WINNERS

Kevin O'Dowd

Gov. Chris Christie's new chief of staff assumed the oath of office on Monday. O'Dowd replaces Rich Bagger as the go-to-guy for one of the most powerful governors in the country.  

Donna Simon 

The General Assembly welcomed a new assemblywoman to the chamber Monday as Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-34) swore in the 16th Legislative District's new assemblywoman.  

John Currie

The 21-year chairman of the Passaic County Democratic Committee presided over a successful dinner Thursday night as the maestro of Passaic County politics.  

Frank Lautenberg

The veteran senator helped get the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to restore funding to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings.    

Peter Barnes

The Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee received praise on both sides of the aisle for the way in which he ran his hearings this week on marriage equality.

Alex Blanco

The mayor of Passaic welcomed the birth of his fourth son this week, Sebastian. The Blancos chose Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-34) as the godfather. 

Victor Cruz

Sunday's outcome won't change the opinion of those in Paterson pulling for the Giants' star receiver, Silk City's hometown hero.

LOSERS  

Rahway Democrats

The state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) fined the organization $55,000 for late filing and non filing of contributor and expenditure information.  

Bruce Harris

The NAACP announced this week that the organization would not endorse the state's first openly gay black Supreme Court nominee on grounds that he doesn't have an active civil rights record.  

Phillip Kwon

His first week as Gov. Christe's nominee to the state Supreme Court ended with Kwon backpedaling as the Star-Ledger broke a story questioning his mother's payments of $160,000 to settle a civil complaint over more than $2 million that was deposited into a bank account in increments of slightly less than $10,000.  

Chris Christie 

The governor apologized for his initial remarks about the Civil Rights movement in which he speculated that those in the South would have preferred a referendom on voting rights rather than dying in the streets.  

Newt Gingrich

The former House Speaker ate a damning double digit loss in Florida to Mitt Romney in the Republican Presidential Primary.