The Star-Ledger is reporting that Lee Solomon, a Superior Court Judge and former Assemblyman, will be the new president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  Gov. Christopher Christie is expected to name Solomon to the post tomorrow.

Solomon will be nominated to fill the seat of Democrat Frederick Butler, a former Executive Director of the Assembly Democratic office.  Butler is on holdover status; Gov. Jon Corzine named his energy advisor, Kenneth Esser, to replace Butler during the lame duck session, but the nomination was not included as part of Corzine’s accord with Christie last month.  The current BPU president, Democrat Jeanne Fox, will remain as a Commissioner.

Solomon, 54, served as a Camden County Freeholder before his election to the State Assembly in 1991.  He lost a race for Congress to Rob Andrews in 1994, and lost his seat in 1995 (by 1,618 votes) to Democrat Louis Greenwald.  He went on to serve as Camden County Prosecutor and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and head of the South Jersey office under Christie.

The appointments accord between Gov. Jon Corzine and his successor, Christopher Christie, means that Christie will have the option of naming a new Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Commissioner and making the new person the BPU President – a cabinet level position.  Had Corzine succeeded in moving his top energy advisor, Kenneth Esser, to the post during lame duck, Democrats would have secured a 3-2 majority on the board that regulates the natural gas, electricity, water and telecommunications and cable television industries, and would have had to pick between one of the two Republicans on the board -- Elizabeth Randall and Nicholas Asselta -- for the presidency.   Some Republicans still think Randall, a former Assemblywoman and state Banking and Insurance Commissioner, is the favorite, but her elevation to the top post is less likely this week than it was before Corzine and Christie cut a deal.

Frederick Butler, a former Executive Director of the Assembly Democratic office, will remain on holdover status until Christie can nominate a new BPU Commissioner, and until the Democratic-controlled State Senate confirms his pick.  The current president, Jeanne Fox, the wife of Corzine strategist Steve DeMicco, keeps her seat on the BPU, but will have to give up her leadership post if Christie tells her to.

The Senate Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee, slated to be eliminated when Stephen Sweeney becomes Senate President in two weeks, was created six years ago by Richard Codey just in case newly-elected Republican State Sen. Nicholas Asselta switched parties.  There was talk during the 2003 campaign that Asselta, who was going to be an easy winner for an open seat, might flip to the Democratic side – especially if the 20-20 split were to continue.  Codey created the committee – which dealt with important South Jersey issues -- as something to entice Asselta.  In the end, Asselta remained a Republican; four years later, Democrats ran Jefferson Van Drew for the Senate and beat Asselta.  After delivering a key vote to the governor during the lame duck session, he was coincidentally appointed to the Board of Public Utilities.

Republicans have a chance to take control of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in January, when Christopher Christie takes office as governor.  Right now, Democrats have a 3-2 majority on the board that regulates the natural gas, electricity, water and telecommunications and cable television industries.  But Commissioner Frederick Butler, a former Executive Director of the Assembly Democratic office, is on holdover status and Gov. Jon Corzine has not renominated him.

There was some talk earlier this year that Corzine would give the seat to Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), but Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean (R-Westfield) reportedly refused to sign off on her.  Butler, a Somerset County resident, is unlikely to return since State Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Branchburg) is unlikely to sign off on his nomination.  To prevent Christie from an early takeover of the BPU, Corzine will need to nominate a candidate from a county where Republicans have no senatorial courtesy.

Traditionally, the new governor gets to designate a BPU President, who holds cabinet status.  There is no guarantee that the incumbent, Jeanne Fox, who faced a tough confirmation hearing last year, will step down.  If she does, and if the Christie doesn't get to fill Butler's seat, the new governor will have to choose between Republicans Elizabeth Randall and Nicholas Asselta for the presidency. 

Speculation that Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) could be headed to the Board of Public Utilities raises a question regarding political control of the BPU.  

Stender is reportedly under consideration for the seat currently occupied by Frederick Butler, a BPU Commissioner since 1999.  Some Democrats, sources say, are not happy that Gov. Jon Corzine might dump Butler, who spent seventeen years on the Assembly Democratic staff, including seven as Executive Director. 

If Democrats lose the 2009 gubernatorial election, the new Republican Governor would be able to designate one of the Republican Commissioners to serve as President.  The current BPU President, Jeanne Fox, would retain her seat, but the new Republican Governor would have the option of elevating one of the GOP Commissioners, former State Sen. Nicholas Asselta (R-Vineland) or former Assemblywoman Elizabeth Randall (R-Hillsdale), to the presidency.

BPU Commissioners serve six year terms, and traditionally the party that controls the governorship gets three of the five seats.  But if the Senate confirms a new BPU appointee, it would stop Republicans from holding a majority of seats until 2012, when Joseph Fiordaliso is up.

The only leverage the GOP has in the appointment process is senatorial courtesy.  Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) could block Stender, and State Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Branchburg) could block Butler.  Union County Republicans would not be pleased if Kean signed off on Stender.

Republicans had a major blunder on filing day in 2005 when one of their State Assembly candidates in a key district simply forgot to file his nominating petitions.  Former Upper Township Mayor Drew McCrosson was supposed to be GOP Assemblyman Jack Gibson's running mate in the 1st district against two-term Democratic Assemblyman Jefferson Van Drew and his running mate, first-time candidate Nelson Albano.  McCrosson's screw up left George Cecola, a perennial candidate who had ran as an independent for State Senate in 2003 and against an incumbent Senator in the 2001 Republican primary.

There were allegations at the time that McCrosson's failure to file was deliberate.  Some pundits believe there was a deal between Van Drew and State Sen. Nicholas Asselta, who believed he could protect Van Drew's Assembly seat in exchange for Van Drew's agreement that he would not challenge Asselta for the Senate in 2007..  State Republicans tried to mount a write-in campaign to nominate former Cumberland County Freeholder James Sauro, but they were unsuccessful.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the nomination of Jeanne Fox for another term as President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  There is no longer much drama with this nomination: Republican Judiciary Committee members are likely to vote against her, but Fox has the votes from the Democratic majority for Senate confirmation.

If Democrats lose the 2009 gubernatorial election, the new Republican Governor would be able to designate one of the Republican Commissioners to serve as President.  BPU Commissioners serve six year terms, and traditionally the party that controls the governorship gets three of the five seats. 

One of the three Democratic Commissioners, Frederick Butler, a former Executive Director of the Assembly Democratic Office, is up for reappointment in June 2009.  For Republicans to take control of the BPU next January, Republican State Sen. Christopher Bateman would need to block the nomination of Butler, a Belle Mead resident, for the remainder of the legislative session.  Short of a resignation, that would give a Republican Governor a chance to make his own appointment.

The best shot for the Republicans to pick up a State Assembly seat is in the first district, where incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will need to defend their seats without the benefit of State Sen. Jeff Van Drew at the top of the ticket.  They won in 2007 as the popular Van Drew was ousting GOP incumbent Nicholas Asselta by twelve points.  Albano, swept into office as Van Drew's running mate in 2005, won comfortably; Milam beat Republican Michael Donohue by 2,020 votes.  This is the first time in history that Cape May County is represented by all Democratic legislators.

Milam won't be helped by his admission that he parked in a handicapped spot last October.  The freshman Assemblyman initially sought a trial, alleging that the spot was not clearly marked.  This is not the most egregious offense for a New Jersey legislator in recent years, but it could make a decent mailer and cable TV ad.  Donohue is reportedly interested in running again.

District 1 may be among the most politically competitive in the state, although it has clearly trended Democratic over the last three years.  George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry by 4,792 votes, and Barack Obama beat John McCain by 5,095.  Jon Corzine beat Doug Forrester by 2,984 in the 2005 gubernatorial race, and Tom Kean, Jr. defeated Robert Menendez for U.S. Senate in 2006 by 3,439.  All three of those races were about 53%-47%.

Democratic sources say that the front runner to win a special election convention for Cumberland County Freeholder is Nelson Thompson, a leader of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (District Council 711) who has run unsuccessfully for the post in recent years. The Cumberland County Democratic Committee is expected to meet in January to replace Freeholder Douglas Rainear, who was elected Surrogate last week.

Jeff Van Drew insists he won’t be a late entrant into the second district House race against Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a district where Democrats think Joe Biden’s presence at the top of the ticket could help a congressional candidate in Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties – where some residents watch Delaware TV.