James E. McGreevey

Governor Jon Corzine’s new poll numbers, an upside-down 37%-52% rating, are worse than Governor James E. McGreevey’s upside-down 38%-47% approval rating in a Quinnipiac University poll released eight days before his resignation in 2004.  Corzine, then a United States Senator, had a 46%-28% approval rating in the same survey.

PolitickerNJ.com, since February 1, 2000

When PoliticsNJ.com began a journey into the world of New Jersey politics on February 1, 2000, we all lived in a different universe. Christie Whitman was midway through her second term as Governor, Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature, 76-year-old Frank Lautenberg was retiring from the United States Senate, and some mega millionaire Wall Street guy no one ever heard of was running for his seat.

These eight years have been epic times in New Jersey politics: Jon Corzine spent $75 million to win a Senate seat; for twelve days in the summer of 2000, Bob Torricelli was an announced gubernatorial candidate; Whitman resigned as Governor to join the Bush cabinet and was replaced by Donald DiFrancesco, who dropped his own bid for Governor just four months later amidst allegations of ethical violations; Democrats outmaneuvered the GOP on legislative redistricting; Bret Schundler beat Bob Franks in the '01 gubernatorial primary; the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed the world; James E. McGreevey was elected Governor; Democrats captured control of the State Assembly - and an election night coup installed Albio Sires, not Joe Doria, as Speaker - and the Senate was tied at 20-20, leaving both parties with shared power of the upper house.

In one of the stiffest prison sentences from a state court Judge in recent years, former Commerce official Lesey Devereaux has been sentenced to 6 ½ years in a federal prison for using a state employee to work on cases for her private law firm. Devereaux served as Chief of Staff to the Rev. William Watley, who was state Commerce Secretary in Gov. James E. McGreevey’s cabinet.

Six of the last eight Governors of New Jersey launched their political careers by serving in the New Jersey State Assembly: William Cahill, Thomas Kean, James Florio, Donald DiFrancesco, James E. McGreevey, and Richard Codey. With that kind of historical precedent, is it possible that one of the 25 freshmen entering the Assembly on Tuesday could wind up living at Drumthwacket someday?

There is some speculation among Republicans that former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler is thinking about a bid for Congress in the seventh district.  Schundler grew up in Westfield and several family members still live there.   Schundler did  not return e-mails seeking comment on his potential candidacy for Mike Ferguson’s seat.

Florence Councilwoman Betsy Ryan, who served as an Assistant Counsel to Governor Jim Florio in the 1990’s, is the new President of the New Jersey Hospital Association.  Ryan is currently the NJJA COO, and has served on the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, the Clinton-Gore Transition Team, the transition teams for Governors Jon Corzine and James E. McGreevey and the legal audit team for former President Clinton’s National Health Care Reform Task Force.

Message and Media’s Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence have dominated New Jersey’s political consulting industry over the last ten years, scoring the strongest contenders with the biggest budgets. They’ve elected Governors, Senators, Congressmen, and a huge number of local officials – from James E. McGreevey to Jon Corzine (twice, almost $100 million worth) to Bob Menendez to Rush Holt to Ellen Karcher.

But is their magic gone?

New Jersey voters are likely to pass a $450 million bond issue to finance stem cell research – by a 57%-36% margin -- according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll released today. Catholic voters support the referendum 48%-41%, while voters identified as evangelical or born-again Christians support it by a 48%-42% margin. Of the likely voters who oppose the referendum, 26% say they disagree with stem cell research on moral grounds, while 58% say the state can’t afford the added debt.

“The margin favoring approval of the stem cell research bond issue is typical for recent ballot questions about state uses of public funds, despite public controversy surrounding this type of research,” said Tim Vercellotti, director of polling at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. “That some of the key constituencies expected to oppose the ballot question, such as evangelical Christians and Republican voters, are narrowly in favor or divided speaks to the strength of public support for the bond issue.”

The poll also gives Gov. Jon Corzine a 48%-42% approval rating.

Former Neptune Mayor Michael Beson was PoliticsNJ.com's Politician of the Year in 2003.  Beson had become presidential candidate Howard Dean's state campaign manager in mid-2002, when Dean was polling in the single-digits and PoliticsNJ.com's Brian Murphy became the only political reporter in the state willing to meet with him during a June '02 visit to New Jersey.  By the end of 2003, Dean was the front runner for the Democratic nomination, and most of the state Democratic establishment, including Governor James E. McGreevey, were backing Dean.