Local

When Kim Guadagno resigns as Monmouth County Sheriff in January to become Lt. Governor, Christopher Christie will appoint an Acting Sheriff to fill the remaining year of her term.   The leading candidate, sources say, is Undersheriff Shaun Golden, a career law enforcement officer who ran against Guadagno at the 2007 Monmouth County GOP convention.  Golden, who was an administrative officer with the Toms River police department, received just 19% of the vote against Guadagno, who later hired him after she won the general election. 

Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall) announced last week that he would not seek appointment as Sheriff, perhaps because Guadagno and her predecessor, Monmouth County GOP Chairman Joseph Oxley, had already decided on Golden.

The usual gang of Republican-Conservative-Libertarians have sponsored a number of bills in the Assembly that have been lounging around the Assembly State Government Committee for about two years.. One of them is A468 , “AN Act designating the English language as the official language of the State”.

• Chris Christie gives passing grade to Xanadu interior, but still not thrilled
• Christie, Corzine Meet and Talk About Transition
• Christie's victory has Republicans hopeful for conference in Atlantic City
• Ex-Municipal Court judge gets probation for assaulting DJ wife
• Jersey Lawmaker Wants to Crack Down on State Workers Who Go Back to Work After They Retire
• Democratic loser to request recount in Monroe council race
• Hillsborough officials backing Christie business review proposal
• Clayton council swears in GOP's Radio as new mayor
• N.J. task force seeks exceptions to gun law

On the Record

Michael Aron hosts U.S. Reps. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) and Frank Pallone (R-Long Branch) to talk about the health care bill.

Airs: Sunday at 9am and 11am, Monday at 6:30 am on NJN

Reporters Roundtable

Angela Delli Santi of the AP, Nick Acocella of Politifax, John Reitmeyer of The Record and John McMahon of newjerseynewsroom.com talk about the Christie transition team and the health care bill. Hosted by Michael Aron.

Airs: Tonight at 7:00, Sunday at 10am on NJN

Power & Politics

Republican lobbyist Roger Bodman talks about the transition; Former. Sen. Bob Torricelli talks about his "to-do" list for Gov. Elec. Chris Christie; GOP activist Steve Lonegan and Democratic lobbyist Mike Murphy talking about the challenges Christie faces, what went right/wrong in the election; Bill Marino of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield addresses Health Care Reform from the perspective of the state's largest health insurer; and Eagleton Institute New Jersey Project Director Ingrid Reed looks ahead to the 2010 congressional elections.

Airs: Saturday and Sunday at 10am and 3pm on News 12 New Jersey

New Jersey Now

Political analysts George Dredden and Pat Politano discuss the possibility of Governor-Elect Chris Christie calling for a state of emergency to deal with the fiscal crisis; Meadowlands Chamber President Jim Kirkos and Rutherford Mayor John Hipp talk about the future of Xanadu under Governor-Elect Chris Christie;  Marilyn Askin of AARP NJ and Dr. Joseph Reichman of the Medical Society of NJ debate healthcare reform.

Airs: Sunday at 12pm on My9

Gov. Jon Corzine shmoozes with Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero on the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Walk to Washington in 2007.

The week after Christopher Christie takes office as governor, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce will hold their 73rd annual Walk to Washington, a chartered train that allows special interests to schmooze with elected officials – “Build Your Contacts During Two Days of Intense Networking,” according to the chamber website.   But the rift between the business advocacy group and state Republicans could cause the trip to be a bust. 

Chamber of Commerce president Joan Verplanck became closely allied with Gov. Jon Corzine over the last few years.  She angered Republican legislative leaders by endorsing Corzine’s toll hike plan, causing some Republicans to call on local businesses to leave the organization.  Verplanck was reportedly considered by Corzine as a possible candidate for Lt. Governor.

Many top Republicans, including Christie, declined to participate in this year’s chamber trip to Washington.  " Christie wants to bring real change to Trenton and that comes with ending politics as usual, which this trip has become a symbol of,” his campaign manager, Bill Stepien, said earlier this year.  Verplanck called the GOP protest “stupid.”

Anne Evans Estabrook, a former Chamber of Commerce chair and briefly in 2008 a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination, contributed to Christopher Daggett's independent campaign for governor.

Republicans have also been upset with New Jersey Business & Industry Association President Philip Kirschner, who forged an alliance with Corzine.  In a not to subtle jab at Verplanck and Kirschner, Christie named Debra DiLorenzo, the President of the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, to his transition team. 

Wakeup Call will retun on Tuesday, November 17.

Some links to stories in this morning's newspapers:

• Corzine, his time running out, mum on future
• Doblin: An inside look at the outsider now indoors
• Stile: Campaign finance reform hasn't stopped shadowy donors
• Corzine Hasn't Spoken With Bank of America on CEO Job
• Newark's Democrats: Don't blame us for Gov. Jon Corzine's loss
• Loopholes in N.J. campaign finance laws benefit biggest government contractors
• N.J. Gov. Corzine makes first public appearance with Gov.-elect Christie, vows smooth transition
• Gov.-elect Christie's transition team meets for first time
• Ex-N.J. Sen. John Lynch set to finish corruption sentence at Newark halfway house
• Engineering firm denies donating to Jersey City councilman
• NJ Gov-elect Christie forms budget-tax task force
• Corzine, Christie have cordial transition meeting
• Ex-Eagle Runyan may seek Adler's seat
• GOP wants Runyan to tackle Adler for Congress

It’s always harder to blog everyday when it’s holiday time. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, and we’re bogged down catching up on what’s going down. Last Thanksgiving was especially fun due to the addition of our 15 year old cousin, Burkely.

Former Long Beach Mayor DiAnne Gove is expected to be sworn in as a member of the State Assembly on November 23.  Gove won an August special election convention to replace Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean Twp.), who resigned following his arrest last July.  Gove retired in 2006 after 32 years as a high school history and government teacher - making her the only NJEA member in the Republican caucus.  She won a full two-year term in November.

Former Senate President John Lynch will complete his 39-month prison sentence tomorrow, and has been working at an electrical supply company run by former GOP State Sen. Jack Sinagra, according to a Star-Ledger report.   "We found something that was intellectually satisfying for him and productive for us. Cleric stuff, nothing heavy," Sinagra said of Lynch's minimum wage job at the Linden-based Turtle and Hughes.  Lynch, who served in the State Senate from 1982 to 2002, pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in 2006.

State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City) could face a primary when she seeks re-election in two years.

The primary is a year and a half away, but state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham (D-Jersey City) is in danger of being tossed off the Hudson County Democratic Organization's (HCDO) line in 2011.

That development could spark an intra-party fight like the one that engulfed Hudson County politics two and a half years ago, when a challenge by then-Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to former Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny's (D-Hoboken) had county-wide implications.  Back then, Cunningham kept the seat of former state Sen. Joseph Doria (D-Bayonne) for the HCDO, fending off a challenge by former Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D-Jersey City), who was backed by the rival Democratic organization led by Stack. 

That conflagration died down after the 2007 primary election, but Cunningham's decision in June to block Gov. Jon Corzine's appointment of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has - at least for the time being - turned the party apparatus against her.

"I've seen smaller things spark forest fires here in Hudson County," said DeGise.

DeGise said he had the support of all 12 Hudson County mayors for the Port Authority spot.  With so much of the Port Authority's infrastructure in Hudson County - the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, the Bayonne Bridge, most of the New Jersey portion of the PATH system, the Auto Marine terminal in Bayonne - DeGise said that the county should have a representative on the board of commissioners.

"Just one person - I think it's a curious system that allows for one person to block the will of a ton of others. But that's the system," he said.

Speculation that Corzine would appoint Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage to the post instead - a political ally of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth), who is Cunningham's Trenton mentor - did not come to fruition.

There is no love lost between DeGise and Cunningham.  In 2001, Cunningham defeated DeGise in a non-partisan contest for mayor of Jersey City.  Glenn Cunningham died four years later, but the hard feelings between DeGise and Sandra Cunningham remained - so much so that it was considered no small feat for Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and HCDO operatives to get them to run on the same ticket in 2007.

Still, while he doesn't hide his anger at Cunningham, DeGise thinks a public fight can be avoided.

"Diplomacy should always be used before a sledgehammer," he said.  "I can remember back now to '07, and the spark between Bernie Kenny and Brian Stack over the Senate seat just blew up into a county-wide fight, and I really to this day believe that better diplomacy could have been used to avoid that."