Stuart Rabner

As part of a pitch for more competitive legislative districts after the 2011 census, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Twp.) says he'd be willing to challenge Dick Codey in 2011, in a fair fight district

Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris Township) says he would run against Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) in 2011 if legislative mapmakers drew a competitive district that included both of their towns.

"It would be an interesting question to see whether a Democrat who favors large government would appeal to Morris County voters more, or whether a Republican who favors small government would appeal to Essex County voters," said Carroll.

The idea of creating that district, of course, is far fetched.  But Carroll, who sits in a safely Republican district, says he hopes the next Legislative Apportionment Commission will create as many competitive legislative districts as possible - including his own. 

The chairmen of the state's two major political parties each appoint five members to the commission, while the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court appoints the crucial 11th member.  That tie-breaking member will determine whether the state will continue to have a huge majority of safe districts for each party, or whether maps should be redrawn to create districts where both parties have a shot to win. 

As of today, there are only a few of the state's 40 districts that have relatively equal party registration, and Republicans and Democrats only share representation in three. 

"If Stu Rabner appointed me to be the guy who drew the districts, I would draw districts that both parties hated, because I would try to draw as many competitive districts as possible," said Carroll.  "I wouldn't take consideration of incumbency.  The only thing I would take consideration of is you don't want to divide up communities."

Gov. Jon Corzine waits to interview potential Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor.

You have to wonder if Zulima Farber is kicking herself, or at least is she kicking Hamlet Goore?  As Gov. Jon Corzine continues his quest to find a running mate, it is possible that the Cuban-born Farber, who is both Black and Latina, might have emerged as a solid choice for Lt. Governor had she survived her first summer as Attorney General. Instead, her career came to an abrupt end amidst allegations that she used her office to help her live-in boyfriend, Goore, avoid getting a ticket when a Fairview police officer stopped him and found that his vehicle was not registered.  She resigned ten weeks later.

Corzine's enthrallment with outsiders played into the meteoric rise of Stuart Rabner, a career federal prosecutor whom he met for the first time during a campaign appearance at a Caldwell synagogue during the 2005 campaign.  The two hit it off, and after the election Corzine picked Rabner to be his Chief Counsel.  Rabner became Attorney General following Farber's resignation, and then was named Chief Justice when James Zazzali retired in 2007.  Some insiders suggest that Corzine has a similar infatuation with Randal Pinkett, the Rhodes Scholar-turned-Reality TV star who is now on the short list to run for Lt. Governor.

Three of the seven Justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court voted against hearing the case that would require Gov. Jon Corzine to release his personal e-mails to Carla Katz, a labor leader and his former girlfriend.  Justices Jaynee LaVecchia and Helen Hoens, both Republicans, and Justice Barry Albin, a Democrat, denied GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson's petition for an appeal.  Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, and Justices Virginia Long, John Wallace and Roberto Rivera-Soto did not participate. Two Appellate Court Judges, Edwin Stern and Ariel Rodriguez, voted with LaVecchia, Hoens and Albin.  When a Justice is absent, a senior Appellate Court Judge often participates in his or her place.

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner

With the legislative branch signing on in support of Governor Jon Corzine's plan to furlough state employees for two days as a budget cutting measure, it's now up to Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to decide if he'll take the judicial branch down the same road.  So far, Rabner hasn't said a word about cutting two days pay for judges and court employees.

Update:   Judge Glenn Grant, the acting adminisrative director of the courts, says that the judiciary will follow Gov. Jon Corzine's furlough plan.  Read Grant's memo:

Associate Justice Barry Albin's first seven-year term on the New Jersey Supreme Court is up in September.  And the winner of the 2009 gubernatorial race will have at least four state Supreme Court appointments during his four-year term.

Gov. Jone Corzine dodged a bullet with an appellate court ruling that halts the release of his e-mails.

Jon Corzine's chances to win re-election got a little better today when a state appellate court ruled that he won’t have to release personal e-mail exchanges with his former girlfriend, CWA leader Carla Katz.  The case could get appealed to the state Supreme Court, but Republican strategists thought their best chance was to have the appellate level uphold Superior Court Judge Paul Innes’ ruling last May that Corzine.

Gov. Jon Corzine, former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, and Senate President Richard Codey: Politicker photo

NEWARK - On a ridiculously hot day in which many other public speakers might have sent the brow-mopping audience on a premature beeline for the nearest watering hole, former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne regaled his willing audience with charm and one-liners.

"Everything else I asked for, but I didn’t ask for this," said Byrne, before officially accepting the honor bestowed by the Essex County Freeholders and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, and before he pulled the American flag off a stone fixture in a plaza named after him.

"When my kids used to visit me here, I used to put them in jail, and that taught them to stay on the straight and narrow," he cracked.

If Michellene Davis becomes Governor Jon Corzine's next Chief of Staff, it won't bode well for Edward McBride, who has served as Corzine's Chief Counsel since Ken Zimmerman left earlier this year.  A Davis appointment would mean that Corzine effectively passed over McBride for a promotion and picked someone who is several runs below the Counsel on the organization chart.  Other Chief Counsels, like Stuart Rabner, Mike Torpey, Cary Edwards and Edward McGlynn, have been promoted up. 

Gov. Jon Corzine is optimistic about New Jersey's futureSeated at a back table in an Ironbound restaurant on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Jon Corzine listened as he heard the leadership of his party described as a three-headed hydra; an image used by Republicans on the campaign trail to characterize Senate President Richard Codey, Speaker Joseph Roberts - and Corzine.

The governor thinks it's ridiculous.

"We have a Constitution that separates power for a reason," said Corzine: to prevent one branch of government from usurping the authority that individuals have in each branch.

The appointment of former Attorney General Stuart Rabner to the office of state Supreme Court Justice is one of his proudest accomplishments as governor, given the quality and preparedness of the man, Corzine said. However, the judiciary is not the troubled branch of government by the reckoning of Corzine's fiercest critics - maybe philosophically with decisions such as Abbott - but at least not immediately.

Anne Milgram has been a strong political ally of Governor Jon Corzine, serving as his Counsel when Corzine was in the United States Senate, and then as his First Assistant Attorney General.  Picking her as his third Attorney General in less than two years became an easy decision for Corzine.  But now, after less than five months on the job, sources close to Corzine say Milgram is “off the reservation.”  The front office does not have the same relationship it enjoyed with Zulima Farber and Stuart Rabner, and Corzine has been taking considerable heat from Democratic insiders over a subpoena served just before Election Day on the Union County Improvement Authority, where Union County Democratic Chair Charlotte DeFilippo is the Executive Director.