Steve DeMicco

Sometimes a little tone deaf to process issues, Governor Jon Corzine is not exactly the poster child for full disclosure. That’s something that began with his refusal to release his federal income tax returns during his 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and his initial failure to release a list of contributions his charitable foundation made as he launched his political career in 1999. An Op-Ed written last year by a member of his own administration alleged that “Jon Corzine has engaged in unprecedented secretive decision-making, without consulting community leaders, elected officials, legislators, government affairs professionals, or government agencies.”

Among the donors to Save Our State NJ, the issue-advocacy group essentially formed by Governor Jon Corzine to advocate his plan to raise tolls, is Public Service Electric & Gas. PSE&G has contributed $100,000 to the effort, according to sources familiar with the SOS group. That might explain Corzine’s reluctance to quickly release the list of SOS donors.

Editor's Note: The Inside Edge strongly stands behind our original report that PSE&G pledged $100,000 to Gov. Corzine's Save Our State NJ toll hike advocacy group, despite communications that seek to demonstrate otherwise and a release of their donors at the end of the day.

As Jeanne Fox prepares for her Senate confirmation hearings following her nomination to another term as President of the state Board of Public Utilities, it is interesting to note that her husband, Steve DeMicco, was the consultant on the 2007 campaigns against two Republicans who now serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  DeMicco worked for Ellen Karcher and Seema Singh, who lost to Jennifer Beck and Bill Baroni, respectively. 

Not a great cycle for Message & Media hotshots Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence: their two State Senate candidates got beaten – Ellen Karcher received 46% in District 12, and Seema Singh took just 37% in the fourteenth.

And now DeMicco and Lawrence have a bigger problem: their mail in the 37th district for Democrats Loretta Weinberg, Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle – the reformer pieces – seems to have really annoyed Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero. Does this but DeMicco and Lawrence in a war with the powerful Ferriero?

Message and Media’s Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence have dominated New Jersey’s political consulting industry over the last ten years, scoring the strongest contenders with the biggest budgets. They’ve elected Governors, Senators, Congressmen, and a huge number of local officials – from James E. McGreevey to Jon Corzine (twice, almost $100 million worth) to Bob Menendez to Rush Holt to Ellen Karcher.

But is their magic gone?

Anne Evans Estabrook’s announcement that she’s running for U.S. Senate may not come as a surprise to anybody who follows New Jersey politics, but its timing irritated one of her potential Republican primary opponents.

“I would have hoped that Anne would have put the interest of our party and the people of New Jersey ahead of her own political interests, and waited until after this election cycle,” said Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio, who set up a U.S. Senate exploratory committee in September and is running for a state Senate seat.

Pennacchio said that Estabrook should have waited at last a few weeks to “pull the trigger” – that her focus should not be on her Senate campaign, but on helping candidates enmeshed in legislative, county and municipal races.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, 83, is expected to seek re-election to a fifth term in the U.S. Senate next yearThe age issue doesn't go away.

New Jersey voters approve 42 – 34% of the job U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg is doing, but say 46 – 36% that he does not deserve to be reelected next year.

According to a Quinnipiac Poll released today, Lautenberg is too old to effectively serve another six years, voters say 54 – 40%. Republicans say 62 – 30% that Lautenberg is too old, a feeling shared by independent voters 55 – 42%. Democrats split 47 – 48% on the subject.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has signed up Message and Media's Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence to help him win re-election to a third term in 2009. Healy has also retained Joel Benenson for polling, and hired Stephanie Wohlrab, a former fundraiser for Bob Menendez and Richard Codey, as his Finance Director. Not taking anything for granted, Healy has already raised over $1 million.

In a 1984 debate against Walter Mondale, Ronald Reagan made a memorable quip when asked if his age, then 73, would jeopardize his ability to govern effectively.

“I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and lack of experience,” said Reagan.

Now, with two recent polls citing Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s golden years as a serious concern among voters, one of Lautenberg’s potential opponents has already attempted to pre-empt a similar joke from the senator.

“I hope that age is not an issue, and that my youth and vigor will not be held against me,” said Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio, who announced last month that he’s considering running for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.