The Star-Ledger is reporting that jury selection for the trial of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James will begin on Tuesday, with more than 250 North Jerseyans being called as potential jurors.  Twelve jurors and seven alternates will be picked.

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At age 75, Stephen Adubato Sr. continues to accumulate political allies by working both sides of the aisle and carefully engaging in battles that he can win. His organization captured Sharpe James’ State Senate seat (with Teresa Ruiz, a key lieutenant), he took out Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo (as he promised to do in 2006), picked up an Assembly seat (the one held by Bill Payne), and he continues to secure enormous funding for his power base, Newark’s North Ward Cultural Center. Adubato’s electoral success in 2007 was extraordinary, even as Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s candidate lost a race to Ron Rice.

Adubato is well-liked by New Jersey’s Governor and two U.S. Senators, has influence over Booker, and exercises substantial clout over the Essex County Hall of Records and the Newark City Council. He talks to just about every powerbroker in New Jersey. And this year, when he announced his support of Hillary Clinton for President, his endorsement was viewed as important enough to make Hotline, one of the nation’s most important political publications.

And while he’s a Democrat, Adubato has cultivated close relationships with key Republicans, like U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson, and State Senators-elect Bill Baroni and Kevin O’Toole.

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Beck Urges Codey to Exercise Leadership and Ask Senators Under Investigation Not to Vote

Says the Integrity of the Senate is at Stake

State Senator-elect Jennifer Beck today sent a letter to Senate President Richard Codey urging him to show true leadership and ask those members of the Senate that are under investigation or indictment to forgo voting in the up-coming session of the Senate.

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When Teresa Ruiz takes her Senate seat in January, she will become the first Latina to serve in the New Jersey State Senate.  Ruiz will replace Sharpe James, the former Mayor of Newark and Senator since 1999; James did not seek re-election and is currently facing federal corruption charges.

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Democrats in Atlantic City, clearly nervous about the impact of AWOL Mayor Robert Levy on the fall campaigns for State Senate, Assembly and County Executive, want Governor Jon "Zero Tolerance" Corzine to get involved -- perhaps, it has been suggested, find a way to remove Levy from office.  But if Corzine did that, wouldn't he need to be held accountable for removing a resume embellesher with an unspecified illness while being unwilling to call for the immediate ouster of other indicted officials, like State Senators Sharpe James and Wayne Bryant, and Mayors Mims Hackett and Sammy Rivera?

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State Senator Sharpe James, the former Mayor of Newark, is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court William Martini on Wednesday for a series of pretrial motions, and discussions on the status of evidence exchange and scheduling.  James' trial is set to begin on February 4 -- the day before the presidential primary.

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At the first class of Politics 107 this morning at Essex County College, some of the students chuckled when they read the list politician guest lecturers slated to speak to the municipal government class over the course of the semester.

“One of these dudes is going to jail,” said Klon Julu, a 27-year-old Political Science major from Newark, after taking a look at the syllabus.

Indeed, one of the several mayors slated to speak at the experimental class this semester was Mims Hackett, the recently arrested Orange mayor and, as of this afternoon, former Assemblyman.

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12th District Republican candidates Jennifer Beck, Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande today called for the 11 public officials indicted on federal charges by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie to resign immediately from their offices, saying that despite a presumption of innocence they would not be able to do their jobs effectively with a cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads.

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Four legislators have been indicted this year on federal corruption charges, and a fifth has been told he is the target of a federal probe.

CHARGED: State Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden); State Sen. Sharpe James (D-Essex); Assemblyman Alfred Steele (D-Passaic); Assemblyman Mims Hackett (D-Essex).

TARGETED: State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Bergen)

SUBPOENAED: State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union); Assemblyman Robert Gordon (D-Bergen); Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D-Bergen); Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack (D-Hudson)

UNCLEAR: U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez

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Don't expect the State Senate to meet very often this fall, since the Democratic majority could have a problem mustering enough votes to pass a bill without Republican support.  Of the 22 Democratic Senators -- a bill needs 21 votes to pass -- Wayne Bryant and Sharpe James, both under federal criminal indictment, could miss some votes, and it will be months before Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny, seriously injured in a mysterious July 18 accident, will be able to return to Trenton.  All three are retiring this year.

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