Donald DiFrancesco

Isabel Miranda, who spent four days as New Jersey State Treasurer in 2001, is now practicing law at Gluck Walrath, a politically connected Trenton firm. Miranda was nominated by Governor Donald DiFrancesco on Monday, March 19 and started work on Friday, March 23. On Monday morning, New York Times reporter David Halbfinger broke the story that Miranda had been fired "from a high-level job at Citibank after internal auditors confronted her with evidence indicating that she had used her expense account to pay for thousands of dollars in personal travel while having an extramarital affair with a co-worker in California, according to current and former employees of the bank." With DiFrancesco in the midst of his own scandal that ultimately forced him to end his gubernatorial campaugn, Miranda resigned on March 28.
Among her colleagues at Gluck Walrath are: Michael Gluck, a prominent Republican and son of lobbyist Hazel Gluck; and Fair Haven Councilman Christopher Walrath.

Five years ago today, Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination for Governor amidst a series of ethics allegations.

Christy Davis Jackson, the Campaign Manager for Jon Corzine's 2000 U.S. Senate campaign and the wife of a politically powerful Black Minister, is the subject of a federal criminal investigation related to allegations of a political slush fund at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, according to a Star-Ledger report. Jackson resigned her post as UMDNJ Vice President of Government Affairs in December. The Star-Ledger obtained a confidential memo that says UMDNJ "maintained a political fund to funnel thousands of dollars in contributions to top New Jersey elected officials." The memo was written by Carol Caprarola, who was a longtime aide to State Senate President Donald DiFrancesco before going to work for Jackson at UMDNJ. A Grand Jury is reviewing allegations that UMDNJ officials were instructed to contribute to political campaigns and then get reimbursed by the school. Jackson is married to the Rev. Reginald Jackson, the Executive Director, New Jersey Council of Black Ministers.

New Jersey will have seven living former Governors when Jon Corzine takes office at today -- the most since Edward Edwards became Governor in 1920.

Update: Four of the seven attended Corzine' s inauguration -- Brendan Byrne, James Florio, Donald DiFrancesco and Richard Codey. Thomas Kean, Christine Todd Whitman and James E. McGreevey did not attend.

If Doug Forrester wins the race for Governor, the favorite to get the powerful Chief of Staff post is Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson, a Forrester favorite with front office experience (he was Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco's Communications Director) and credibility among the state house press. The short list for Jon Corzine's Chief of Staff includes: former State Treasurer Richard Leone, former Byrne administration official Carl Van Horn, former Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin (who left the cabinet to take a Corzine campaign post), former Human Services Commissioner Timothy Carden, and Corzine's former Senate Chief of Staff and close friend, Thomas Shea.

One Democratic source says Shea won't be staying in Trenton for long no matter what post he gets: he is reportedly eyeing a congressional seat in Florida, where he maintains his residence. In 2004, Shea managed John Kerry's campaign in Florida.

IT'S DE-JA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

The Republicans are at it again. Not content to learn from their party's past mistakes, Assemblymen Sean Kean and Steve Corodemus have gone ahead and abused taxpayer dollars to send letters to voters in a tried, true, and illegal form of incumbency protection.