Bill Gormley

If Joe Pennacchio wins his race for the United States Senate, he would become the first sitting State Senator to go directly to the U.S. Senate since William Smathers ousted Hamilton Kean in 1936.  Smathers was elected to the State Senate from Atlantic County in 1935 and went on to unseat the one-term incumbent, whose great-grandson, Thomas Kean, Jr., is now the State Senate Minority Leader.

The last incumbent State Senator to win a statewide U.S. Senate primary was Kean, Jr. in 2006, and before that, William Ely, a Bergen County Democrat who lost an open U.S. Senate race in 1938.  The rest, including Alexander Menza (1978), Dick LaRossa (1996), Bill Gormley (2000), Diane Allen and John Matheussen (2002).

The regions are named after four exceptionally smart legislators of the past: Judge Stephen Perskie (D-Atlantic), who served in the State Assembly from 1972 to 1978 and in the Senate from 1978 to 1982; Bill Gormley (R-Atlantic), who served in the Assembly from 1978 to 1982 and in the Senate from 1982 to 2007; Stephen Wiley (D-Morris), who was a State Senator from 1974 to 1978; and Richard DeKorte (R-Bergen), an Assemblyman from 1968 to 1971.

Conservative activist Steve Lonegan isn’t surprised that Gov. Corzine’s fiscal restructuring plan is so unpopular.

A Quinnipiac poll released today puts the public’s opposition to the plan at 73%. 

The more Corzine has tried to promote his fiscal restructuring plan, Lonegan said, the more distasteful the public finds it. As he’s traveled across the state to protest it, Lonegan has found mostly sympathetic reactions.

Bill Baroni will head John McCain's presidential campaign in New JerseyState Sen. Bill Baroni has been named State Chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign in New Jersey, and Rick Mroz, a former Chief Counsel to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, will serve as State Campaign Coordinator. Former Gov. Tom Kean is the Honorary State Chair and former Rep. Dick Zimmer is the Honorary Vice Chair.

Judge Steven Perskie, who wrote the legislation that brought casino gambling to Atlantic City in the 1970’s and perhaps one of the smartest people to serve in the New Jersey Legislature, turns 63 today. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1971, at age 26 – part of a Democratic team that toppled the powerful Atlantic County Republican machine. In that race, Joseph McGahn, a physician and the first Democrat to serve as Mayor of Absecon, defeated the legendary Frank “Hap”Farley, the Atlantic GOP boss and a 41-year veteran of the Senate, by nearly 12,000 votes. Perkie and his running mate, 27-year-old attorney James Colasurdo, defeated Republican incumbent Samuel Curcio (the father of Atlantic County Freeholder James Curcio), and Howard Haneman, who was seeking an open seat created by the retirement of Albert Smith, a former Assembly Speaker.

More than 1,000 people were in Atlantic City last night to pay tribute to Bill Gormley, the powerful former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman who spent nearly thirty years in the Legislature before his retirement last February. The event, which raised money for the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, featured remarks from Governor Jon Corzine, former Governor Brendan Byrne, Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie.

Governor Jon Corzine and former Governor Thomas Kean will be the speakers at a November 29 dinner honoring former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman William Gormley at Trump Taj Mahal.  Proceeds of the event will go to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation.  Gormley retired from the Senate in February after nearly thirty years in the Legislature.

One of the biggest stakeholders in next week’s mid-term election is seven-term Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo, who played a key role in Sonny McCullough’s victory over Frank Blee in a February 2007 Special Election Convention for State Senator. 

LoBiondo’s political fortunes are also closely tied to the success of his close friend, State Senator Nicholas Asselta; polling from both parties shows the incumbent trailing.  Maryannie Harper, LoBiondo’s longtime Chief of Staff, is on a leave of absence to run Asselta’s campaign.

If Wayne DeAngelo wins and Linda Greenstein loses in the fourteenth district Assembly race next week, Greenstein would become the first incumbent to lose to a running mate in thirty years.  The last time was in the second district in 1977.  Democratic Assemblyman Steven Perskie moved up to the Senate and Democrat Michael Matthews took his seat.  Republican Assemblyman Howard Kupperman finished third, trailing his running mate, Atlantic County Freeholder William Gormley.

The Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University is sponsoring their annual post-election conference to analyze the general election results – always a fun and informative session.  But this year, Eagleton may have inadvertently failed to provide partisan balance: their panelists are former Democratic State Chairman Thomas Byrne, who supports Democratic candidates; former Republican State Senator Bill Gormley, who is fairly open in his support of Democratic State Senate candidate James Whelan in the second district; and New Jersey Business and Industry Association Vice President Christine Stearns, who has raised money for Democratic candidates this year. Is the most Republican-leaning panelist Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran, who some Democrats say is the Honorary Chairman of Chris Christie for Governor 2009?