Brendan Byrne

Pat Kramer, former mayor of Paterson, right, with state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).: Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Among those at the Republican National Convention stand two venerable members of the Grand Old Party who once slugged it out in a gubernatorial primary.

The title "former governor" in front of the name Thomas Kean provides the most obvious evidence for his 1981 statewide victory over Lawrence "Pat" Kramer, former mayor of Paterson.

But the man who unwittingly helped Kean beat Kramer isn’t a Republican, and was actually in attendance last week at the Democratic National Convention.

He’s former Gov. Brendan Byrne, whose hand-picked successor - then-attorney general, John Degnan - didn’t have the backing of the Democratic Party chairs.

Former Gov. Brendan Byrne: Politicker file photo 

DENVER - The crowd here at the Inverness jumped to its feet for former Gov. Brendan Byrne, who went to the podium to address the delegation - and promptly dropped them practically out of their chairs with laughter.

"When I heard Cory Booker here the other day, he was inspiring," said Byrne, of the Newark mayor’s Revolutionary War evocation at Monday’s breakfast.

Byrne said he tried to do the same thing once in the name of Jersey pride, and it backfired massively.

Former Gov. Brendan Byrne, right, and Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. Byrne may do what Tom Kean and Dick Hughes could not: elect their son Governor
DENVER – There are surely other father and son duos here in Denver, but perhaps none as recognizable as former Governor Brendan Byrne and his son Tom.

And Tom Byrne, the former Democratic State Chairman who currently works as a financial advisor, admits that having another Governor Byrne in the future is a possibility, though perhaps vague and distant.

Like U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and State Sen. Stephen Sweeney, Byrne admits that he would weigh running for Governor in the unlikely event that Gov. Corzine was offered and accepted a position in an Obama administration.

Byrne said he’s interested, but warned not to read into it too much.

“I think probably every third person in here is [interested],” he said

Gov. Brendan T. Byne, right, earlier this week with Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.: Politicker file photo 

Ask former Gov. Brendan Bryne about his most memorable Democratic National Convention and he fires back the answer without hesitation: 1976.

"The first one with Jimmy Carter was a new experience for me, although he did not carry New Jersey," said Byrne, who served as governor from 1974-1982.

"It was a festive atmosphere, as I recall," he said. "People were throwing peanuts around the convention hall and everything had a newness for me, though now it’s a little bit stale."

Gov. Jon Corzine, former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, and Senate President Richard Codey: Politicker photo

NEWARK - On a ridiculously hot day in which many other public speakers might have sent the brow-mopping audience on a premature beeline for the nearest watering hole, former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne regaled his willing audience with charm and one-liners.

"Everything else I asked for, but I didn’t ask for this," said Byrne, before officially accepting the honor bestowed by the Essex County Freeholders and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, and before he pulled the American flag off a stone fixture in a plaza named after him.

"When my kids used to visit me here, I used to put them in jail, and that taught them to stay on the straight and narrow," he cracked.

Gov. Jon Corzine, left, and former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne today in Newark.: Politicker photo

NEWARK - The presence of a beloved former anything in the world of politics invariably intensifies public scrutiny where it concerns that person’s successor, especially when that successor is currently in office.

So an Essex County favorite son, the 84-year old former Gov. Brendan Byrne standing beside Gov. Jon Corzine before a packed audience of county diehards today, created myriad opportunities for parallels.

On this day, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo’s unveiled the Gov. Brendan T. Byrne Plaza, honoring the former county prosecutor and governor with his own local monument.

"Because of everything he stood for," DiVincenzo said of Byrne, who served as governor from 1974-1982. "Because he stood for doing the right thing. Whether it was with (raising) the income tax or the Meadowlands, he always did the right thing."

Then DiVincenzo introduced Corzine, who would introduce Byrne.

Tom Byrne might challenge Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primaryFormer Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne confirmed today that he’s seriously mulling a primary bid against incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Byrne, who works as a financial consultant and is the son of former Gov. Brendan Byrne (his full name is actually Brendan Thomas Byrne, Jr.), has already commissioned a poll on his prospects and expects to learn its results by Friday. He’ll make a decision on whether or not to run over the weekend.

“The big factor will be whether people think it’s time for a change,” said Byrne, who headed up the state Democratic party between 1994 and 1997.

In September, PolitickerNJ.com reported that Byrne wouldn’t rule out a primary challenge against Lautenberg.

The last sitting U.S. Attorney to win election as Governor of New Jersey was Garret Wall in 1828. He declined to serve.: U.S. Senate PhotoChris Christie is not the only federal prosecutor with an eye on higher office. But if he decides to run for governor, he'll need to figure out the optimum timing of his formal announcement.

One man who can understand Christie's position is 88-year-old Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Back in 1962, just one year after John F. Kennedy named him U.S. Attorney for New York's southern district, Morgenthau resigned to make a gubernatorial bid against incumbent Nelson D. Rockefeller at the urging of the New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.

Morgenthau lost, 53%-44%. Partly, he said, because he entered the race too late. As U.S. Attorney, it would have been inappropriate for him to meet with officials or campaign donors to shore up support for a run, he said.

After spending six years working as a private sector lawyer, former Acting Governor and Senate Co-President Donald DiFrancesco wants to get back into public service – perhaps as a board member of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

“Would I be interested? Yeah, sure. Will I get it? I’m not sure,” said DiFrancesco. “It’s the other party. He probably has a lot of people who he wants to put on there.”

HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE: "I don’t think he’s in any real trouble...they’re just pesky things," says former Gov. Brendan Byrne on Jon Corzine's emailsIn his 1974 inaugural speech, Brendan T. Byrne borrowed a line from New Jersey’s most famous former governor: Woodrow Wilson. “If you think too much about being reelected, it is very difficult to be worth reelecting,” it read.

The next year, Byrne took that wisdom to heart, pushing through a wildly unpopular new state income tax. So unpopular, in fact, that it cost Democrats seventeen Assembly seats in the mid-term elections, made Byrne consider not running for reelection, and led to eight other Democrats challenging him in the gubernatorial primary in 1977.

Thirty-two years later, Gov. Jon S. Corzine used that same Woodrow Wilson line in his inaugural address. But for all the criticism Corzine has faced lately, it’s nothing compared to the backlash Byrne saw in the 70’s, said the former Governor.