John F. Kennedy

An estimated 1,700 people, "mostly women," joined Eunice Kennedy Shriver at a campaign tea in Far Hills a few weeks before the end of the 1960 presidential campaign, according to the New York Times' coverage of the event.

"They tell me this is Republican country," Shriver told the crowd while campaigning for her brother, then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy.  "But I don't think so anymore."

The tea was held at the home of industrialist Charles Engelhard.  According to published reports, Shriver spent nearly two hours in a receiving line shaking hands.  She made the New Jersey campaign stop "because Jack asked me to come."

Stan Rosenthal, an independent candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder, may be a former financial consultant for a major New York Stock Exchange brokerage firm and controller and treasurer in public and private accounting, but mathematics may not be his strong suit.  Rosenthal told PolitickerNJ.com that he "doesn't think he was ever an affiliated" Democrat or Republican.

"I'm 65," he said. "Is it possible that I could have been a registered Democrat when John F. Kennedy ran for president? Possibly."

Edward J. Patten served as Mayor of Perth Amboy, Middlesex County Clerk, N.J. Secretary of State, and from 1962 to 1981, as a U.S. Congressman.

When New Jersey picked up a fifteenth congressional seat after the 1960 census, the new district included nearly all of Middlesex County.  That was at the insistence of David Wilentz, a former state Attorney General who dominated Middlesex County politics as the Democratic boss from the 1930's into the 1970's.  At the time, congressional districts were drawn by the Legislature and approved by the Governor.  The Senate was under Republican control, 11-10, but Democrats controlled the Assembly and the Governor was a Democrat, Richard Hughes.

One rare rebel who dared to challenge Wilentz's wishes was George Otlowski, a Middlesex County Freeholder from Perth Amboy - the center of the Wilentz power base. 

Otlowski, who had been a Middlesex County Freeholder for eight years, wanted to go to Congress - but Wilentz had another candidate: Edward Patten, a former Perth Amboy Mayor and Middlesex County Clerk who had managed Robert Meyner's campaign for Governor and served as New Jersey Secretary of State from 1954 to 1962.  Patten won the primary by a 56%-44% margin and beat Republican Bernard Rodgers, the Mayor of Dunellen, after pledging to support President John F. Kennedy "100%."

State Democratic Committee spokesman Richard McGrath: Politicker photo 

DENVER - The appearance at the Democratic National Convention last night of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) had more than a few of the members of New Jersey’s delegation swallowing hard and wiping away tears.

One was Richard McGrath, spokesman of the State Democratic Committee, who watched Kennedy’s short, but almost full-circle speech in the Spotted Dog bar in the basement of the Inverness Hotel.

It was a little personal for the Democratic Party operative, who shared his family’s own Kennedy story.

"My dad grew up in the same congressional district as Kennedy, only on the other side of the tracks," said McGrath.

With Sen. Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy in the house at the Meadowlands Arena today, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, state co-chair of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, recalls seeing President John F. Kennedy 48 years ago at Journal Square.

If the Democratic candidate for President is either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, they will still need to break the curse of the Senate: sitting United States Senators have only won the presidency twice – John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Warren Harding in 1920.  And if John McCain wins the Republican nomination, it will become the first presidential contest between two Senators in American history.

The curse, i.e. the preference for Governors as presidential candidates, was among the reasons Jon Corzine left the U.S. Senate to run for Governor in 2005.  In those days – just three years ago – it is no secret that Corzine had presidential aspirations.  But friends of the Governor say any thoughts of running for national office are pretty much gone.

Lady Bird Johnson lived for nearly 44 years after her husband left the Vice Presidency following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. That is the longest a former Second Lady of the United States has lived after leaving office.

The second longest tenure as a former Second Lady belongs to a New Jerseyan, Jennie Tuttle Hobart, who died in 1941 -- 42 years after the death of her husband, Garrett Hobart.

CODEY STATEMENT ON PORT AUTHORITY'S PLAN TO ACQUIRE STEWART AIRPORT

TRENTON -- Senate President Richard J. Codey today released the following statement on the plans by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to acquire Stewart Airport:

"Without a doubt, I think Stewart Airport is the way to go, in terms of reducing congestion and delays at our major airports, particularly Newark Liberty International, which is crucial to New Jersey travelers. From a strategic standpoint this makes perfect sense. Stewart Airport is in a unique location to siphon a portion of travelers away from Newark, J.F.K. and LaGuardia.

If we're not proactive now, the headaches and inconveniences that exist today will be utter havoc in another 10 or 15 years when our three major airports reach capacity. Moreover, creating a fourth major airport is absolutely vital to the economic growth of our region. As Senate President, I'm prepared to support legislation that would expand the Port Authority's power to purchase an additional airport outside its 25 mile radius of authority."

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Jennifer Sciortino
NJ Senate Majority Office
(P) 609-292-5215

If Albio Sires wins the 13th district congressional seat -- as he is widely expected to do -- he will become the first former Assembly Speaker to go to Congress in thirty years. The last was Joseph LeFante, a Bayonne Democrat, who won a House seat in 1976 when Congressman Dominick Daniels retired. LeFante lasted one term; he was replaced by the Hudson County Democratic Organization in 1978 by Frank Guarini, a former State Senator. Before LeFante, the last Speaker-turned-Congressman was Charles Wolverton, a Republican from Camden County who served in Congress from 1926 to 1958. The last Senate President to win a seat in Congress was Edwin Forsythe; the Burlington County Republican served in the House from 1971 until his death in 1984.

Meaningless trivia: The last state legislative speaker to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was Tip O'Neill. The Massachusetts Democrat was serving as Speaker of the State House of Representatives in 1952 when John F. Kennedy gave up his House seat to run for the U.S. Senate.