Kim Guadagno

It appears that Gov.-elect Christopher Christie will nominate his running mate, Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Guadagno, to serve as Secretary of State.  The law creating the new post requires that the LG also hold another position (anything but Attorney General), but the statute is vague as to whether it must be a cabinet job.  Guadagno's nomination as Secretary of State is not Senate confirmable.

When Kim Guadagno resigns as Monmouth County Sheriff in January to become Lt. Governor, Christopher Christie will appoint an Acting Sheriff to fill the remaining year of her term.   The leading candidate, sources say, is Undersheriff Shaun Golden, a career law enforcement officer who ran against Guadagno at the 2007 Monmouth County GOP convention.  Golden, who was an administrative officer with the Toms River police department, received just 19% of the vote against Guadagno, who later hired him after she won the general election. 

Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall) announced last week that he would not seek appointment as Sheriff, perhaps because Guadagno and her predecessor, Monmouth County GOP Chairman Joseph Oxley, had already decided on Golden.

Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall) today issued a statement indicating that he does not intend to pursue the office of Monmouth County Sheriff, which Kim Guadagno is vacating to assume the office of lieutenant governor.

"While I am honored that my name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Monmouth County Sheriff, I have asked that my name be removed from consideration for this position," Rible said. "I am committed to devoting my time and energies to representing the residents of the 11th District. I look forward to serving in my new role as Assembly Republican Whip and working with Governor-elect Christie and the legislative leaders to offer change that the people of New Jersey deserve."

Kim Guadagno must resign her post as Monmouth County Sheriff in January to become New Jersey's first Lt. Governor.  At that point, the Governor will nominate an Acting Sheriff and the State Senate must confirm the appointment.  There should be relatively few complications, since all three State Senators from Monmouth County are Republicans.   Several months ago, there was speculation that Assemblyman David Rible (R-Wall), who was easily re-elected to a second term yesterday, might be interested in the job.

Chris Christie tonight delivered for the New Jersey GOP a governorship - the first time a Republican has won a statewide race in New Jersey in a dozen years - and by a margin greater than even most Republicans expected. 

Once he is sworn in January, Christie will become the state's 55th governor.

By the time he started his victory speech, unofficial results showed a Christie victory of 106,000 over Corzine. 

Independent Christopher Daggett, up to 20% in one October poll, fell back to earth on Election Day, getting in the low single digits.

When the Bruce Springsteen cover band stopped playing for a few minutes to show footage of Daggett's concession speech with audio, the crowd gave off an intense boo.

Christie was introduced by Lieutenant Governor-Elect Kim Guadagno, who said "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to see change.

"There is hope for real change. There is hope for lowering taxes. There is hope for smaller government. There is hope for new jobs in New Jersey."

Christie took to the podium and gave a simple salutation to the boisterous, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of GOP faithful who had to wait over a decade for this moment.

"Hey, New Jersey - we did it," he said.

Christie received Gov. Corzine's concession call at about 10:40.

LIVINGSTON -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie returned to the town he grew up in to rally the Republican faithful one last time before polls open tomorrow morning.

Addressing a crowd of about 200 in an ornate catering hall four doors down from his childhood home, Christie gave a variation of the stump speech he’s given countless  times across the state.  But he peppered it with references to his home town and the fact that he had known some in the audience for decades.”

“Thee foundation was laid here. Everything that has happened up ‘til now, everything that will happen tomorrow night and everything that will happen the years after – all of that was laid right here in Livingston, this wonderful place where I grew up,” said Christie.  “…I don’t know whether any of us could have possibly imagined that a day like today could actually come for one of us.  But here it is, and like it or not, it’s me,” said Christie.  

Christie also explicitly hit Gov. Jon Corzine on the outsider status that his campaign has hinted at for months.

“Is there any way in hell we’re going to let a guy from Illinois beat a guy from Livingston tonight?” he said.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood) with Yaakov Friedman today in Bergenfield.

BERGENFIELD - Mayor Timothy J. Driscoll took another sip of his coffee and considered the political terrain.

With the battles he's weathered at the local level here the fact that the gubernatorial campaigns are storming through his town now comes with no particular irony. It's just a natural outgrowth of personalities that have been converging in Bergenfield for years, some of whom are now trying to connect with the 13,387 registered voters in this compact town, while others - pending appeal - appear headed for the federal pen.

How does it all play into the statewide race with seven days remaining?

"I don't think much at all," said the retired engineer, sitting in his second floor mayor's office in town hall. "It's all about the economy. The economy is the problem."

Days after a jury found former Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero guilty of defrauding Bergenfield of the honest legal services of former attorney Dennis Oury (who had already pleaded guilty to fraud), the two candidates for lieutenant governor scrambled into the same senior daycare facility on the main drag, local state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), running mate of Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, first; followed by Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, the Republican running mate of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie. 

The two major party candidates for Lt. Governor will campaign at Bergenfield senior centers tomorrow, five days after a jury found former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero guilty of depriving Bergenfield residents of the "honest services" of their borough attorney.   State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who represents Bergenfield in the State Senate, will be there in the morning; Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, the GOP candidate, will be there at 2PM. 

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Sheriff Kim Guadagno released the following statement regarding the Corzine campaign's baseless and hypocritical attacks on Chris Christie's health insurance plan:
 "Jon Corzine and Loretta Weinberg should be ashamed of themselves.  For months, their campaign has wrongly accused Chris Christie of using mandate-free policies to deny women vital health care services, blatantly lying about his plan.  Now we learn that they are attacking the very concept Loretta Weinberg clearly supports considering she went as far as to sponsor legislation to offer mandate-free policies.  Governor Corzine and Senator Weinberg should apologize immediately for their misleading, and false attacks.  Attacking the very policies that Ms. Weinberg supports is the very definition of hypocrisy."

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Sheriff Kim Guadagno released the following statement regarding Jon Corzine's attempts to distance himself from Joe Ferriero:

 "During last night's debate, Jon Corzine made a half-hearted attempt at disassociating himself from Joe Ferriero's political machine in Bergen County.  Try as he might, Jon Corzine can't hide the fact that he and his family gave $441,600 to Joe Ferriero and his Bergen County Democratic Organization.  Not only did he fuel the activities of a corrupt organization, Governor Corzine failed to take a tough stance when Ferriero was indicted, instead allowing and promoting him as a delegate to the Democratic Convention. For Jon Corzine to imply that his considerable and consistent contributions to Ferriero's political operation were simply to elect federal candidates is laughable and isn't fooling anyone."