Bonnie Watson Coleman

DEMOCRATIC LEADERS SAY CHRISTIE IS TOO CONSERVATIVE FOR NEW JERSEY

“Why would we want a George Bush clone in New Jersey after we finally got rid of him?”

TRENTON – Democratic state chairman Joe Cryan, Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman today said that the Republican primary voters have yet again chosen a gubernatorial candidate too conservative for New Jersey and out of touch with the mainstream values of the Garden State.

New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Joan Verplanck is reportedly under consideration to become Jon Corzine's running mate

Democratic sources say that Gov. Jon Corzine is seriously considering Joan Verplanck, the President of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce for the last fourteen years and a Republicna, for Lt. Governor.  Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) is also reportedly in contention to become Corzine's running mate.

Verplanck and the business advocacy group she heads have become closely allied with Corzine over the last few years.  She angered Republicans by endorsing Corzine's plan to raise tolls, causing some GOP legislators to call on local businesses to leave the group. Earlier this year, GOP gubernatorial candidates skipped the organization's annual train trip to Washington, D.C., criticizing the traditional event that offered access to the state's political leaders.  Verplanck called the GOP protest "stupid."

WATSON COLEMAN / CRUZ-PEREZ / JASEY / EVANS / GUSCIORA LEGISLATION TARGETING HOMELESSNESS ADVANCES

(TRENTON) – Legislation to give counties the ability to establish grant programs to provide affordable housing and support services for the formerly homeless and those at risk of losing their home was released Thursday by a Senate committee.

The bill (A-3101) is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Mila Jasey (D-Essex), Elease Evans (D-Passaic) and Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer).

“The number of homeless, in New Jersey – especially women and children – is unacceptably high and may go even higher as more families face the very real and scary prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure,” said Watson Coleman (D-Mercer). “State and local governments must work together to provide more funding and better services to provide access to affordable housing and ensure families have another option to living in a shelter or on the street.”

Democratic Leaders Call on Christie to Account For $3 Billion In Increases

"Even people who 'critique' for a living need to be truthful"

 
TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Senator Stephen Sweeney (D-Salem) and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) today called on Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie to detail where he would come up with an additional $3 billion in budget add-ons he proposed on NJN's On The Record with Michael Aron.

The Governor in Essex on Wednesday evening.

WEST ORANGE – The Governor of New Jersey usually doesn’t wait long to address a collective of his own party, but this being Essex in a gubernatorial election year, the governor stayed on ice during a drum roll ceremony that was as much a buildup of Essex as it was a buildup to Gov. Jon Corzine.

Corzine didn’t appear to mind – and with reason.

“Barack Obama won nearly 250,000 votes in Essex last year,” the governor roared when he finally took the microphone. “If you give me 250,000 votes, this election’s signed, sealed and delivered” – a reference to the Stevie Wonder anthem a deejay played to introduce Corzine, subliminally strengthening the governor’s linkage to Obama, who  favored the song last year on the campaign trail.

The all-day buzz was that this Essex County Democratic Convention would present the unmistakable photo op of former Gov./Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange) and Corzine onstage together, arms raised in a ceremonial show of solidarity as the blockbuster credits rolled. 

THREE ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATIC RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES BECOME LAW
 
(TRENTON) - Gov. Jon S. Corzine today signed into law three Assembly Democratic measures designed to improve energy efficiency, expand solar and wind energy production and promote solar energy usage in new homes.

Peter Shapiro was 23-years-old when he unseated Assemblyman Rocco Neri in 1975. He is the youngest person to win a State Assembly seat in New Jersey.

If 21-year-old Brian Hackett wins his bid for State Assembly in the politically competitive fourteen district this year, he will become the youngest legislator in state history.  The four youngest legislators each ousted incumbents who were not viewed to be in serious electoral trouble.

In 1975, Peter Shapiro, a 23-year-old Harvard graduate who had worked as an aide to the state Transportation Commissioner, ran against the Essex County Democratic Organization and defeated Assemblyman Rocco Neri (D-Irvington).  In 1991, 24-year-old Republican John Hartmann, a second year law student at Seton Hall, beat veteran Assemblyman Gerald Naples (D-Trenton). 

Edward Hynes was 25 when he ousted a Republican Assemblyman in 1971.  Stephen Adubato, Jr., the son of a powerful Newark political leader and a former aide to Shapiro, was 26 when he unseated GOP Assemblyman John Kelly (R-Nutley) in 1983.

Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair)

PASSAIC – Former Democratic Party state chairman Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair) prefers another former state chair for the position of lieutenant governor on a ticket with Gov. Jon Corzine.

He said if the governor asked him, he would recommend Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).

“I think Bonnie is good because she knows the issues and has a leadership role in the legislature, she already has statewide reach as former chair of the party and as an African American woman she would help the governor with the party’s urban base,” said Giblin.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) thinks that Gov. Jon Corzine should consider gender in picking a Lieutenant Governor, but not as a top priority.

"I would hope that it is a woman.  I think that since it is a new job it would be another breakthrough for women in the state.  But I don't think that's a basic requirement," she said.

Weinberg said that the three potential candidates that she's heard the most speculation about - state Sens. Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford), Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Trenton) would all bring valuable traits to the job.

Another name for the list of potential Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor, according to one party leader, is former state Commerce Secretary Virginia Bauer. She first appeared in the public eye as an advocate for 9/11 families after her husband was among the casualties of the attack on the World Trade Center.  She later became state Lottery Director and now serves as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  Bauer is a senior vice president at Covenant House, and in 2007 married Donald Steckroth, a federal bankruptcy judge.

There are some leaders among the Democratic base who are strongly pushing Gov. Jon Corzine to consider a woman as his running mate.  Other possible candidates often mentioned by Democratic insiders include Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen), Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), Assemblywoman Pamela Rosen Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill), Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, and Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz.