Donald DiFrancesco

The lawsuit against former Governor Donald DiFrancesco’s law firm has been settled, with details to be kept confidential, according to a Star-Ledger report.  Michelle D’Onofrio, a former prosecutor, claims she was fired by the firm after accusing DiFrancesco of secual harassment and for complaining about a Municipal Court Judge with ties to the politically active firm. 

State Sen. Kip Bateman might enter the U.S. Senate race
State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset) began making calls late yesterday to express some interest in the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and has spoken with several GOP County Chairmen about entering the race to challenge incumbent Frank Lautenberg.

Bateman, 50, is the son of former Senate President Raymond Bateman, the 1977 GOP candidate for Governor, and is a law partner of former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco. He spent fourteen years representing Somerset County in the State Assembly before winning a State Senate seat last November.

New Jersey has become accustomed to statewide candidates dropping out of the race. Bob Torricelli dropped out twice in two years: he announced a bid for Governor in 2000 and then pulled out twelve days later, and he ended his own Senate re-election bid in 2002, five weeks before Election Day.

Former Mercer County Freeholder Regina Haig Meredith, a longtime Republican State Committeewoman from Mercer County, passed away on January 18. She was 85. Meredith was the sister of former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig. She ran for the State Assembly in 1977 and lost to Democrat Barbara McConnell by just a few hundred votes.

Carmen Orechio served in the State Senate from 1974 to 1992, and was Senate President from 1982 to 1986: He's been a Nutley Commissioner since 1968Carmen Orechio is the only former Senate President who still holds public office, and is one of eight living former Senate Presidents. With the death of 98-year-old Wesley Lance last August, the 81-year-old Orechio is now the second oldest living ex-Senate President; the oldest is Frank McDermott, 83, who ran the Senate in 1969. The other living ex-Senate Presidents: Raymond Bateman, Frank Dodd, John Russo, John Lynch, Donald DiFrancesco, and John Bennett.

PolitickerNJ.com, since February 1, 2000

When PoliticsNJ.com began a journey into the world of New Jersey politics on February 1, 2000, we all lived in a different universe. Christie Whitman was midway through her second term as Governor, Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature, 76-year-old Frank Lautenberg was retiring from the United States Senate, and some mega millionaire Wall Street guy no one ever heard of was running for his seat.

These eight years have been epic times in New Jersey politics: Jon Corzine spent $75 million to win a Senate seat; for twelve days in the summer of 2000, Bob Torricelli was an announced gubernatorial candidate; Whitman resigned as Governor to join the Bush cabinet and was replaced by Donald DiFrancesco, who dropped his own bid for Governor just four months later amidst allegations of ethical violations; Democrats outmaneuvered the GOP on legislative redistricting; Bret Schundler beat Bob Franks in the '01 gubernatorial primary; the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed the world; James E. McGreevey was elected Governor; Democrats captured control of the State Assembly - and an election night coup installed Albio Sires, not Joe Doria, as Speaker - and the Senate was tied at 20-20, leaving both parties with shared power of the upper house.

Former Governor Donald DiFrancesco, facing a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former municipal prosecutor who worked for his law firm, has asked a Superior Court Judge to seal pre-trial deposition and limit questions about his sexual history.  DiFrancesco says he wants to make sure his reputation isn't irreparably damaged.  His law partner, State Senator Kip Bateman, has also joined the motion.  Michelle D'Onofio, who was a partner at DiFrancesco's firm for six years, says DiFrancesco sexually harassed her, and then fired her when she filed an ethics complaint against Warren Township Municipal Court Judge Richard Sasso, a friend of the ex-Governor, for drinking on the job.

Is it just us, or do you cringe, or do you feel it just slightly annoying at the annual State of the State address when the Governor recognizes John Bennett as a former Governor?  While Donald DiFrancesco and Richard Codey had full years as Acting Governor – a subsequent state law removed the Acting from their titles, elevating them to former Governor status, Bennett’s term of office lasted exactly three and one-half days. 

Because the Senate was split 20-20 after the 2001 election, and since DiFrancesco’s term as a State Senator ended a week before James E. McGreevey was to take office, Codey and Bennett split the week.  Bennett moved into Drumthwacket, through a family party there, ordered ceremonial pens bearing his name, and even pardoned an old friend and contributor.

Of course, there is some irony to Bennett’s recognition by Jon Corzine yesterday: the Democrat who defeated him in a 2003 State Senate race, Ellen Karcher, was not there.  She lost re-election last November.  And Bennett, whose ethical woes seem to have disappeared, has made a political comeback, albeit a tiny one: now a lobbyist (what a surprise!), he got elected Republican State Committeeman from Monmouth County in 2005.