Top Stories

The race for governor helped give PolitickerNJ.com our best month since the site launched on February 1, 2000.

As compared to the four weeks before Election Day 2008, visits to our site are up 93%.   Page views have increased by 151%, and time on site has gone up 44% -- our readers send more than 12 minutes per visit on PolitickerNJ.com.  We had over 3.5 million page views during the month leading into Election Day 2009, and nearly 600,000 visitors!

Reporters Roundtable with Michael Aron

Gannett’s Michael Symons, The Star-Ledger’s Claire Heininger, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari and PolitickerNJ.com’s Matt Friedman (me) talk about the Chris Christie’s victory.

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

On the Record

Michael Aron talks about Chris Christie with three Republican analysts: Alan Steinberg, Jeff Michaels and Gregg Edwards.

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

Power & Politics

Republican State Chairman/Assembyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) on Christie's Win, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) on Corzine's loss , Ben Dworkin of Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics with analysis,  Bill Dressell of the League of Municipalities about his hopes that Christie will address unfunded mandates, and Dr. Bart Rossi on the Body Language of the Candidates.

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

New Jersey Now

Political Consultant Rick Thigpen and FDU pollster Peter Woolley analyze the election results; Assemblymen John McKeon and Jon Bramnick discuss Governor-elect Chris Christie working with a Democratic Majority in the Legislature as well as the approval of the open space bond question. Brenda Flanagan hosts.

Airs: Sunday at 12pm on My9.

Frank Pallone

The 6th District Congressman will be talking health care and the swine flu vaccine on three programs this weekend: CBS News with Michael Levi, C-Span with Peter Slen and America’s News with Shannon Beam on Fox News.

Airs: check your listings

Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair) says he will donate a dime to charity for every campaign lawn sign brought to his Clifton office. 

"Some of these signs sit around for months following an election," said Giblin, a former Democratic State Chairman. "We can clean-up our streets and help the less fortunate at the same time." 

Giblin says the money will go to Eva's Village, a Paterson-based social services agency.

"Not only do these things become an eyesore, but the metal hangers they're on start rusting and the laminated cardboard winds up in the streets and jamming up the sewers," Giblin said. "It poses a real hazard to the environment."

It was literally minutes after Bergen County Republicans won two freeholder seats that they started eyeing another prize.

"Now for the big one: county executive," said one Republican operative who often works in Bergen County from the Chris Christie Election Night victory party in Parsippany.

Two days after winning two freeholder seats in Bergen County - a prayed for shot in the arm for a county party that has spent the last several years on the brink of irrelevance- the talk in Bergen County Republican circles is who the party will run for the top office in 2010.

"A number of people have expressed interest.  I'm hearing a lot of it informally. No one has officially come to me," said Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin, whose party could stand to receive a cash infusion now that donors see that they can win elections.

So far, three names pop up: County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, who ran in the 2006 Republican primary for the office but was defeated on the right by Todd Caliguire, who went on to lose the general election; Fair Lawn Councilman Edward Trawinski, who yesterday just won a second consecutive (and third overall) term in that heavily Democratic town; and former Hackensack Mayor Jack Zisa. 

Since the Republicans appear to have some momentum, other potential candidates are expected to come forward.  And with a GOP governor, Bergen Republicans will have an easier time raising money.

"It's a different ball game now that we've demonstrated we can win a couple county seats," said state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest), who has taken an active role in behind-the-scenes party politics.

Assemblyman David Russo (R-Ridgewood), long rumored to be interested in the post, told PolitickerNJ.com that he will not run.

MORRISTOWN - The happiest Democrat in Morris County.

That would be Tim Dougherty, who on Tuesday night won the Morristown mayor's race with 64.62% of the vote on a night when every municipality went for home county gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie by large margins with the exception of Dover, Victory Gardens and Morristown.

Doherty took pride in the fact that he won without going negative on his opponent, local businessman Jimmy Gervasio. 

"I told (campaign strategist Barrett) Tommy I'm not putting out one piece of negative literature," said the mayor-elect. "Why? I figured somebdy's gotta start doing it that way. Voters want to hear about what you're going to do."

In the primary, Dougherty built a coalition among African Americans, progressives, Latinos and downtown business people to crush veteran Morristown political animal Mayor Donald Cresitello.

Bergen County Republicans Rob Hermansen and John Driscoll won two freeholder seats with a micro-targeted, internet heavy ad campaign that focused on a positive message, according to Hermansen’s campaign manager.

Ramsey Republican activist Deirdre Woodbyrne, who ran Hermansen’s campaign but not Driscoll’s, said that her candidate smartly focused on things like a front page newspaper “popper,” Facebook ads and YouTube videos more than more traditional mediums like television, radio and mailers.

“Where Christie lost, we won. We didn’t have any money for TV ads. We didn’t have any money for radio ads.  We used the internet and we used the positive message,” she said.

Woodbyrne said the campaign got especially positive feedback from a YouTube ad they put up featuring footage of the all-Democratic Bergen County freeholder board unable to explain what a $100,000 project they were about to vote on entailed.  They voted for it anyway, drawing a rebuke at the meeting from Hermansen that was featured at the end of the video.  

One of the more aggressive critics of Gov.-elect Chris Christie early in the campaign, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) today said he plans to reach out to Christie and establish working relations with him for the sake of New Jersey.

"I wish Chris Christie well," said Pascrell. "It's going to be a tough four years overcoming the last eight years of national inaction."

The former mayor of Paterson and veteran 8th District congressman last year mused on a potential bid for the governship in the event that Corzine did not seek re-election. 

Asked if he intends to run for governor in 2013, Pascrell said, "No, it's too early to talk about that now."

Pascrell said he has not talked to defeated Gov. Jon Corzine since the governor's loss to Christie on Tuesday.

"The governor was unable to overcome some unfavorable perceptions many voters had of him," said the congressman. "Most of the Democrats running for (the legislature) didn't run with the governor, and I think it's clear he was also unable to overcome that. He was not able to articulate what he accomplished. This governor accomplished a lot of things. The state budget is the same as it was four years ago. He was trying to do his part with the caps." 

The Assembly Republican caucus this morning reelected Assembly Mniority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) to a fourth consecutive term. 

Support was unanimous.

After threatening, Assembly Conference Leader Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough) ended up not challenging DeCroce, who is rumored to be a short list candidate for the cabinet of Gov.-elect Chris Christie.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) this morning received his caucus's backing to be conference leader and Assemblyman Dave Rible (R-Wall) moved up to become whip.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton)

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) today blamed party bosses for deal-making when they should have been focused on re-electing Gov. Jon Corzine.

"Party leaders undermined the governor by having a party leadership fight," said Gusciora. "They reinforced the message that if Corzine won, the reins of power would be handed over to special interests."

Asked on Election Day morning about the intra-party deal cultivated by South Jersey Democratic Party leader George Norcross III and Newark North Ward Democratic Party boss Steve Adubato, Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) dismissed its larger-scale impact on voter production.

"It's inside baseball and affected very few people beyond Trenton," said Roberts of a North-South deal that would oust Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) in exchange for Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), and launch Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) into the lower house leadership chair being vacated by Roberts.

Former Star-Ledger Statehouse reporter Joe Donohue is joining the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Donohue, who took a buyout from the Ledger last year and moved on to become an Assistant Treasurer for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, will serve as a Deputy Director with responsibilities in communications, legislative outreach, and development of “white papers” on campaign finance trends, according to a press release from the commission.

“Joe Donohue brings to this position a wealth of experience in campaign finance issues and a reputation for fairness that will greatly assist the Commission’s efforts to protect the integrity of the State’s election finance system and to encourage a more engaged electorate,” said Brindle.,” said ELEC Executive Director Jeffrey Brindle.