Steve Rothman

Jon Corzine's campaign still won't confirm it, but U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) says Obama will be back in New Jersey one more time.

"I think Obama's presence will help in New Jersey significantly.  He's coming back to New Jersey as well," said Rothman, who would only put the date as "before the election."

            Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce said today the first order of business for Paul J. Fishman, soon to be the new U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, should be to determine if both U.S. Senators and two congressmen from New Jersey crossed ethical and legal bounds by exerting undue influence on the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a medical patch for injured knees manufactured by a major campaign contributor.

            “If the charges leveled by the FDA are true, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. and Steven R. Rothman put the interests of a campaign contributor ahead of the health of people in pain,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “This could be one of the worst cases of ‘pay-to-play’ perpetrated by any public official in New Jersey.

            “Every surgical procedure has risks,” he noted. “How anyone can push for approval of a device medical experts deemed to be unsafe, exposing patients to serious risks is incomprehensible to me. Menendez, Lautenberg, Pallone and Rothman must be held accountable for such recklessness.”

            The New York Times reported today that scientific reviewers for the FDA repeatedly and unanimously over many years decided that the device, known as Menaflex and manufactured by ReGen Biologics Inc., was unsafe because the device often failed, forcing patients to get another operation.

            But after receiving what an FDA report described as “extreme,” “unusual” and persistent pressure from four Democrats from New Jersey — Senators Menendez and Lautenberg and Congressmen Pallone  and Rothman — agency managers overruled the scientists and approved the device for sale in December.

            Three executive officers at ReGen, which is based in New Jersey, contributed a total of $26,000 to the four Democratic representatives beginning in October 2007, according to OpenSecrets.org.

If these allegations are true, then it is very important that New Jersey find and aid any state patients victimized by political failures, Kean said. Governor Corzine should order the health commissioner to start her inquiry today.

United States Representative Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) said that he is “delighted” that Gov. Corzine has offered state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) the number two spot on the ballot.

“Loretta brings a tremendous amount of experience and integrity to this position, and she is a champion of government reform and ethics.  She’s got tremendous energy, and she’s fearless.  I think it was a great choice,” he said.

Rothman said he lobbied Gov. Corzine to pick Weinberg.  

Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood), who has spent the last four years as one of Weinberg’s key allies, said Weinberg offers more than just a reformer reputation.  Although her anti-corruption reputation may help, Huttle said the full package will draw in votes for Corzine not just in the battleground county of Bergen, but statewide.

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn)

When asked if they would publicly recommend a candidate for lieutenant governor to Gov. Jon Corzine, most politicians demure, arguing that ultimately the governor has to decide on his own.

Leaving Corzine room to make his own selection based on who he believes he best meshes with as a running mate, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) said Corzine couldn't do better than state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who represents the best of New Jersey's elected officials, in the congressman's opinion.

"The governor and New Jersey are blessed with extremely qualified Democrats who would make outstanding lieutenant governors," Rothman told PolitickerNJ.com. "I include my dear friend Loretta Weinberg in that elite group." 

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn)

HACKENSACK - New Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) Chairman Michael Kasparian said he would support U.S. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) should Rothman at some time in the future see an opportunity to pursue a run for a vacant U.S. Senate seat. 

"If he ever ran for Senate, he would have my support," Kasparian told PolitickerNJ.com. "I am all about Bergen."

The remark came to a question within the context of some statewide intra-party wrangling that goes back to last year's U.S. Senate primary.

When then-BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero appeared poised to endorse U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights), Rothman moved quickly.

Rather than conspiring with South Jersey to topple U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park), Rothman believed the Bergen County party chairman should refrain from endorsing until a vacancy occured. 

Shelly Stoneman, deputy chief of staff/legislative director for U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn), will serve as a member of President Barack Obama’s legislative team.

According to a press release issued by Rothman’s office, Stoneman will work in the East Wing. She has served with Rothman since 2003 directing much of his work on the House Appropriations Committee. 

“I am very pleased that Shelly will be joining President Obama’s staff and continuing to work on issues that benefit New Jersey, the nation and the world,” said Rothman, the sole member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation to endorse Obama in last year’s Democratic Primary. 

State Sen. Paul Sarlo probably won't run for Bergen County Democratic Chairman.

There is considerable speculation that State Sen. Paul Sarlo, the new Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has ruled out a bid to succeed Joseph Ferriero as the Bergen County Democratic Chairman.  Some top level Democrats, reportedly including U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, had been urging him to run.  Sarlo, sources say, had been considering an entrance into the race, which now includes labor leader Buzz Dressel and developer/fundraiser Michael Kasparian.

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fairlawn) wants state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) to serve as Bergen County Democratic Organization interim chairman.

HACKENSACK – The Bergen reformer’s fear is someone disgraced or incarcerated will be running the party, giving orders via cellphone or BlackBerry to drones working in the service of a political patronage system that grinds forward unchanged even as the feds expose and prosecute the upper eschelons. 

But it’s also an election year – for governor, no less – and in that all important, 70-community county of Bergen, which Democrats or Republicans must win in order win it all in 2009 – tampering with the Democratic Party infrastructure and leaving it depleted or less than muscular could give the GOP that one opportunity they’re seeking. 

Indeed, even as Joe Ferriero wrote his letter of resignation as chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO), former U.S. Attroney Chris Christie – the man whose office last year indicted Ferriero on federal corruption charges – filed his papers to run for governor against Democrat Jon Corzine, setting up that most dramatic contrast of party plot lines, which the GOP wants to translate into crumbling utterly the Dems’ most vulnerable fault line here in Bergen.

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has been on a leave of absence since September.

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, under indictment on federal corruption charges, will resign on January 22, and has called a special election to pick a successor.  Ferriero says he is ending his leave of absence effective immediately so that he can help raise money for the party’s January 17 fundraising event.

Ferriero was indicted on September 9 on eight corruption counts of influence peddling with a grants consulting firm he held a financial stake in. A trial is set for September 2009.  He went on a leave of absence just before the indictment was announced.

“Unfortunately, I have recently been required to defend myself against an indictment which has no basis in law or fact.  I have been forced to dedicate my time and energy to clearing my name,” Ferriero wrote in a letter to Democratic leaders.  “I believe that it would adversely affect our party, and our candidates if I were to continue to serve as chairman while on trial several weeks before the November election.  It is for this reason that I am calling a special county committee meeting for January 22, 2009 to elect a successor.  I hereby resign effective on that date.”

Ferriero says that while he had “strenuous disagreements with a few members of the party including (State Sen.) Loretta Weinberg and (U.S. Rep.) Steve Rothman,” he said “we are all Democrats that want what is in the best interest of the party.”

“I am calling on everyone to come together so that we can continue the progress our party has made over the last decade,” he said.

Likely candidates to succeed him are Michael Kasparian, a developer and Democratic fundraiser, and Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union business manager Richard “Buzz” Dressel, a Commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

Ferriero, 51, was first elected County Chairman in June 1998.  Five months later, Bergen Democrats broke the GOP’s 7-0 majority on the Board of Freeholders by electing Democrats Dennis McNerney and Douglas Bern, and won the race for Sheriff.  Under Ferriero’s leadership, Bergen County now has two Democratic State Senators, McNerney is in his second term as County Executive, and they hold all seven Freeholder seats.  Ferriero has helped Democrats achieve majorities in 25 municipalities.

For now, Ferriero’s resignation ends a 31-year political career that began with his election to the Dumont Borough Council in 1977 at age twenty.

The full text of Ferriero’s letter: