Joseph Roberts

Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, above, could wind up as Assembly Majority Leader, if Gov. Jon Corzine picks Bonnie Watson Coleman as the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.

The bigger inside contest if Bonnie Watson Coleman leaves the Legislature to run for Lt. Governor is who would succeed her as Assembly Majority Leader.  Her two main competitors when she won the post after the 2005 election, Neil Cohen and Wilfredo Caraballo, are no longer in the Legislature.  The race is significant because next Majority Leader could become Assembly Speaker someday.

The conventional wisdom is that Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), the Democratic State Chairman, would be a leading candidate for Majority Leader.  Cryan has a strong relationship with Speaker Joseph Roberts and with Democratic Party leaders across the state.  Watson Coleman was the Democratic State Chair before she became Majority Leader.

ROBERTS AND WATSON COLEMAN DISCUSS ECONOMIC SECURITY WITH AARP MEMBERS

(PLAINSBORO) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D-Camden) and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) today discussed Assembly efforts to combat the global economic crisis during a tele-town hall meeting with AARP New Jersey members.

The hour-long focused on health care and financial relief programs and was moderated by AARP New Jersey Governmental Affairs Manager Douglas Johnston. About 5,600 AARP members participated in the teleconference.

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts  (D-Camden) say they will include the legislative branch in  Gov. Jon S. Corzine's call for a two-day furlough of state employee salaries.  Corzine wants employees to take one furlough day in May and another in June to help close the budget gap.  They said they will also direct the Office of Legislative Services to furlough their employees, and will research the chances of doing the same thing for legislators and their staffs.

 "If the Governor is calling for executive branch employees to make sacrifices, then we need to do our part as well," said Codey.  "We recognize that these are extraordinary times and many employees in the private sector have taken much bigger hits.  If this small sacrifice means the difference between some employees losing their jobs altogether, it will be well worth it.

Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) is in line to succeed Douglas Fisher as Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The departure of Douglas Fisher from the Legislature will mean Speaker Joseph Roberts will need to appoint a new Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  There's a good chance that Nelson Albano, a two-term Assemblyman from Vineland, will get the job.  Albano, one of a handful of Democrats from politically competitive districts, is expected to face a tough re-election campaign this year without the benefit of popular State Sen. Jefferson Van Drew (D-Dennis) at the top of the ticket. 

Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney could help Jon Corzine pick up working class voters from South Jersey.

Gov. Jon Corzine has a potential problem in South Jersey, where a new Quinnipiac University poll shows him trailing former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie by five points, 42%-37%. The poll defines the South Jersey region as Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.  In 2005, Corzine beat Republican Douglas Forrester in this part of the state by 49,825 votes, a 56%-44% margin, and lost only in Cape May County.

In South Jersey, Corzine has a favorable/unfavorable rating of 43%-43%, and an upside-down approval rating of 42%-44%.  Nearly half the voters (47%) say he does not deserve to be re-elected, and 70% say they are dissatisfied with the direction New Jersey is headed. 

Against conservative Steven Lonegan, the former Mayor of Bogota, Corzine is ahead by nine points, 42%-33%, among South Jersey voters - not a great showing against a Republican whose name is not recognized by 88% of the region's voters.

Some Democrats suggest that Corzine could boost his chances in the region by picking a South Jerseyan for Lieutenant Governor.  And some Republicans think Christie could enhance his lead by doing the same thing.

Under the current New Jersey Constitution, only seven Assembly Speakers have won election to the State Senate and only two, William Hamilton (D-Middlesex) and Barry Parker (R-Burlington) were sitting Speakers while running for State Senator.   

Hamilton was serving his first year as Speaker when seven-term incumbent John A. Lynch, Sr. retired in 1977.  Hamilton ran in the Democratic primary for Governor four years later, clearing the way for John A. Lynch, the Mayor of New Brunswick, to win a Senate seat. 

Parker was Speaker in 1971, the year he won a seat in the State Senate.  He was serving as Senate Minority Leader in 1981 when he left the Legislature to seek the Republican nomination for Governor.

Assembly Speaker Marion West Higgins (R-Bergen) ran for State Senator and lost the 1965 general election.  She remains the only woman to have served as Speaker.

Curtis Jenkins, a labor leader and Camden City Councilman, is a possible candidate for State Senator if Dana Redd becomes the next Mayor of Camden.

If Dana Redd wins her race for Mayor of Camden, her departure from the Legislature in January would mean a special election convention for her State Senate seat – and possibly a second one for the State Assembly if Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts were to move up to the Senate.  One possible candidate to fill a legislative vacancy is labor leader Curtis Jenkins, a first-term Camden City Councilman.

Jenkins is the Business Manager for the Camden-based Laborers' International Union Local 222.  He is also Vice President of the Southern New Jersey Building Laborers' District Council, Vice-President of the Central Laborer AFL-CIO, and Trustee of the Southern New Jersey Building Trades Council.

ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS COMMENTARY ON 2009 STATE-OF-THE-STATE ADDRESS

(TRENTON) - Assembly Democrats today issued a multimedia package commenting on Governor Jon S. Corzine's 2009 State-of-the-State address.

Willie B. Brown, the former Assembly Minority Leader who passed away on Monday at age 68, will be remembered for sticking to his principles and standing up for his beliefs, “even if that wasn’t the most expedient and popular choice,” Speaker Joseph Roberts said in a statement today.

“His fight in the 1980s to halt the investment of state pension funds in companies doing businesses with South Africa was not only righteous, but courageous and groundbreaking,” Roberts said.  “His willingness to get arrested outside the South African consulate in New York served as example to us all of standing up for what is right.”

Brown's wake is scheduled for Sunday from 4PM to 7PM at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark.  A funeral service will be held at 10AM Monday.

ROBERTS ISSUES MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE RECAPPING ASSEMBLY EFFORTS TO COMBAT ECONOMIC CRISIS

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., today issued a multimedia package recapping the efforts and accomplishments put forth during the Assembly's singular focus on the economic crisis over the past five months.

Since July, the Assembly has considered nearly 40 measures aimed at helping residents and businesses withstand the global financial uncertainty and emerge strong from the economic crisis.