Amid DEP buzz, McKeon focuses on re-election, open space question

BELMAR - Inevitably, observation of Assemblyman John McKeon's (D-West Orange) higher profile and intensified advocacy for open space and environmental issues coincides with Senate President Richard Codey's (D-Roseland) public battle to remain in the chair of senatorial power.

Those dynamics in the 27th District have created speculation that McKeon, alert to a shakeup as redistricting looms next year, may be angling to head the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) if Gov. Jon Corzine is reelected.  

"No one's asked me (about serving as DEP commissioner)," McKeon, who on Wednesday night co-chaired Caroline Kennedy's rally at the Barclay for Corzine, told PolitickerNJ.com.

He added, "I'm totally focused on my own re-election."

But Codey's situation may impact the 51-year old McKeon, as the sitting senate president faces the prospect next year of being unseated by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) and the empowerment of Codey's political antagonists to redraw a district map for 2011 that would favor their closest allies and conceivably weaken the current legislative occupants of District 27.

It was Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo who forged the alliance with South Jersey to back Sweeney for Senate President, in exchange for South Jersey's support of Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) as Speaker of the Assembly.

"It's sad," said McKeon. "I'm a great admirer of Gov. Codey's, but it looks like he doesn't have the support he deserves. As it relates to me, I am just going to work hard and focus on getting re-elected."

If the veteran legislator and former Governor Codey decides not to pursue re-election to his senate seat in 2011, the DiVincenzo-Sweeney alliance and their redistricting and county committee cadre would likely press for the spoils of war to go to one of their own organization members and try to exact another senator from among their own ranks out of the deal before agreeing to give independent Democrat McKeon the line as their party's nominee for state senate.

While respectful of his prime sponsorship of the Highlands Act and his leadership role as chairman of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, Essex County sources say it's unlikely McKeon would shelve his successful local law practice to make a move to the DEP.

Against the backdrop of the Codey-Sweeney drama and the potential tenuousness of the district for McKeon, there was recent buzz that he might decide to protect his West Orange mayor's seat when it's up next year instead of abandoning the post he's held for a decade as most local politicos have long believed.

To that point, McKeon on Wednesday night said, "You never rule anything out completely, but without sounding self-serving, the issue is it's time to turn the page (on the mayor's job)."

Whatever new challenges Codey's top of the ticket situation coupled with redistricting create for McKeon next year, the West Orange politician first intends to secure his legislative seat, and claim part of the credit for an open space bond question that will appear on the Nov. 3rd ballot and at the moment appears headed for a double digit victory, according to a poll released this week. 

On Wednesday night, when McKeon introduced former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, he lauded the elder statesman and onetime namesake of the Brendan Byrne Arena from West Orange as an enduring protector of the environment.

"As governor, he preserved over a million acres of the Pinelands," McKeon told the crowd. "The Brendan Byrnes State Forest is better than any old arena anyway."