Christopher Jackman

Until the 1970's, Assembly Speakers served a single one-year term under a system where party leadership positions were rotated annually in both houses of the Legislature.  Legislators worked their way up in the rotation, usually from Assistant Whip to Whip to Assistant Leader to Leader to Speaker. 

Thomas Kean (R-Livingston) became the first two-term Assembly Speaker.  He was elected in advance of the 1972 session after the 39-member Assembly Republican caucus cut a deal with four Democrats from Hudson and Union counties to organize the Assembly.  He spent two years as Speaker, and four years as Minority Leader after Democrats won 66 seats in the 1973 election.

Christopher Jackman (D-West New York) became person to serve four years as Speaker (he served from 1978-82), followed by similar stints by Alan Karcher (D-Sayreville) and Chuck Hardwick (R-Westfield).  Jack Collins (R-Elmer) became the first person to spend six years as Speaker - the longest stint in state history.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) is a lucky man after surviving a robbery at his home early Saturday morning.  Lesniak can be a bit of a lightening rod in New Jersey politics, so his story will spark political water cooler conversation for the next few days, at least. 

When it comes to crime, New Jersey politicians are more accustomed to being the offender that the victim.  But Lesniak is not the only victim.  In 2007, U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding) helped Washington, D.C. police officers arrest a man who stole his wallet.  NBC4 in Washington said that Frelinghuysen "was walking in the Georgetown section of the city about 9:30 p.m. when he was approached by a group of young men. The congressman told officers he felt someone grab at his wallet. But when he turned, the person started running away. Frelinghuysen began chasing the man and was joined by two D.C. police officers who happened to be driving by." An 18-year-old man was arrested

One memorable legislative crime victim was Assemblyman Silvio J. Failla of Hudson County, who was in his first term in Trenton when he was murdered by a pimp and a prostitute outside a bar in Neptune. At 62-years-old, Failla had an fine resume for a legislator: he studied to be a pharmacist at Columbia University, went to law school, and then became an undertaker. He spent twenty years as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Funeral Home Directors Association, eleven years on the Hoboken Board of Education, and in 1965, and six weeks as the Mayor of Hoboken.

ELEC Photo

Former Assembly Majority Leader Albert Burstein

Two Democratic members of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, who may play a critical role in deciding the fate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, are Trenton veterans who have spent six decades in New Jersey politics.  Both Albert Burstein and Jerry Fitzgerald English have enjoyed successful political careers, although each fell quite short of achieving their full public service ambitions.

Burstein (D-Tenafly), now 86-years-old, was widely viewed as one of the most intellectually superior and independent members of the New Jersey Legislature, where he served from 1972 to 1982, but he was also a late bloomer who fell short in several opportunities to move up.  Burstein started out in politics in 1959 as counsel to the Jersey City Charter Commission and became active in Tenafly politics in the 1960's.  He was elected to the State Assembly in 1971, when legislative redistricting created a new Englewood/Teaneck seat that leaned toward the Democrats.  Running with Byron Baer, Burstein beat Jim O'Dowd (who would later serve as Bergenfield Mayor and Bergen County Freeholder) by 2,335 votes.

When legislative districts were redrawn for the 1973 elections, the newly-created 37th became even more Democratic.  But neither Burstein nor Baer got the chance to challenge the incumbent Republican Senator, Joseph Woodcock.  That opportunity went to Bergen County Democratic Chairman Matthew Feldman, a former Teaneck Mayor who had served in the Senate from 1966 to 1968.  Feldman easily beat Woodcock and Burstein and Baer coasted to win second terms.

Under the current New Jersey Constitution, only seven Assembly Speakers have won election to the State Senate and only two, William Hamilton (D-Middlesex) and Barry Parker (R-Burlington) were sitting Speakers while running for State Senator.   

Hamilton was serving his first year as Speaker when seven-term incumbent John A. Lynch, Sr. retired in 1977.  Hamilton ran in the Democratic primary for Governor four years later, clearing the way for John A. Lynch, the Mayor of New Brunswick, to win a Senate seat. 

Parker was Speaker in 1971, the year he won a seat in the State Senate.  He was serving as Senate Minority Leader in 1981 when he left the Legislature to seek the Republican nomination for Governor.

Assembly Speaker Marion West Higgins (R-Bergen) ran for State Senator and lost the 1965 general election.  She remains the only woman to have served as Speaker.

You can't make this stuff up.

Few stories can be told about the New Jersey Legislature that can compete with the one about Assemblyman Silvio J. Failla of Hudson County, who was in his first term in Trenton when he was murdered by a pimp and a prostitute outside a bar in Neptune.

At 62-years-old, Failla had an fine resume for a legislator: he studied to be a pharmacist at Columbia University, went to law school, and then became an undertaker. He spent twenty years as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Funeral Home Directors Association, eleven years on the Hoboken Board of Education, and in 1965, six weeks as the Mayor of Hoboken. Failla was elected to the State Assembly in 1971, winning a district that strongly resembles today's 33rd district. His running mate was the legendary Christopher Jackman, a labor leader from West New York who would later become Assembly Speaker and State Senator. On Failla's first day in Trenton, three Hudson County Democrats joined with the GOP minority to elect Republican Tom Kean as Speaker. Failla was one of the three Hudson Democrats to stick with his party and back Howard Woodson for the post.

On Thursday, September 16, 1972, Failla had been playing golf in North Jersey and was planning to spend the night at his summer home in Spring Lake. About four miles from home, he stopped for a drink at Big Bill's Bar in Neptune, where he met Deborah Dell, a prostitute from New York City. Around 10:50 PM, an area resident heard what she believed to be firecracker noises, followed by the cries that may have been Failla's last words: "Help me."

When Neptune police arrived, Failla was still alive. Shot at least four times with a small-caliber handgun, he had staggered a short distance and police followed blood stains to find the Assemblyman in the bushes. He lost consciousness in the ambulance and was declared dead at 11:-5 PM. He was identified when police found his car -- with Assembly license plates that carried the gold state seal -- near the bar. Police believed robbery was the motive: Failla's wallet and watch were missing.

The night of Failla's murder, the Neptune Police Chief said there were few clues. Law enforcement officials set up a 30-member task force to find Failla's killer, and after a stakeout of a Harlem apartment on October 11, arrested Dell, a 22-year-old prostitute, and Theophus King Webster, her 26-year-old pimp. The following July, Dell and Webster were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. A witness, Webster's 19-year-old brother, testified that he saw Failla and Dell leave the bar together and then heard shots. The 5'7, 205 lb. Dell said that she left the bar with Failla and then left him. She denied any role in Failla's murder, saying she met up with Webster later at a local hamburger stand and they returned to New York later that evening.

Dell was originally released from prison after serving fifteen years of her life sentence, but returned a few times for parole violations. She has been out of custody since April 1997. Webster, who was convicted of drug and weapons possession after his arrest, has been out of custody since March 1991.

Unless something goes drastically wrong today, Democrats will retain their control of the State Assembly for another two years. With Albio Sires retiring, this will be the first time a Democratic Speaker has turned over the reigns to another Democratic Speaker since 1982, when Christopher Jackman was replaced by Alan Karcher. Sires and Jackman both came from West New York; by the early 1980's, Jackman had moved up to the Senate (following the criminal conviction of William Vincent Musto -- Bob Menendez testified against Musto in that trial) and Sires, then a Republican, was a Jackman rival.

Few stories can be told about the New Jersey Legislature that can compete with the one about Assemblyman Silvio J. Failla of Hudson County, who was in his first term in Trenton when he was murdered by a pimp and a prostitute outside a bar in Neptune. At 62-years-old, Failla had an fine resume for a legislator: he studied to be a pharmacist at Columbia University, went to law school, and then became an undertaker. He spent twenty years as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Funeral Home Directors Association, eleven years on the Hoboken Board of Education, and in 1965, six weeks as the Mayor of Hoboken.