Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher will keep his job under Republican Gov. Christopher Christie.  Fisher, a four-term Democratic Assemblyman and Cumberland County Freeholder, will remain in the cabinet and will not play an active role in politics.  Christie had been prepared to ask Fisher to step down, but changed his mind and will now keep the political ally of Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) on.

Gov. Christopher Christie has nominated former prosecutor Lori Grifa as Commissioner of Community Affairs and Sussex County Freeholder Hal Wirths as Commissioner of Labor. 

Grifa, a 46-year-old Montclair resident, served as Chief of Staff to state Attorney General David Samson from 2002 to 2003, and is now a member of the government and regulatory affairs group at Wolff & Samson.  She spent ten years as an Assistant District Attorney in New York City, specializing in homicide and gang-related prosecutions.

Wirths has been a Freeholder since 2000.

The election of a Republican governor raises some interesting questions about the future of New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher, a Democrat who resigned his seat in the State Assembly earlier this year to take the job.  Past agriculture secretaries have not been as political as Fisher, who was out on the campaign trail for Democrats this fall.  Gov.-elect Christopher Christie may ask him to resign as part of the change of control of state government, but it's not certain that Fisher will go easily.

New Jersey has one of the most powerful governorships in the nation, but on agricultural issues, the Governor has relatively little clout - the result of a deal with South Jerseyans to gain political support for the ratification of the 1947 State Constitution.  As a result, the Governor has limited say on the appointment of one member of his or her cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, and even takes direction from an agricultural trade association on the appointments of policy-makers.  This is a throwback to the old days when state boards exercised considerable power, especially in the areas of health, education, the environment, and alcoholic beverage control.

In the third district, which has been largely ignored by state Republicans after their preferred candidates were defeated in the GOP primary, two daily newspapers have endorsed Republican challenger Dr. Robert Villare for State Assembly over the newly-elected incumbent, Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton).

The Gloucester County Times and the Courier-Post today endorsed Villare, a surgeon, over Riley, who won a special election convention earlier this year after Douglas Fisher resigned his Assembly seat to become state Secretary of Agriculture.

Both newspapers are backing a Democrat, five-term incumbent John Burzichelli, for re-election.

The GCT says that Villare "would be an asset to the Legislature as it copes with coming real-world health care changes in Washington."

"Unabashedly conservative, Villare's views are unlikely to dominate the Assembly, no matter how the statewide results go next Tuesday. But anti-tax, anti-big-spending policies aren't given sufficient voice in Trenton, and their loudest advocates often can't be taken seriously," the editorial said.  "In contrast, Villare's measured comments, for example, against excessive state school aid for urban ‘Abbott' districts could influence this debate going forward"

Burzichelli, the GCT said, has "some difficulty moving good ideas through both houses," and as Mayor of Paulsboro, he is a dual officeholder.  But "at least Burzichelli thinks about this stuff coherently, which is more than can be said for some of his Trenton colleagues" and says he is too competent a lawmaker to remove him" because he holds two elective offices.

"Riley shows genuine interest in solving socio-economic problems that are pronounced in her part of the district, and would provide good constituent service. But Villare is the more dynamic newcomer and deserves a shot," the editorial said.  "The other Republican in the race, Lee Lucas of Gibbstown, has been disowned by his own party's leadership. He wears this as a badge of courage, but GOP leaders are right to reject his extreme survival-of-the-fittest views. Voters should, too."

The Courier-Post is less worried about Burzichelli's ability to move legislation through the Senate, now that his running mate, State Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is poised to become the new Senate President.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher will join two Democratic legislators in a competitive re-election campaign during an appearance at the Rutherford Farmers Market next week. Assemblymen Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) will join with Fisher to "highlight the availability of Jersey Fresh produce."

Fisher, a former four-term Democratic Assemblyman, becomes the first state agriculture official to boost legislators during an election season.  In the past, the state Secretary of Agriculture has largely stayed clear of partisan politics.  The Department of Agriculture has twelve years worth of press release available on their website; not reflect election year political activity by the Secretary.

There should be no real over reaction to this: it's not like the presence of the Cumberland County Democrat will influence pro-farming independents in Nutley and North Arlington.

Willard Allen, Philip Alampi, Arthur Brown and Charles Kuperus, the four Agriculture secretaries who have served since 1938, did not do campaign swings. In 2003, Kuperus, who was a Republican Freeholder from Sussex County, went on the campaign trail in support of Gov. James E. McGreevey's farmland preservation ballot referendum.  But Kuperus did not include legislators in his appearances.

PolitickerNJ.com has prepared a Casualty List for the New Jersey Legislature for each year since 2001.

Fourteen-term Republican John Rooney, the senior member of the State Assembly, becomes the fifth legislator not seeking re-election in 2009.  Three Assemblymen are seeking another office: Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) is running for Governor; Michael Doherty (R-Washington) is seeking State Senate seat; and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) is a candidate for Mayor. Assemblywoman Sandra Love (D-Gloucester Township) is retiring. And Eric Munoz (R-Summit) passed away earlier this month at the age of 61.

The resignation of Charles Kuperus as Secretary of Agriculture created an opportunity for Gladys Lugardo to become the first Hispanic to serve on the Bridgeton City Council. Kuperus was replaced by Assemblyman Douglas Fisher, creating an open seat that went to Bridgeton Council President Celeste Riley.  Lugardo, who lost a City Council bid in 2006 by just seven votes, replaced Riley on the Council.  Councilman Dennis Thompson was elected to succeed Riley as Council President.

Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Vineland), who faces a potentially tough re-election campaign this year, will be the new chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) today named the two-term Cumberland County Democrat to replace Douglas Fisher, who resigned from the Assembly last week to become Secretary of Agriculture.

A member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union for nearly 30 years, Albano is the shop steward at Village Supermarkets in Vineland.  He had served as committee vice chairman under Fisher.

Assemblyman Douglas Fisher (D-Bridgeton) will resign at the end of this week to become the new Secretary of Agriculture.  Democratic leaders have picked Bridgeton Council President Celeste Riley to take his place, and she can take office after she is formally elected at a special election convention, which can be scheduled 7-35 days after Fisher’s official resignation. 

Democratic sources expect Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) to pick Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) to replace Fisher as Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The announcement that Celeste Riley will get Douglas Fisher’s seat in the State Assembly means that Cumberland County will keep one of the three District 3 legislative seats.  And for the first time in state history, Cumberland and Salem counties will be represented in Trenton by a woman.  It also means that unless a Republican from Salem County defeats her in November, the state’s smallest county will continue to be the only county in New Jersey without a legislator.