Cory Booker

If you believe it is possible that Gov. Jon Corzine might not finish his second term, than you may be among those who understand that the selection of a Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor might actually mean the identification of the next Governor of New Jersey.  There are some insiders who believe that if he wins re-election, Corzine will get to a point where lame duck status bores him.  He could wind up in a cabinet post in Barack Obama's second administration, if the President wins re-election in 2012.  Corzine could be gone in January 2013.

Gubernatorial vacancies are nothing new to New Jersey.  It has been twenty years since a Governor finished a second term.  Christine Todd Whitman resigned after seven years to join George W. Bush's cabinet; she was succeeded by Donald DiFrancesco.  Richard Codey spent fourteen months as Governor after James E. McGreevey resigned.  In recent years, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut have seen Lt. Governors become Governors.

Another name to help Gov. Jon Corzine as he searches for an African American running mate: Superior Court Judge Joseph Charles, a former State Senator and Assemblyman from Jersey City.  

Charles was first elected to the State Assembly in 1981, defeating incumbent Charles Mays in the Democratic primary.  He moved up to the Senate in 2001 after six-term incumbent Edward O'Connor retired; he ran on a ticket with Joseph Doria eleven times.  Charles left the Senate after less than two years to take a judgeship.  His retirement triggered an epoch Senate primary between then-Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham and the Hudson County Democratic Organization.

Charles is well respected in Trenton and bridges gaps between the various factions of Democrats in Hudson County.  As a Judge and former Deputy Attorney General (under a Republican Governor), he helps offset Christie's law enforcement experience.  And he's old enough to not be a political threat to would-be contenders for the 2013 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, like Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Even if Corzine wanted him, it might be a tough sell to coax the 65-year-old Charles off the bench with five years left before his retirement.

State Sen. Dana Redd (D-Camden)

Sources close to Gov. Jon Corzine have said for months now that he won't pick a white male for lieutenant governor.

Not enough balance.

A week ago three names seemed fairly solid in a firmament that nevertheless shifts daily: state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells.

If the first two were white, they were women, at least. But the fact that they weren't males wasn't the only obvious jump-off-the-page quality they shared.

Both women had reputations as elected officials who wouldn't easily get pushed around. 

Weinberg earned a rep - and endeared herself in the process to Corzine - as an enemy of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, while Buono aggressively sought the budget chairmanship despite efforts by leadership to install somebody more pliant.

As Gov. Jon Corzine continues his search for a Democratic Lt. Governor candidate, it seems that he is ruling out more potential running mates than he considers.  Part of the problem is that every legitimate contender comes with a group of Democrats opposed to his or her candidacy.  That appears especially true for State Senators Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who for a time looked like the front runners.  Corzine also faces considerable pressure to pick an African American for the post, although Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Newark Mayor Cory Booker, State Senators Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence), Nia Gill (D-Montclair), Ronald Rice (D-Newark) and Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City), Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer, Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange), and Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) are, for a variety of reasons, not under serious consideration.

Corzine might be missing one LG candidate with enormous gravitas and few political enemies: U.S. District Court Judge Anne Thompson, who was the first woman and the first African American to serve as a federal judge in New Jersey.  She became the first Black to serve as a county prosecutor when Gov. Brendan Byrne appointed her in 1975 (after a stint as a public defender and as the Trenton Municipal Court Judge), and has spent the last thirty years as a federal judge.   Thompson is 75, slightly older than Weinberg and a decade younger than U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  Attorney General Anne Milgram was Thompson's law clerk.

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Andrew Bloschak
(201)-705-2257
Bloschak: Education Rally A True Declaration of Independence for New Jersey's Children
Newark-Andrew Bloschak, a lifelong community activist and the Urban Republican choice for Assembly in the 28th District, was pleased at the turnout and unity for change in education at yesterday's rally in the downtown of the state's largest city. Despite inclemement weather conditions, advocates representing a diverse realm of groups assembled for the rally.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is trying to talk current Mayor Michael Bloomberg into endorsing Chris Christie for governor of New Jersey, and Bloomberg may be listening.

The endorsement is far from a sure thing, but a source familiar with the talks said that the billionaire mayor, still sore over Governor Jon Corzine's opposition to his congestion pricing plan last year, might be willing to jump into the fray to support Christie.

Last April, fearing that the plan would impose higher fees on New Jersey commuters, Corzine called it "outrageous."

Giuliani political advisor Anthony Carbonetti acknowledged said that "there are definitely conversations taking place" between Bloomberg and Giuliani.

"Rudy is supportive of both Mike and Chris and would love to see them get together" he said.

Although not as politically active in New Jersey as Giuliani, Bloomberg has waded into politics here before.  Two months ago, Newark Mayor Cory Booker endorsed Bloomberg for reelection to a third term as mayor.  Last year Bloomberg endorsed 5th District congressional candidate Dennis Shulman, a Democrat, and in April he held a fundraiser for Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who runs the powerful Hudson County Democratic Organization, along with his running mates.  Both support strict gun control measures - a pet cause for Bloomberg.

Democrats say that guns will be an issue that Bloomberg may have a hard time looking past.  State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who is widely considered to be at or near the top of Corzine's shortlist for Lieutenant Governor, wondered aloud whether Christie's stances gun control and abortion would derail any potential endorsement.

"I would assume that Bloomberg would be really interested in knowing that the [Christie] doesn't even believe in the one handgun a month limit... Does anyone really need more than 12 guns in a year?' she said.   "Combine that with a woman's right to choose, and I would guess that Mayor Bloomberg doesn't have a lot in common with Chris Christie."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker looks over the artwork at the Academy Street Firehouse, including an original by Dr.Terry Zealand (backdrop).

NEWARK - The appearance of a Star-Ledger story this morning describing Obama allies worried about the gubernatorial election prompted an afternoon gutcheck with Newark Mayor Cory Booker outside an afterschool facility in an old, converted firehouse serving children impacted by AIDS.

Already publicly commited to pursuing a reelection bid for mayor next year and adamantly disinterested in running with Gov. Jon Corzine as a candidate for lieutenant governor, Booker denied that anyone part of the political arm of the Obama administration wants to see him running for statewide office in 2009.

"They know I am more valuable to what they're trying to do - here, rather than running for lieutenant governor. They are keenly aware of the urgency of Newark," said Booker, moments after emerging from the Academy Street Firehouse, where Dr. Terry Zealand and his wife, Faye, and son Kevin, run an after-school program for children either infected or affected by AIDS, a facility that fits into a larger housing effort to care for children and families fighting the disease.  

The conventional wisdom, at least among a group of Democratic insiders, is that Newark Mayor Cory Booker would not be prepared to back State Sen. Loretta Weinberg for Lt. Governor without the blessing of Gov. Jon Corzine.  It would not be Booker's style to get involved in this race.

And in case you forgot, Weinberg, then an Assemblywoman, was one of the earliest supporters of Corzine's 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and was one of three Democrats picked as campaign co-chairs.

In what could be the second most important endorsement of the race for the Democratic Lt. Governor nomination, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is set to endorse State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), according to a high ranking Democratic source.  Booker's endorsement sends a signal that African American Democratic leaders will support a white woman, obviating any chance of a backlash for Gov. Jon Corzine. Weinberg, a 72-year-old State Senator from Bergen County, has received considerable consideration to become Corzine's running mate in recent weeks. 

Kostas Petris

The deadline for Independent candidates to file petitions is 4PM tomorrow.  In the race for Governor, so far only former state Environmental Protection Commissioner Christopher Daggett and Trenton resident Kostas Petris have filed nominating petitions.  Two other announced candidates, Libertarian Kenneth Kaplan and Rev. Shannon Wright, an African American minister who began the cycle managing Brian Levine's campaign for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, have not yet filed.