Annette Quijano will resign her post as Assistant Counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine to take her seat in the State Assembly. She won a special election convention last night to replace Neil Cohen in the 20th district.  Quijano's election further reduces the number of minorities on the Governor's senior staff: he has not had an African American Deputy Chief of Staff since Jeanine LaRue left to take a job at Rutgers, and has not had a Latino Deputy Chief of Staff since Javier Inclan, who had replaced LaRue, resigned after testifying in the corruption trial of former Guttenberg Mayor David Della Donna.

Governor Jon Corzine has not yet named a new Deputy Chief of Staff to replace Javier Inclan, who resigned earlier this month after testifying in a federal corruption trial that he delivered an envelope containing cash from a local businessman to the Mayor of Guttenberg.   And he still hasn’t appointed a Republican to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission --  a post that has been vacant since December 2006. 

And don't forget to vote in this week's Cartoon Caption Contest. Voting ends this Friday at noon.

The announcement today that Javier Inclan has resigned his post means that Governor Jon Corzine is in the market for a new Deputy Chief of Staff. If Corzine moves to fill this post with his usual speed , then the job will be open for a while. But if Corzine decides to fast track – and if you believe that in Corzineland, the Governor is likely to name another minority (his Chief of Staff, Chief Counsel, and his two other Deputy COS’s are white), here’s a short list of potential candidates: Assistant Counsel Annette Quijano; Alberto Alvarez and Laura Matos, who work in the Governor’s office; Cabinet Liaison Larry Lewis; and Troy Singleton, a former Deputy Executive Director of the State Assembly and now a top aide to Carptenter’s Union leader Frank Spencer.

The Star-Ledger reports that Corzine Deputy Chief of Staff Javier Inclan resigned today.

"The governor accepted Javier Inclan's resignation. He understands why Javier reached the conclusion that he did that it was necessary to resign," Corzine Communications Director Deborah Howlett told the paper.

Inclan had testified as a prosecution witness at the corruption trial of Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna, admitting to delivering two envelopes he believed were stuffed with cash to the mayor.

Javier Inclan, Gov. Jon Corzine's Deputy Chief of Staff

WILSON SAYS ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOULD PROSECUTE INCLAN

The Governor’s office had kind words today for his Deputy Chief of Staff, Javier Inclan, who found himself enmeshed in the trial of Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife.

Delle Donna was convicted of extortion and tax fraud today for accepting and concealing payments from bar owner Luisa Medrano.

“The Governor commends Javier for his efforts to testify for the prosecution. He believes that Javier was doing the right thing in standing up and helping the government make its case,” said Corzine press secretary Lilo Stainton.