Frank Lautenberg

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."

New Jerseyans continue to like their two United States Senators.  A new Quinnipiac University poll has Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) with 46%-37% approval ratings, while Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is at 41%-32%.

The next U.S. Senate race is in three years, when Menendez is expected to seek re-election to a third term.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE QUINNIPIAC POLL

Embattled contractor Joseph Sanzari was told he could not join other dignitaries on the stage when Vice President Joseph Biden visited a construction site in Bergen County last week - a move that left Sanzari off the charts angry, according to sources familiar with the event.  Sanzari's partner in the construction project on Route 46 and Main Street in Lodi, Fletcher Creamer, was also denied a spot on the dais. 

It is not clear who told Sanzari that he was not welcome on the dais.

Biden joined Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park ) and Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Lodi to tout the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which will help fund upgrades to Route 46 bridges.  Sanzari and Creamer were awarded a construction contract on that project.  Other contractors were permitted to join Biden at the event.

Samuel Plumeri is expected to resign his post as Police Superintendent of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and will be moving into a state government post, possibly as the Board of Parole.  The move takes him out of contention for appointment as the next U.S. Marshal.  Plumeri, a former Mercer County Sheriff and Democratic County Chairman, has been actively seeking the Marshal post, but it appears he was not a serious contender.

President Obama's nominee for U.S. Attorney, Paul Fishman, is expected to win a speedy confirmation by the United States Senate and could be in office as early as this summer.

President Obama is expected to nominate Paul Fishman as the new U.S. Attorney for New Jersey within the next few days, possibly as early as tomorrow, sources say.  His nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Fishman was recommended for the post by U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) last February.  The post has been vacant since Republican Christopher J. Christie resigned on December 1.  Ralph Marra, Jr. is now the Acting U.S. Attorney.

The 52-year-old Fishman, a Princeton University graduate and editor of the Harvard Law Review, worked in the U.S. Attorney's office as Chief of the Criminal Division and as First Assistant before going to Washington as a senior advisor to Reno and as a Deputy U.S. Attorney General.  Fishman is a partner at Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler and Adelman, where he specializes in white collar criminal matters.  Fishman has represented several public officials prosecuted by Christie, and is currently an attorney for former CWA Local 1034 President Carla Katz, who is seeking to keep her e-mail correspondence with Governor Jon Corzine private.

Vice-President Joe Biden will join Gov. Corzine and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) in New Jersey on Thursday, The Star-Ledger reports.  

Biden will be in Lodi to inaugurate a road project paid for with federal stimulus funds.

Corzine emphasized that the purpose of the visit was to discuss how stimulus funds are being used, and not to aid his reelection campaign.  He noted that Biden was recently in Minnesota for a similar event.