Buster Soaries

The Rev. Pastor Buster Soaries

The Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries said he's calling other African American leaders today to build support for Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) as the successor to retiring Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden), and threatened to back pedal from any involvement in the gubernatorial election unless Gov. Jon Corzine throws his support to Watson Coleman.

"The Democrats cannot continue to expect to get loyalty from African Americans," said Soaries, a Republican turned Democrat who served as secretary of state under former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman. "We deferred to conventional politics over the selection for senator and lieutenant governor. If Bonnie Watson Coleman is overlooked - if conventional politics negates serious consideration - we're going to respond vociferously."

Democratic Party sources place Watson Coleman, a former chair of the state party organization, and Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union), the current state chair of the party, in the top tier of those legislators most likely to pursue the top position in the legislature's lower house.

Reality TV star Randal Pinkett told the Associated Press this morning that he would consider running for Lt. Governor if Gov. Jon Corzine asks him to join the ticket, but said his meeting with the governor has not led to an offer yet.

A group of civic, academic and religious leaders, some very close to Corzine, submitted an op-ed to the Star-Ledger today endorsing Pinkett for the job - and slapping the state's largest newspaper for dismissing Pinkett's candidacy so quickly.  The letter was submitted by former PSE&G CEO Alfred Koeppe and the Rev. M. William Howard, and said it represented the views of former Corzine Deputy Chief of Staff Jeannine LaRue, Rutgers Professors Carl Van Horn, the Rev. Reginald Jackson, former Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries, Newark leader Clement Price, and Richard Roper, the Planning Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Conventional wisdom is that Pinkett would not speak publicly about his interest in running for LG until after Corzine made his pick.  But maybe the selection process is one big reality show, and Pinkett will use the forum to show Democratic leaders what kind of candidate he would make.  If he takes that kind of gamble and wins, it might give Corzine the cover to select him.

South Plainfield Councilman Franky Salerno

Franky Salerno, a 25-year-old Democratic Councilman from South Plainfield, is in some trouble after political opponents sent out links of a MySpace message he posted during his 2008 campaign in which he used a variation of the N-word in a birthday message to a friend.

"I'm not denying it, but that's kind of ridiculous," said Salerno, an Iraq War veteran who is serving his first term in office. "It's a little on the BS side. This is about a handful of bad grapes out there who are fishing to hurt me, and it's just ridiculous."
 
In a telephone interview, the Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries told PolitickerNJ.com that he had heard about Salerno's comments.

"He'll probably want to reconsider his choice of words," said Soaries. "If he shows a lack of remorse he'll probably have more trouble than he bargained for, but it is absolutely unacceptable to use an ethnic slur in any context especially for an elected official or someone in public life."

Notching 8% in this week's Quinnipiac University poll, far behind former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie at 53% and Gov. Jon Corzine at 41%, Independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett confirmed that his focus before this month was almost exclusively on trying to qualify for public matching funds, which he did.

"We're at 8% and that's before we've gone on TV and with no advertising," said Daggett, who last week filed to qualify for matching funds, which would land him $1 million for his campaign. "To this point it's been a race between Chris Christie and Jon Corzine, but people are moving in my direction. Independents will decide this election."

According to Quinnipiac, Christie leads Corzine among Independents, 64%-28%, but that lead shrinks to 54%-24% in a contest among Christie, Corzine and Daggett. The latter receives 13% of the Independent vote, 6% of the Democratic vote, and 4% of the Republican vote. 

Ninety-two percent of state voters don't know him.

Rev. Pastor Reginald Jackson

Political junkies hoping to revel in a war between two big African American churches - one in North and one in Central Jersey - over a lieutenant governor prospect named Randal Pinkett will be disappointed to learn that the pastors of those respective flocks in fact agree on Pinkett's merits, and would both heartily support him for the job in the event Gov. Jon Corzine selects him.

Pinkett attends the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, so it's no newsflash that the Rev. Pastor DeForest "Buster" Soaries, a longtime Republican turned independent in the Obama era, likes him as a match for the governor.

But powerful Democratic leader and fundraiser Rev. Pastor Reginald Jackson of St. Matthew A.M.E. Church in Orange also likes Pinkett, indeed knows him well, and would enthusiastically support him if Corzine chooses him.

"He would be a very formidable candidate," said Jackson. "He has no elected experience but he's been involved in public life. I do think that he'd be a breath of fresh air. He's bright and affable and articulate and is always abreast of state issues."

The Rev. Pastor Buster Soaries, who served as New Jersey Secretary of State under two Republican Governors, has told Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine to pick TV reality star Randal Pinkett as his running mate.

SOMERSET - The First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens dominates the streetscape in this gritty stretch of Franklin that laps at the edges of New Brunswick, and at the pulpit on a Monday night, where summer Bible study has packed the outsized parking lot and filled the rows with congregants, the Rev. Pastor DeForest "Buster" Soaries Jr. opens the Good Book and urges scrutiny of a certain passage.  
 
Simultaneously, in the enclosures of political power, Gov. Jon Corzine and his allies are squinting extra hard at one of Soaries' church members: Dr. Randal Pinkett, a technology consultant, Rhodes scholar, family man, nice guy, cunning victor of Donald Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice," and celebrity, who lives here in Franklin on the other side of town.

Pinkett's also studying Corzine - and the political situation around Corzine - to determine if he wants to run and potentially serve as the state's first lieutenant governor.

"I recommended Randal," Soaries tells PolitickerNJ.com when the pastor repairs to his chambers after delivering his sermon. "If he can afford to do it, I thought he'd be a great, fresh face. I gave Randal his first contract here. He's thoroughly honest. The fact that he doesn't have any government experience when it comes to New Jersey politics, I think is a blessing. Of course, our trouble is that pay-to-play is built into the fabric of New Jersey politics. The fact that Randal is pure - from a political perspective - is refreshing."

Soaries knows this game.

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre is expected to enter the race for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey's 12th district.  He wants toun against six-term U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell). 

Holt, 60, was elected to Congress in 1998 in a 51%-48% upset victory that took advantage of incumbent Michael Pappas' weaknesses.  He defied pundits two years later by holding the seat against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, winning by just 651 votes.  Boosted by some adjustments to his district after the 2000 Census, Holt won 61% against former N.J. Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries in 2002, 59% against GOP activist Bill Spadea in 2004, 65% against former Helmetta Councilman Joseph Sinagra in 2006, and 62% against Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman in 2008.

The decision of Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) to remove his name from consideration for Lt. Governor removes one of the top names from Chris Christie's list, and makes State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan more serious contenders.  Kean was reportedly one of the leading contenders to become Christie's running mate.

Democratic sources say that Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) remains a strong candidate to run with Gov. Jon Corzine. Other names being mentioned by party leaders this week include two Republicans, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Joan Verplanck and Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries, a former N.J. Secretary of State.  It's hard to imagine Soaries is a real contender: he was an early supporter of George W. Bush for President in 2000, and national Republicans helped him in his congressional campaign against Democrat Rush Holt in 2002.  His presence on the ticket might make it more difficult for Democrats to tie Christie to Bush, as they did at Corzine's campaign kickoff on Tuesday.

Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre has expressed some interest in running for Congress next year against Democrat Rush Holt.

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre is considering a bid for Congress against Democrat Rush Holt in 2010 and spent some time on last week's Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington making some early fundraising connections.  Holt is a heavy favorite to win a seventh term, but in a hypothetical situation where President Barack Obama's approval ratings during his midterm election were in decline, New Jersey 12 is the type of district that could be on the bubble of competitiveness.

Holt, 60, was elected to Congress in 1998 in a 51%-48% upset victory that took advantage of incumbent Michael Pappas' weaknesses.  He defied pundits two years later by holding the seat against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, winning by just 651 votes.  Boosted by some adjustments to his district after the 2000 Census, Holt won 61% against former N.J. Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries in 2002, 59% against GOP activist Bill Spadea in 2004, 65% against former Helmetta Councilman Joseph Sinagra in 2006, and 62% against Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman in 2008.