Lee O'Toole's election law legacy

The election of Lee Pfister O'Toole, who passed away this morning, as the Burlington County Democratic Chair in 1996 sparked a groundbreaking lawsuit that ended a longtime practice of requiring that the Vice Chair of a county party organziation be of the opposite sex as the Chair.

In the race for Democratic Chair, O'Toole defeated Francis Hartman, while Alice Furia was elected Vice Chair (over Gary Haman). Hartman filed a suit claiming that the statute required the Chair and Vice Chair to be of different gender. The court ruled that the leadership of the party could be two men or two women and that the statute was unconstitutional.

Superior Court Judge Harold Wells said that "as a result of the statute, the practice of requiring the leadership of the various county political party committees to be filled by persons of opposite genders has become thoroughly imbedded in the daily warp and woof of the political process in New Jersey. Indeed, one can easily speculate that but for a provision such as this, the place of women in the political process would not be as well established as it is now. For these reasons alone, as well as the respect due the vintage enactment under scrutiny here, it should not be lightly set aside. In addition, one is called upon to look at the court's August decision as a glass half full: i.e., as opening up 100% of the positions in top party leadership to both genders, rather than as abolishing women's guarantee to at least 50% of those positions."

The Judge ruled that the state "simply does not now have, if it ever did, such a compelling interest in the internal affairs of the County Committees of the political parties as to warrant legislating the gender of candidates for leadership positions of those parties."

Wake-Up Call

Morning News Digest: February 9, 2010

Garden State Equality fires new broadside at Dems Smarting over the state Senate's refusal to pass marriage equality and disillusioned at the moment with the Democratic Party majority, Garden State Equality’s 85-member Board of Directors unanimously decided against giving financial contributions to political parties and their affiliated committees. ...

Wally Edge

A handwritten note left behind during a Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting indicates that Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) would support a plan to require all current public employees to contribute at least 1.5% of...
As New Jersey braces for another snowstorm, noteworthy is Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo’s website, where residents can use “Snow Plow Sal” to monitor the movements of snow plows to determine when their street will be plowed.  Hamilton also has...
Just before leaving the Senate Presidency, Richard Codey (D-Roseland) appointed Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins to the Congressional Redistricting Commission.  Now his successor, Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is considering making his own...
Mark Anton, the Chairman of the Suburban Propane Gas Corporation, was a half-term Republican from Essex County who was elected in a 1953 special election after Alfred Clapp, who had mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP gubernatorial election...
Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) has dropped his bid for Burlington County Democratic Chairman, notifying party leaders by letter this weekend.  That leaves Gary Haman as the leading candidate to replace Alice Furia, who took over last...

Contributors

Everybody needs to start a new job with a list of priorities and Chris Christie is no exception. There might be a thousand things that need to get done... more »
A new Governor and Legislature offer the perfect opportunity to re-think the Trenton status quo and for experienced observers and practitioners to offer their best ideas on improving the... more »
 I grew up in a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey where gambling was part of every day life.  Many of my relatives gambled.  The guys gambled on games, and... more »
Due to a highly inappropriate breach of etiquette by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United... more »
When life is bad---natural disasters, families losing homes or jobs, an attack on our country, health crises--people come together and do things that are inspiringly good.  After the... more »
Our new Governor suffers from no lack of advice.  Much of it, contained in the transition reports, deserves prompt attention.  Obviously, economic prosperity benefits everyone, and – as... more »
The agenda has been ambitious.Jobs.  Homeland security.  Iraq.  Afghanistan.  Healthcare.  Energy.  Banking.   Taken together, the Obama Presidency has all the makings of a compelling story -- action, adventure, emotion,... more »
The new regime pushes the only conservative off the Budget Committee.   This is a direct result of pressure from a certain Republican County Chairperson who was hired by Garden... more »
Now that  the dust has finally settled after the grueling campaign for governor, there are a number of lessons that we can draw from this election. First and... more »
A  few years ago, my brother Paul gave me a birthday present of Tim Russert’s book, The Wisdom of Our Fathers. Great book. Read it cover to cover. Or skim... more »
New Jersey's spending and borrowing spree over the past three decades is coming home to roost.  State debt has increased 700% under both Republican and Democratic administrations, and spending... more »
On January 11th New Jersey’s 213th Legislature ended its session, followed the next day by the commencement of the 214th Legislature, with newly elected officials being sworn into office,... more »
On January 6, 2010, several newspapers published articles with titles like “no more aid for struggling cities”, “Christie will cut state aid” and the like; furthermore, in the body... more »
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you target teachers. That’s not a positive note to start your tenure. You forget that the Teachers’ Union makes decisions on its own, such... more »