Christopher Christie

There is a good chance Gov. Jon Corzine will pick his running mate before July 16, if for no other reason than to get the Democratic Lt. Governor nominee into the photos (and film for TV ads) when President Barack Obama campaigns in New Jersey.  If that happens, Republican Christopher Christie would have twelve days to consider Corzine's pick before making his own.

If Christopher Christie picks Kim Guadagno to run for Lt. Governor, and if they win the general election, look for Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall) to seek her job as Monmouth County Sheriff.  As Governor, Christie would appoint an Acting Sheriff, with the advise and consent of the State Senate.  If he were to name Rible, it would trigger a special election convention to fill his eleventh district Assembly seat - assuming he wins re-election to a second term in November.  That would mean a November 2010 special election to fill the remaining fourteen months of Rible's term.  In the potentially competitive Monmouth County-based district, that would make for an interesting referendum on Christie's first ten months as Governor.

Sources say that three Republican Congressmen who backed Christopher Christie over Steven Lonegan in the 2009 gubernatorial primary may be challenged for the GOP nomination when they run for re-election next year.  Conservative activists are seeking candidates to run against Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor), Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), and Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

Two Democratic Congressmen who were on the House Judiciary subcommittee that questioned Christopher Christie  on Thursday found themselves with unrelated political problems of their own soon after the GOP candidate for Governor left Washington.  House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' wife, Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges -- she took envelopes stuffed with cash.  And Steve Cohen, the subcommittee chairman and the Democrat who most aggressively challenged Christie on deferred prosecution agreements, will face a tough primary in a district where African American voters are the majority.  Popular five-term Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, an African American, said Thursday that he will challenge Cohen in the 2010 Democratic primary.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie, in a statement issued after the State Senate passed the budget along a party line vote, accused Gov. Jon Corzine of failing to manage New Jersey's priorities.

"The result is a budget that raises taxes, cuts spending for programs that matter, and leaves us in greater debt next year instead of responsibly planning for the future," said Christie. "When New Jerseyans are faced with mounting unemployment, billions in new taxes and home foreclosures, it's the job of the governor, not middle class families, to plan for the future, fight for meaningful priorities and make the tough choices."

Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains), the Republican State Chairman, says that the Corzine budget means "higher taxes for a state already crushed by the most terrible tax burden in the country. 

"The Governor's budget will raise our taxes by $2.8 billion this year.  That tax increase will only destroy more jobs and drive more New Jerseyans out of their homes.  No state taxes its way to prosperity - and that is an ironclad principle that Jon Corzine simply will never get," said Webber.

There was a line from Man of La Mancha: whether the pitcher hits the stone or the stone hits the pitcher, it's going to be bad for the pitcher. 

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee didn't really land a punch at former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie during his testimony today on federal monitors and deferred prosecution agreements, and it is fair to believe that he was asked to appear because he is the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey.  No new information came out of the hearing that had not appeared in the media months ago.  But for the next day or so, there will be stories that talk about Christie giving a no-bid multi-million contract to John Ashcroft and others, and that's not his best case scenario.  It might not matter that Christie completed his 2 ½ hours of testimony relatively unscathed.  What matters is that he was there, talking about issues unrelated to New Jersey's economy and the record of the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Jon Corzine.

CLICK HERE TO READ E-MAILS RELEATED TO THE ASHCROFT FEDERAL MONITOR CONTRACT

WASHINGTON - Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie said that the ethics chair awarded in his honor to his alma mater, Seton Hall University, was not his idea.  

The chair was paid for by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which was represented by Mary Jo White, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  

“It was the suggestion of counsel for Bristol-Myers Squibb that one of the things they wanted to do to ensure an ethical culture in their company was to endow a chair at the New Jersey law school on ethics,” said Christie. 

WASHINGTON - Deferred prosecution agreements for medical implant companies have saved thousands of jobs, kept important devices on the market and have forced companies to pay money back to consumers and the federal government, Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie argued in his opening statement before a House subcommittee.

Indictments of the companies, Christie said, would have had inexorable repercussions for an industry that employs 47,000 people and relies on Medicare for the majority of its payments.  A conviction would bar them from participating in the program, he said, potentially dealing a death blow to a significant portion of the industry.

“Those lateral consequences, in my view, were something that absolutely had to be avoided,” he said. 

WASHINGTON -- Testimony is set to begin shortly, but the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law’s ranking Republican member, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), put out an early statement blaming the controversy over deferred prosecution agreements on New Jersey Democrats, the state’s press corps and the New York Times.

Arguing that untold economic damage was done in his home state due to Enron’s prosecution and collapse, Franks said that deferred prosecution agreements offered an alternative to a more damning prosecution.  

“These agreements worked.  The companies cleaned up their acts.  Jobs were preserved,” he wrote.  “Chris Christie deserves a medal for achievements like these, and so do other U.S. Attorneys who obtain similar results.”

Today is an important moment in the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey.  In Trenton, Gov. Jon Corzine seeks to get Legislative approval of his state budget.  In Washington, Republican Christopher Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, testifies before a House Judiciary subcommittee considering legislation to change the way federal monitors in deferred prosecution agreements are selected.

Corzine, with upside-down approval ratings in independent polls, especially on economic issues, needs a budget that he can sell as a success story.  Christie, criticized for lucrative federal monitor contracts to former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, former New York U.S. Attorney David Kelley, and political allies Herbert Stern and John Inglesino, needs to get through the hearing without making any real news.  He wants to make sure voters care more about Corzine's handling of the economy.