Only in New Jersey would one of the most corrupt politicians take such stance. Joe Cryan has three jobs one being the Democratic Chairman. If he were so concerned with ethics wouldn't he resign as Assemblyman so it wouldn't appear that he is giving himself an advantage when running for office in a primary. This is typical double speak coming from a tea tottler thief. What Karen Golding ever saw in this pig if a mystery. I sincerely hope tha Chris Christie makes this guys life miserable.

amen

Who has more of a conflict, a SoS who will be on the ballot or an SoS who needs the incumbent to win to retain his/her appointment?

Putting that aside, all but 9 SoS's are elected nationwide. 3 states don't have an SoS but have a Lt. Governor. Of the 38 that have elected SoS, 80% + have named the elected SoS as the State's Chief Election Official under HAVA.

Perhaps the good Assemblyman has not heard of the other 40+ states with elected Secretaries of State who must certify the results of their own races when they run for re-election.  Certainly those states have managed.

If it was actual concern and not just feigned outrage then it should have been discussed and removed as a cabinet option by the legislature when the bill was in front of them a couple of years ago.  I would like to see Asm. Cryan's position when the bill to create the Lt. Gov was before him.

What a jerk.  Does he forget that each of the 21 County Clerks run for re-election every 5 years and they are the chief elections officer for their respective county, not to mention they set-up the ballot for every election, including their own.  It may not be right or sound right but this is the way it's been.  Why didn't Cryan offer legislation that prohibited the Lt. Gov from serving as Secretary of State.  He voted for the legislation knowing full well the Lt. Gov could assume this position.  Stop crying over the results of the election and work with the incoming administration.

I agree with most of the comments regarding Cryan's hypocrisy, etc.  However, there is one technical error in the preceding comment.  The County Clerks are not the chief election officials in their counties - there are none.  The County Clerks, the Boards of Elections, the Superintendents of Election in the counties that have them and the Municipal Clerks, each have specified election duties and none of them have formal management powers over the others.

Cryan you are a LOSER!

I thought the Lt. Governor could not serve as Secretary of State or Attorney General. I guess I read the constitutional change wrong. It is a conflict of interest.

the Sec of State post before the Primary. Big deal. Cryan is such a clod.

When will this "party hack" get it---drinking heavily before issuing press releases is NOT a good thing. It's obvious that Boozing Joe needs to hire someone to read the legislation for him before he votes. His ancestors must be so proud....

I love it when dems complain about their own. It just proves how impotent they are.

Cryan is not impotent, he just thinks he is "im poh tant!"

Someone should tell Joe Cryan that a great many states have elected Secretaries of State who all supervise their states electoral systems (among other responsibilities) with nary a controversy. That is no more of a conflict than Kim Guadagno performing that same function. It only makes sense.

Why does everyone have to get so unbelievably rude on this website? First of all, Cryan raises a valid point. Doesn't anyone remember that genius of Florida politics who so ably "enforced" the laws during the 2000 campaign? It's a great idea to have the LG act as Secretary of State as a way to save money etc. In order to remove even the potential for concern about self-dealing now that an elected official is likely to hold that post for the foreseeable future (future Gov's are likely to follow Christie's lead on this as it makes sense) the election certifying process should be transferred to the Attorney General. And please, can't we all lighten up a little and lay off the innuendoes and nastiness. The only way to deal with our State's (and nation's) problems is stop the innane hyperbolic attacks of good people like Cryan, Christie, and others who at least are willing to serve and try to make a difference.