Neil Cohen

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander. 

The campaign was about to change.

On Oct, 9, 2007, an announcement came down from Chicago regarding New Jersey operations. 

Mark Alexander, a Seton Hall University law professor and Obama’s senior policy advisor, would be the campaign’s official state director.

"I am grateful that he is going to carry the fight forward to and through the Feb. 5 contests," Obama said of Alexander. "He is a valued and trusted advisor, and at the same time has deep ties in his home of New Jersey that will be invaluable to our efforts. 

"I am proud of the policy work we have done on this campaign and through Mark’s leadership we have built a team of key advisors from the ground up that will continue to offer new and innovative approaches to the challenges this country faces," added the presidential candidate.

A personal friend of Barack and Michelle Obama’s going back a dozen years, Alexander as a child worked on the 1974 Washington, D.C. mayoral campaign of his father, Clifford Alexander, former chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission. Later, he ran Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign and served as counsel to Cory Booker.

NJ for Obama organizers Julie Diaz and Keith Hovey.

The Obama campaign started small here, with handfuls of coffee house organizers lining up behind a grassroots operation called NJ for Obama in the face of a big party machine backing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and an unpopular war in Iraq.

Founded in an Edison coffee shop in December of 2006, the group’s leader was Damian Bednarz, 25, a Master’s student in international relations with Seton Hall University’s Whitehead School of Diplomacy.

"Obama has something that Hillary Clinton can’t buy or reproduce, and that’s a sense of inspiration," Bednarz said at the time. "If anything, I’m encouraged by Clinton’s frontrunner status because I know our work is so special."

In the months following, some elected offiicials endorsed the Illinois senator, among them Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union), who came out in favor of Obama in April of 2007, followed by state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) a couple of weeks later.

"At this time we need someone special... someone who is going to build a bridge brick by brick to peace through negotiation," said Cohen, a graduate of Howard University who arrived at politics through the Civil Rights era.

COHEN INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO FUND STEM CELL RESEARCH WITH VENTURE CAPITAL

'New Jersey Stem Cell Research Assistance Act' Would Provide Millions to Help Jumpstart Research Opportunities in the Garden State

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen announced today he has introduced legislation to create the "New Jersey Stem Cell Research Assistance Program" to help stimulate the state's fledgling stem cell research program by encouraging venture capitalists to invest in research funding.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

WATSON COLEMAN/COHEN MEASURE TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR WITNESS TAMPERING PASSES ASSEMBLY

ASSEMBLY PASSES COHEN/CONNERS BILL SUSPENDING MORTGAGE INTEREST PAYMENTS FOR ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblymen Neil M. Cohen and Jack Conners sponsored to temporarily suspend mortgage interest payments for active duty military personnel was unanimously passed today by the General Assembly.

COHEN/CRYAN/RAMOS/CRUZ-PEREZ BILL TO PERMANENTLY DESIGNATE HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH ADVANCES

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Joseph Cryan, Ruben J. Ramos, Jr., and Nilsa Cruz-Perez sponsored to designate each October as “Hispanic Heritage Month” in New Jersey was released by the Assembly State Government Committee.

COHEN/CONNERS BILL SUSPENDING MORTGAGE INTEREST PAYMENTS FOR ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS ADVANCES

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblymen Neil M. Cohen and Jack Conners sponsored to temporarily suspend mortgage interest payments for active duty military personnel was unanimously released today by the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' ADVANCES

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval was released today by an Assembly panel.