Joe Kyrillos

Monmouth County Clerk Claire French reports that the county offices are extremely busy this evening as residents in the traditionally Republican-controlled central region try to meet voter registration deadline.

Of the Board of Elections, “That office is working into the wee hours,” French told PolitickerNJ.com.

Following the Feb. 5th Democratic Primary, Monmouth recorded 102,466 Democrats and 92,126 Republicans. As of this afternoon, those numbers had jumped to 119,785 registered Democrats and 108,545 registered Republicans in the battleground county, according to French.

267,226 Monmouth County voters remain unaffiliated.

Governor Corzine has been in denial about how the past six years of unchecked tax increases and growth in government regulation have depressed New Jersey's economy. His economic roundtable is the first sign that he is willing to confront the real problems of our state.

Senate President Dick Codey is New Jersey's most popular politician, according to an FDU poll released today
New Jersey voters’ feelings about Gov. Jon Corzine remain tepid, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind poll released today. 

Survey respondents are split on whether they approve of Governor Corzine’s performance, with 41% approving and 43% disapproving.  16% had mixed feelings or didn’t know. 

31% of New Jersey voters think Gov. Corzine is doing an “excellent” or “good job,” while 41% rate his performance as “only fair.”  25% think that he’s done a “poor” job in office.  Those numbers are basically the same as they were in an FDU poll conducted in June.

The struggle of the late political consultant Tom Blakely’s widow to secure payment from the life insurance policy her husband signed just days before he died may lead to legislation in New Jersey. 

Last month, four state Senators wrote a letter to TransAmerica Life Insurance Corp. CEO Patrick S. Baird inviting him or a representative of the company to meet with them over legislation they plan to propose next month that would change the way life insurance companies operate in New Jersey.

TransAmerica has been assailed by prominent New Jersey Republicans ever since it challenged the validity of Blakely’s second policy with the company.  Blakely was a co-founder of Jamestown Associates, a top Republican consulting firm, and died in March after collapsing during a 5K race in Bordentown. 

A riverboat welcome.: Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - If the Democratic National Convention provided a simple conflict-resolution storyline, the Republican counterpart took the shape of a Quentin Tarentino script in comparison, with a hurricane threatening to throw everything off and the New Jersey delegation heading out on a river boat cruise anyway and doing relief work in the morning, and protest actions punctuating the streets.

All against the backdrop of McCain/Palin.

Despite a gaffe-filled Tuesday production, with Jo Ann Davidson, co chair of the Republican National Committee, referring to Alaska Gov. Sarah "Pawlenty," and a trio of gray or white-haired prime time speech-makers, including an unpopular sitting president and a former Democrat, hardly igniting the New Jersey delegates.

Tear gas cartridges hit the pavement outside the Xcel Center

"The protesters are all in here fighting with police," said the cabby on the way out of the downtown.

Jeff Booker, left, and state Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).: Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - They’re not overjoyed with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but former Mitt Romney for president supporters last week gulped down Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz) veep pick and closed ranks behind their party’s nominee.

That’s not to say they don’t hang with one another in the halls of the Hilton, where the GOP delegation is staying.

This morning, state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who served as Romney’s state campaign chair; former Camden County GOP Executive Director Jeff Booker, and former Paterson Mayor Pat Kramer, exited the breakfast hall as a threesome.

In what could turn out to be the first proxy fight of the 2009 race for governor, Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan chastised State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown) for his claim that public corruption prosecutions by U.S.Attorney Chris Christie helped end “Christmas Tree” budget items.

"Mr. Kyrillos should get his facts straight and get the story right,” said Cryan. “It was Governor Corzine who did away with Christmas Tree spending and it's Governor Corzine who has reformed other aspects of the budget process, effectively changing spending practices by both political parties for years, if not decades.”

“Christmas tree items” referred to legislative pork, often in the form of last minute expenditures added to the budget for legislators’ pet projects. Corzine vowed to end them for the 2009 budget, while they drew scrutiny and subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s office during previous years.

A week before former Newark Mayor (and state senator) Sharpe James is scheduled to to be sentenced in federal court, five state senators are requesting the maximum sentencing.

"We implore you," state senators Bill Baroni (R-Mercer), Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), Gerald Cardinale (R-Begen), Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), and Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex), said in a co-authored letter sent this morning to U.S. District Judge William Martini.

"I was surprised to see Sharpe James's attorney advocating for lesser sentencing," said Beck. "This is a mayor who openly abused his power in office. We are at a low point in terms of public trust, and if citizens don't believe in their public officials it erodes our ability to administer our democracy."

According to the Star-Ledger, James's attorneys plan to meet with Martini on Wednesday to urge him to impose far less than a decade in prison on the 72-year old former mayor, who was convicted earlier this year on corruption charges.

John McCain’s call to end the federal ban on off-shore oil drilling yesterday touched on a hot button issue in New Jersey, and critics think his stance could hurt his chances in the Garden State.

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos, a Republican who represents a district that hugs the Monmouth County coastline, said that although he opposes drilling off the coast of New Jersey, he agrees with McCain’s position on doing away with the federal ban in order to ease gas prices.

“It’s fine to have an energy policy that’s rhetorical when you’ve go the luxury to do it, as some members of Congress like to do, but at the end of the day we’ve got households to rub and a big economy to run and a standard of living to maintain,” he said.

Long-Term Reform is Key to Solving Fiscal Crisis

Senator Joseph Kyrillos, R-District 13, issued this statement urging the governor and Legislature to pass a bipartisan pension reform package along with the Fiscal 2009 budget: