Sharpe James

JAMES DUAL OFFICE-HOLDING BAN RECEIVES FINAL LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL

TRENTON - A bill sponsored by Senator Sharpe James which would ban the practice of dual office-holding in New Jersey was approved by the Senate yesterday by a vote of 32-2, receiving final legislative approval.

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State Sen. Sharpe James became a dual office holder the same year he says he took up a long and arduous crusade against dual office holding, one of the head-spinning contradictions emanating from the old ex-Newark mayor who is under federal investigation.

The day was ending and among his upper house colleagues, James radiated nervous eagerness in the senate chamber.

"That bill is coming up on Thursday," he said, referring to a ban on dual office holding, of which he's a co-prime sponsor. "We’re close to abolishing that practice. I’ve been trying to ban dual office holding since 1999."

Sharpe James is the target of a federal criminal probe, Assembly will vote on dual officeholding ban, Tom Wilson has the votes to win re-election, Atlantic GOP fires Kevin Collins, and Seema Singh takes campaign dollars from utility execs

In what might be viewed as the first-round of the upcoming Democratic primary contests, a slate of Newark Board of Education candidates backed by North Ward Democratic leader Stephen Adubato, Sr. -- and to a lesser extent, Mayor Cory Booker -- scored an easy victory in yesterday's school board election. The top-votegetter was Samuel Gonzalez (3,321), the husband of Democratic State Senate candidate Teresa Ruiz. He was followed by Tharien Arnold (3,008), an unsuccessful South Ward City Council candidate last year, and Shanique Davis-Speight (2,351). Among the losing candidates was incumbent Anton Wheeler (1,429), who made unsuccessful bids for the State Assembly in 2005 and 2006.

TRENTON - At 44 South Clinton Avenue in Trenton, the state Division of Elections workers are waiting for 4 p.m., which is the primary filing deadline.

They’re going to be here past that time doing the grunt work of representative democracy, but 4 p.m. is the deadline for any straggling candidate who wants to run for Legislative office in his or her party’s primary.

It proves a mellow event for the most part.

Still, for half the day there is some drama.

State Sen. Sharpe James will not seek re-election to a fourth term in the State Senate, according to a report by WNBC-TV's Brian Thompson.

"I will not seek re-election in 2007, whereas it is time to spend more time with my family, win a senior national tennis championship and to finish writing the last chapters of my autobiography," James said in an e-mal to Thompson.

The 71-year-old James, who is reportedly the target of a federal probe of his twenty years as Mayor of Newark, becomes the 13th Senate retirement this year.

The filing deadline to run in the June primary is Monday, and Assemblyman William Payne is in China with his brother, Congressman Donald Payne.  His absence lends credibility to speculation that he will not file for State Senate.  Some insiders say that Payne is considering a November bid as an Independent -- which would put his brother in the tough spot of not supporting his party's choice for the 29th district Senate seat.

Sharpe James, the former Mayor of Newark who has still not revealed his plans for re-election to the State Senate this year, has $1,197,410 in his mayoral campaign fund, and another $66,386 in his legislative campaign account -- as of his January 2007 filing with the Election Law Enforcement Commission. 

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Sheriff Armando Fontoura will introduce their slate of 29th district legislative candidates at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The three are expected to back Teresa Ruiz, the 32-year-old Essex Democratic Vice Chairwoman, as their Senate candidate, and former Assemblyman Albert Couhtino and former Assistant Newark Corporation Counsel Grace Spencer for the Assembly.