TRENTON -- There is a widespread assumption that state Sen. Phil Haines (R-Springfield), who turned down former Gov. Jon Corzine’s nomination to a superior court judgeship in the midst of the appointments fracas with Gov. Christopher Christie, will be nominated to a superior court judgeship in the fall.

Haines, whose refusal was heralded by Republicans at the time as a noble act of self-sacrifice, today said he did not see it that way. 

“I think when you listen to people that assumption is out there, but I give it little attention to because really, this is the kind of business where it might not happen.  And that’s a realistic possibility,” said Haines.

Haines said that there has been “no indication, no discussion” with the Christie administration about an appointment.

After Haines’s turned down Corzine’s nomination, members of the Democratic administration said they expected that he would by appointed to the judgeship by Christie sometime after September, allowing Burlington County Republicans to appoint a successor for his state senate seat to fill the remainder of his term (Republicans, according to the sources, feared a strain on their resources by a special election, combined with a competitive congressional race in the 3rd District and the possible opening up of the 7th District state senate seat, where Republican incumbent Diane Allen is battling cancer.

Haines, who acknowledged that he remains interested in a judgeship, said that there were too many unpredictable factors to make the appointment a sure thing.

Senator Allen’s ‘College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act’ Becomes Law

Senator Diane Allen, (R-Burlington), was the prime sponsor of a new law that requires each four-year institution of higher education to provide information on graduation rates, costs, faculty and other important facts on its Web site.

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TRENTON -- Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco), angry at what he says is an attempt to paint his candidacy for the Burlington County Democratic chairmanship as a way to secure the line for a possible opening of a state senate seat, said today that his leaked email today saying as much needs to be put in context.

The email, he said, was his angry response to Acting Chairwoman Alice Furia, who he claimed not only had pledged to back him for the chairmanship, but actually recruited him to run for it.

“That email was a response to her breaking her commitment to me,” said Conaway from the assembly floor. 

Burlington County Freeholder Chris Brown, a Democrat, seized on the email today to condemn Conaway's bid for the chairmanship.

“What our county’s Democratic Party does not need... is a new chairman whose only motivation to hold office is to assist his own personal state Senate ambitions,” said Brown in a written statement. “First of all, that thinking is premature, as Sen. Diane Allen is still is in office, and second, it is disturbing to think that Herb merely wants to be our party chairman to help himself become Senator."

Conaway said that after Furia called him and asked him to consider running, he had a Nov. 17 meeting with her and Riverside Municipal Chairman Gary Haman, who has since decided to run against Conaway for the post.

“In fact, Gary Haman himself, sitting at that meeting, said to me you should announce early, because your stature would help clear the field, there would be less dilution of the county committee vote in the part of the state district that I represent.  Those were his words -- his words,” said Conaway.  “If there was a time for him to say ‘By the way, I’m interested in running for county chair myself,’ that would have been the time to do it.”

Although Conaway acknowledged that a factor in his decision to run was securing party support for the 7th District state senate seat currently held by state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), who is battling an aggressive form of cancer, he said that there was much more to it.

TRENTON -- Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken) said today that he supports his running mate, Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco), for Burlington County Democratic chairman.

“Herb has not been just a registered Democrat.  He’s been dyed in the wool, loves the party, loves the details, loves to talk about it,” said Conners in a brief interview in a Statehouse hallway.  “He’s just a good guy, and he is a winner…. I’m not aware of an election he’s ever lost.”

Conners lives in Camden County, but since Burlington County dominates his district, he has a vested interest in what happens in that county’s internal Democratic politics.  And since the resignation of former chairman Rick Perr over his involvement in a controversial political action committee, that party has been in turmoil.

Conaway has spent the last two months working up support to take over the chairmanship, currently held by Acting Chair Alice Furia.  At last week’s county committee meeting, he won a vote to bump up the timetable for the planned election from June to February 4. 

Conaway’s critics claim that his effort is about securing the party line if there is a vacancy in the 7th District senate seat, currently held by state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), who is battling cancer.  It’s an unsavory and uncomfortable topic for legislators to discuss openly, but Conaway admitted that it was part of his reason for running for the chairmanship in an email to Furia obtained by PolitickerNJ.com and published this morning.

But Conners said that, based on a letter he received from Allen the week of her surgery in November, it’s too early to speculate about what will happen regarding Allen’s seat. 

“I have no information as to where she is or what her condition is, but her letter indicated that she looked forward to working with me…  So I will not write Senator Allen off. I have great respect for her,” he said.

In an e-mail, Assemblyman Herbert Conaway, M.D. (D-Delanco) says he entered the race for Burlington County Democratic Chairman because “there appears to be far too much doubt about my moving up to Senate.”

The Senate seat is currently held by Republican Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), who is currently battling cancer. 

The full text of Conaway’s e-mail to Alice Furia, obtained by PolitickerNJ.com:

Gov. Jon Corzine has nominated his Chief of Staff, Edward McBride, to serve as a Superior Court Judge.  McBride, who served as Corzine's Chief Counsel and as head of the authorities unit, is generally well-liked among Trenton insiders, although he has been viewed as one of the weaker chiefs in recent years.  His appointment to lead the Governor's staff in an election year was unexpected: Corzine had picked Lisa Jackson to succeed Bradley Abelow as Chief of Staff, but she left after just a few weeks on the job to join Barack Obama's cabinet.  McBride, who worked for Jim Florio and Richard Codey, should have no trouble winning Senate confirmation, as long as Republican State Sen. Diane Allen, who represents his hometown, Pennsauken, signs off on his nomination.

Corzine also named Kay Walcott-Henderson, the Chief Counsel to Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, was nominated for a Workers' Compensation Court judgeship.  She lives in Mercer County, so it will be up to State Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Hamilton) to approve.

Senator Diane Allen, R-7, advanced her bill allowing taxpayers to make voluntary contributions to help members of the military and their families.

South Jersey Democrats are touting Cinnaminson native Anthony Mazzarelli, the head of the emergency medicine department at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, as a potential candidate for State Senator in the seventh district.  Mazzarelli is reportedly testing the waters for a 2011 Senate bid against four-term Republican Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park).  Allen could step down earlier to concentrate on her courageous fight against an aggressive form of cancer, a move that would trigger a November 2011 special election.  Mazzarelli joins Assemblymen Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) and Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken), and carpenters union official Troy Singleton as potential candidates.

In addition to   being a physician, Mazzarelli is also a bioethicist. Though he's mainly stayed behind the scenes, he's has been the de-facto leader of a group of emerging civic leaders in Camden and Burlington Counties.   He was also recently recognized as one of South Jersey's top physicians under 40 by Philly. One thing that may stand in the way of   getting him to run, however, is his independence. He proudly   proclaims his moderation on his weekend Philadelphia talk radio show   where he is known for presenting both sides of the major issues.   Still he is said to be an ally of South Jersey political leader George   Norcross, who is Chairman of Cooper Hospital, and he helped raise  money for Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

The decision of Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) to run for Burlington County Democratic Chairman could complicate a 2010 special election for State Senator if Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) were to leave the Legislature.  Allen is battling an aggressive form of cancer and recently had surgery.  She has a tough road ahead.  If Allen were to resign, the Republican County Committee from the seventh district towns in Burlington and Camden counties would hold a special election convention to name a new Senator.  There has been speculation that Rev. Aubrey Fenton, a minister and former Burlington County Freeholder, could take the seat.  That would set up a November 2010 special election to fill the remaining fourteen months of Allen's term - an early referendum on Republican Christopher Christie's first months as Governor in a Democratic-leaning district Allen has won five times.  It would also be an early test for the new Senate President, Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford), who topped Richard Codey largely because of the size of the South Jersey Democratic delegation.  A special election could be enormously expensive Sweeney and Democratic leader George Norcross battle the new Republican governor for a valuable Senate seat.The high profile State Senate race would also come as U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) campaigns for a second term; there is substantial overlap between the third congressional district and the seventh legislative district.  Three names have been prominently mentioned on the Democratic side: Conaway, Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken), and Troy Singleton, a former Deputy Executive Director of the Assembly and now the Director of Policy and Planning for the New Jersey Regional Council of Carpenters.  Singleton, who took a leave of absence this year to run Loretta Weinberg's campaign for Lt. Governor, is a favorite of Camden County Democratic leaders who are not huge fans of Conaway.

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) today acknowledged that she has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and is exploring treatment options.

The veteran Republican senator expects to undergo surgery as early as this week.

"My illness has shown me again just how much the good people of my district and the state of New Jersey care about others," Allen said in a statement. "It's impossible to express how grateful I am for their outpourings of caring, support and love."

The senator asked for prayers for her healthy return to the Senate as she, her family, and medical professionals come up with strategies to beat her disease.

"My plan is to return to the floor of the Senate at the first opportunity," Allen said. "No illness will prevent me or my experienced and dedicated staff from providing the people of my district with full representation. My district office is open and ready to help any constituent who contacts us."