Chuck Hardwick

Richard Bagger first showed a penchant for making a reasonable argument as an eighteen-year-old Princeton University sophomore when he testified before Assembly Judiciary Committee in support of legislation that would raise the age for carry-out alcohol sales while allowing the drinking age in bars and restaurants to remain at 18.  He argued that the compromise would at least stop teenagers from being able to buy large quantities of liquor that could be distributed to underage drinkers.  The sponsor of that bill was Chuck Hardwick, a freshman Assemblyman from Bagger's hometown, Westfield.  Twelve years later, Hardwick backed Bagger's bid to succeed him in the Legislature. 

Gov.-elect Christopher Christie announced today that the 49-year-old Bagger would serve as Co-Chairman of his transition task force on budget and tax issues.

Bagger became involved in politics at a young age, backing George H.W. Bush for President in 1980 and Thomas Kean for Governor in 1981.  At age 23, as a Rutgers law student, Bagger was elected Westfield Councilman.  He became Mayor six years later.  When he ran for Assemblyman in 1991, he just narrowly won the Union County GOP convention against Alan Augustine, a Union County Freeholder and former Scotch Plains Mayor.  Augustine joined Bagger in the Assembly a year later when he won a special election convention and they two became political allies.

After winning an Assembly seat, Bagger sought an ethics ruling about his position as an associate at McCarter & English, one of the state's largest and most prestigious law firms. Told that he might have a conflict because some of his firm's clients did business with the state, Bagger quit his job.  He spent some time as a lawyer at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey before joining Pfizer at the invitation of Hardwick, a top executive.

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.

Democrats do not view the race for State Assembly in the 21st district as winnable even with the death of popular Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) and are unlikely to put up much of a fight in November against the winner of a special election convention to fill the vacant State Assembly seat.  Munoz and Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick won re-election by more than 10,000 votes in 2007.

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Former Gov. Tom Kean, endorsing John McCain for President before the New Hampshire GOP primary last year. Kean also endorsed State Sen. Bob Martin in a 2003 primary against Jay Webber.

As he endorsed Christopher Christie for the 2009 GOP gubernatorial nomination on Wednesday, former Governor Thomas Kean, Sr. reminded reporters that the only other time he involved himself in a Republican Primary was when his son ran for the U.S. Senate three years ago.   That's not completely accurate.  During his second term as Governor, Kean went to Hudson County to endorse Albio Sires, a Republican activist from West New York who had been recruited by state Republicans to challenge U.S. Rep. Frank Guarini (D-Jersey City) in 1986.  Sires was facing a primary challenge from one of two Republicans on the Hudson County Board of Freeholders.

At the time, Republicans believed they were looking at a possible political realignment in Hudson County.  They had won two Freeholder seats in 1984 and four Assembly seats in 1985.  Ronald Reagan carried Hudson in 1984, and Kean won every town in the county when he ran for re-election in 1985.  The GOP was playing heavily in non-partisan municipal races that year, and was counting on electing a Republican Mayor of Union City, where Assemblyman Ronald Dario (R-Union City) was heading a local ticket - financed by the GOP - that included a young lawyer named Robert Menendez.

The last time a legislator gave up his seat to run statewide, only to keep their old job after losing the primary, was in 1989.  Assembly Speaker Chuck Hardwick finished third in the race for the Republican nomination for Governor.  During the summer, Assemblyman Peter Genova decided not to seek re-election, paving the way for Hardwick to seek a seventh term.  Hardwick won, narrowly, but the Republican who was originally nominated for the open seat, former Westfield Mayor Ronald Frigerio, lost the general election to Union County Freeholder Neil Cohen.

The last time someone gave up his seat to run statewide and then found a safety net to return after losing the primary was in 1989, when Assembly Speaker Chuck Hardwick sought the Republican nomination for Governor.  After finishing third in the primary, Hardwick was able to return to the Legislature when his running mate, Peter Genova, decided to drop his re-election bid.  Talk of Camden County Democrats nominating Camille Andrews to replace her husband in the first district congressional race (she was one of sixteen names on George Norcross’s short list of House candidates) has caused some Democrats – and Republicans – to question Andrews’ commitment to the Senate race, and his confidence in defeating Frank Lautenberg in the primary.