Frank Lautenberg

JERSEY CITY -- After easily winning a low-turnout election in May, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy was sworn into his second full term today.

The event, which was formal but with the occasional dose of humor, was attended by the state’s top politicians: Gov. Jon Corzine, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) and U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken), who argued that Healy, having won 53% of the vote in a five man race, had won a mandate based on his five-year record.  

Also sworn in were the city’s nine council members, most of whom were already incumbents.  All but one of them ran on Healy’s slate.  
    
Healy gave 30 minute policy-focused inaugural speech that he seemed anxious to get through, occasionally stopping to tell the audience that he was almost done and asking the person running his teleprompter to speed things up.

A lawsuit filed against Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa alleging that he extorted campaign contributions from police officers for his campaigns for State Assembly and for other candidates is likely to end Bergen County Freeholder Tomas Padilla's campaign for U.S. Marshal.  Padilla, a Hackensack police captain, is Zisa's co-defendant.  While the allegations against Zisa and Padilla remain unproven, it is unlikely that the White House would nominate a candidate for a federal law enforcement post while a lawsuit that alleges political shakedowns and retaliations against police officers hangs over his head.

Look for Padilla to drop his bid to succeed U.S. Marshal James Plousis soon.  This could put Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire, who dropped out and endorsed Padilla, back in the game.  Padilla reportedly had the backing of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken), while U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) is reportedly supporting Lourdes Timberman Correa, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marshal's office. 

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park), right, and Gov. Jon Corzine.

The headlining presence of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at a Chris Christie fundraiser last night in Holmdel rankled U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park), who made particular note of Romney and Christie's shared allegiance to former President George W. Bush, a bottom feeder on New Jersey public opinion polls for the bulk of time he served in office.

"Chris Christie is kicking off his (general election) campaign with a conservative Republican whose extreme right-wing positions couldn't be more out of touch with New Jersey residents," Lautenberg said of Romney, a failed 2008 candidate for president.

"Mitt Romney has repeatedly denounced President Obama's economic recovery package, has declared his opposition to a woman's right to choose, condemned the President's selection of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, and proven himself to be a prime supporter and was a cheerleader for George W. Bush," Lautenberg said in a Democratic State Committee press release.

While running for president, Romney said he was a "conservative's conservative" and didn't hide his admiration for Bush.

Gov. Jon Corzine today named Sharon Harrington, the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), to the Casino Control Commission.  Harrington is a former State Director for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, and was Deputy Campaign Manager for Jim Florio's campaign for Governor.  There is still one open seat on the Casino Control Commission.

American Journalists Reporting from China-North Korea Border Charged, Convicted and Sentenced to 12 Years of Hard Labor

Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-40) has written letters to officials of both the United States and China appealing for their assistance in ongoing efforts to obtain the release of a pair of American journalists who were arrested, convicted and sentenced by North Korea to 12 years of hard labor. The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were working on a story about the human trafficking of women across the China-North Korea border at the time of their arrest for committing what has only been described as a “grave crime” by the insular nation.

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U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) has approval ratings of 44%-36%, and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) has approvals of 40%-31%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.  Lautenberg, who faces a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews in 2008, has a 64%-17% approval rating among Democrats.  Menendez is at 59%-15% among Democrats. 

New Jersey's two Democratic U.S. Senators have not yet come to an agreement on the next U.S. Marsha.  Sources say that Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) prefers Lourdes Timberman Correa, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marshal's office.  Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is said to prefer Bergen County Freeholder Tomas Padilla, a Hackensack police captain.  Either would become the first Hispanic federal marshal.

Lautenberg and Menendez are also recommending different people for U.S. Trustee, who supervises the administration of all bankruptcy cases in Region 3 (New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) - a post of extraordinary importance for law firms with bankruptcy practice groups.  Sources also say that Lautenberg backs Livingston-based bankruptcy law expert Stacey Meisel, who has served as a Bankruptcy Panel Trustee and was an early Obama supporter, Menendez is supporting Patricia Staiano, who held the post during the Clinton administration.  She is a partner at Hellring Lindeman Goldstein & Siegal.

The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is the secondtop court nomination since Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) joined the United States Senate in early 2006. He voted against the nomination of Samuel Alito in 2006.  The Sotomayor nomination will be eleventh Supreme Court nomination during the 25 years Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) has served in the Senate.

Lautenberg has voted yes on four Supreme Court nominations -- Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia -- and no on six: Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Robert Bork, William Rehnquist, and David Souter.  Lautenberg was among nine Senators to vote against Souter in 1990.  Souter's retirement created the opening for President Obama to nominate Sotomayor, who will become the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the nation's top court.

New Jersey's two U.S. Senators are praising President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, while stopping short of announcing their intention to support her Senate confirmation.

"This is a historic day for the Supreme Court - and the entire nation.  Judge Sotomayor has distinguished herself on the Court of Appeals with her knowledge, expertise and judgment.  I look forward to reviewing her qualifications more closely as the Senate proceeds with the confirmation process."

"Certainly, as an American of Hispanic descent, it fills me with pride to have the opportunity to cast a vote to confirm this groundbreaking nominee," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) who said her ethnic background alone is not the reason she'll be confirmed. "The Senate will be scrutinizing her judicial qualifications, and I believe that Judge Sotomayor is eminently qualified to become a Supreme Court Justice."

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) called Sotomayer's nomination a "historic day for the Supreme Court and the entire nation."