill Spadea, say they are the "real" Republicans.

The county organization supports Jack Ciattarelli.

Another issue has been the support of county government and some of its leaders of Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization. This has to do with books in school libraries and transgender women playing girl sports.

* * *

Up in very Democratic Hudson County, Larry Wainstein, who lost three times for mayor of North Bergen against Sacco, seems poised to win an Assembly nomination in LD-33, a mostly Hispanic district in North Hudson.

Wainstein, you see, is running  on a ticket backed by state Sen. and Union City mayor Stack. Why?

Well, Stack is no fan of Sacco and this is a great way to irritate him.

And let's not forget LD-32 where six people are running for two Assembly nominations.

We have three teams.

One is backed by Steve Fulop. The candidates are Jessica Ramirez, an incumbent, and Yousef Saleh.

One is backed by the Hudson County Democratic Committee. The candidates are Crystal Fonseca and Jennie Pu.

And the other is running on its own. The candidates are Ravi Bhalla and Katie Brennan.

This district includes Hoboken and parts of Jersey City.

* * *

In Parsippany, Mayor Jamie Barberio and Councilman Justin Musella are fighting for the party's mayoral nomination.

Barberio had been "on the outs" with the Morris County Republican leadership. But now through the magic of compromise, the spat has ended.

The thinking was that the Morris GOP must be unified with the specter of the local congresswoman, Mikie Sherrill, winning the Democratic primary for governor. Sherrill has won Morris every time she has run.

There was an attempt to discourage Musella from running, but that went no where.

Now we come to the cold rain of May.

Musella held a rally about 10 days ago in a local park on a rainy and unseasonably chilly evening. Nonetheless, about a hundred people showed up, munching on snacks under two tents.

Mayor Barberio had a similar rally planned for Sunday night. The weather was not ideal either, but his was inside.

Good luck. Or the wisdom of incumbency?