Assemblyman Mims Hackett says he will resign his seat in the New Jersey State Assembly and will withdraw his bid for re-election to a fourth term.  His announcement comes two days after his arrest in bribery charges, and one day after state Democratic leaders asked him to step down.

He will remain as the Mayor of Orange.

Members of the Essex County Democratic Committee from the 27th district will meet to hold two contests: a special election convention to fill the remaining four months of Hackett's current Assembly term, and to nominate a new candidate to run in the November general election.  While they could pick separate candidates in each race, Democrats are expected to give their candidate the advantage of incumbency.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is a likely candidate for the GOP nomination for Governor in 2009Perception of corruption’s so rampant, political scientists say it’s unlikely yesterday’s fiasco will substantially impact Election Day.

Every time U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie puts on the cape and lands on the steps of a federal building in either Trenton or Newark, inevitably there are those who want to try to drive over a mud puddle and spatter the fearless crusader.

What Christie has had to stare down in particular over the past year is the criticism that under the guise of Captain Americanism he’s little more than a lowly spear carrier for the Bush administration, serving a subpoena to Democrat Robert Menendez in 2006, and in ‘07 going after urban and mostly African-American lawmakers who represent poor Democratic districts.