The State Attorney General’s office today charged a worker for the 2007 campaign of state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark) with election fraud for allegedly changing three absentee ballot votes meant for a rival slate to votes for Ruiz’s slate.

Attorney General Anne Milgram charged that 58-year-old Newark resident Antonio Santana, whose responsibilities included soliciting absentee ballots, collected three from one family that were marked for Ruiz opponent Luis Quintana and assembly candidates Bessie Walker and Carolotta Hall.  Santana allegedly unsealed the ballots, erased the family’s votes and changed them in favor of Ruiz and her running mates, Grace Spencer (D-Newark) and Albert Coutinho (D-Newark). 

One minor error on Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez's press release announcing her retirement from the State Assembly: she was not the first Hispanic to serve in the State Assembly.  That was Jorge Rod, a Republican from Ocean who was elected in 1981.  The second was Jose Arango, a Republican from Hudson County who was elected in 1985. The first Hispanic Democrat to serve in the Assembly was Robert Menendez, who won in 1987. Jose Sosa was elected in 1991, and Rudy Garcia was elected in 1993.   Cruz-Perez was the first woman when she was elected in 1995.

TURNER-RUIZ BILL TO ESTABLISH PILOT PROGRAM TO RECRUIT MORE MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS APPROVED BY SENATE

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senate Education Committee Chairwoman, Senator Shirley K. Turner, and Committee Vice Chair, Senator Teresa Ruiz, which would create an 18-month pilot program to recruit more math and science teachers in New Jersey was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 37-0.

“A quality education is a right, not a privilege, of every child in the State of New Jersey,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “As we prepare the youth of the State for the challenges of tomorrow, we need teachers well-versed in math and the sciences to educate, inspire and mold young minds. This bill would give New Jersey the authority to begin to address the shortage of math and science teachers in our State’s schools, and allow us to remain competitive for the high-paying jobs and research opportunities that depend on an educated workforce.”

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Teresa Ruiz which would create a grant program to encourage the use of Cogeneration/Combined Heat and Power (CHP) received final legislative approval today by the full Senate by a vote of 31 to 6.

            Under the bill, CHP is defined as the use of a combined heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and heat.  CHP plants utilize the heat that comes from electricity generation and use it for industrial or domestic heating needs.

            “As we continue through the winter, and energy costs continue to rise, the use and development of renewable energy will become increasingly necessary,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union.  “Through the funding of these grants, we would be allowing businesses to cultivate combined heat and power energy, which in turn, would create healthy competition between companies to offer renewable energy that is both efficient and affordable, and that would also keep New Jersey in the forefront of energy innovation.”

Mayoral candidate/state Sen. Dana Redd (D-Camden)

CAMDEN - Ensconsed in the trappings of Democratic Party power, hometown hero state Sen. Dana Redd (D-Camden), whose parents were the victims of a double homicide when she was eight years old, today announced her candidacy for mayor with a promise to bring a crime-beleagured city back to waterfront glory. 

"Let's put an end to the petty, counter-productive bickering, no more fighting, ward against ward, black against Hispanic. I'm declaring it today, it is over," said Redd in an atmosphere still energized by President Barack Obama's Jan. 20th swearing-in and his call for national unity.  

The 40-year old Camden native entered the race with the blessing if not official backing of incumbent Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, 82, who stood briefly onstage and appeared to be just bucked up enough to make some “Camden first” comments in the face of party leaders who respectfully acknowledged Faison’s service before firmly throwing whatever heft they have behind rising star Redd. 

"I'm the mayor that made Camden work," an almost defiant-sounding Faison said. "I'm here today because the city is bigger than me. My heart is with Camden. ...I am here to support anyone who will help the City of Camden. That is my statement."

She said she had intended to declare her intentions regarding her political future at a Feb. 23rd press conference, and gently made it known that Redd's presser today pre-empted her own plans somewhat.

Regardless of the outcome of the game of political musical chairs in the 28th legislative district, where two incumbents and a former Assemblyman are posturing for two spots on the Democratic line, look for the mostly white, blue collar towns of Belleville and Bloomfield to be split away from Newark and Irvington when a new map is drawn after next year's census.

The 28th was supposed to be one of the voting rights districts that protected minority representation in the Legislature when it was drawn in 2001.  The incumbents at the time were three African Americans: State Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) and Assemblymen Donald Tucker (D-Newark) and Craig Stanley (D-Irvington). 

If Caputo holds his seat this year, it makes a defense of the current district under the Voting Rights Act more difficult.

Belleville, which was in the old 36th district, and Bloomfield, part of the old 34th district, were mostly represented by Republican legislators before the towns were moved in to the new 28th.  Rice beat GOP Assemblywoman Marion Crecco (R-Bloomfield) by a 69%-30% margin in 2001.

But Belleville and Bloomfield, which was estimated to have a combined population of 79,816 last year, have proven to be a greater force in Essex County politics than the redistricting commission imagined.  In 2007, Essex Democrats backed Ralph Caputo, a white Freeholder who served as a Republican Assemblyman from 1968 to 1972, to run for the Assembly.  Caputo and Cleopatra Tucker, whose late husband held the seat until his death in 2005, unseated two incumbents, Stanley and Oadline Truitt (D-Newark). 

Mayor Cory Booker, center, with Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, left, and jazz pianist Eric Lewis

NEWARK – On the city’s 21st anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 72 hours before Obama’s presidential inaugural, Newarkers at Grace Episcopal Church rejoiced in a ceremony of blended Obama-MILK symbolism that apparently left no room or reason for last minute retaliatory elbows thrown at the outgoing Bush administration. 

In short, the most joyfully considered and relevant transition of power here was from King to Obama. 

“I’m a child of the 1960s. There are still a few of us around, right, Mildred?” said Gov. Jon Corzine, finding Council President Mildred Crump’s smiling face in the crowd. “King defined our aspirations, and what we could seek to find. When he was killed in Memphis he was talking about a living wage. We have a long way to go, but at this moment, when Barack Obama is sworn in, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream will become a reality. 

“God bless the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the presidency of Barack Obama,” added Corzine, and moments later, Crump cried, “That’s my governor,” as people in the crowd lurched to their feet.

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Sandra Bolden Cunningham and Teresa Ruiz, which would make changes to the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) and the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship II (NJ STARS II) programs, to keep them more economically sustainable for the State of New Jersey, received final legislative approval today by the full Senate, by a vote of 33 to 4.

            “This bill is a product of a task force charged with the responsibility of studying the NJ STARS programs, and making recommendations of ways to ensure the programs’ longevity,” said Senator Cunningham, D-Hudson, who was a member of the NJ STARS Task Force.  “This bill is definitely not the perfect solution to the problems of funding these scholarships. But it is the first step in the right direction toward amending the NJ STARS programs, and ensuring that they can benefit the best and brightest students from all areas in New Jersey.”

            “My main concern for this legislation - and for the STARS programs in general - is that there must be a committed effort to ensure that all of the State’s school districts have equal access to these programs,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union, who was a member of the NJ STARS Task Force. “The enactment of this bill would serve as the first of many necessary changes that would transform this well-intended legislation from a good law that helps students, to a real chance at higher education for high-achieving students from all walks of life here in New Jersey.”  

RUIZ-VITALE MEASURE TO HELP HARD-HIT NEW JERSEYANS DURING ECONOMIC CRISIS SIGNED INTO LAW

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Teresa Ruiz and Joseph F. Vitale which would provide financial assistance to individuals and families as part of the “New Jersey Economic Assistance and Recovery Plan” was signed into law today by Governor Corzine.

“As New Jersey State Government comes to terms with the reality of a national economic recession, we have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable State residents from falling through the cracks,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union, and a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. “This bill represents the heart and soul of what government must be about – offering a helping hand to those in crisis, and giving people the resources and support they need to weather the current economic storm. Through this legislation, we will expand safety net programs for people at the lowest end of the economic spectrum, for whom access to food pantries and heating assistance means the difference between life and death.”

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Sandra Bolden Cunningham and Teresa Ruiz, which would make changes to the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) and the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship II (NJ STARS II), to keep these programs economically sustainable for the State of New Jersey, was approved today by the Senate Education Committee.

            “Considering the dire fiscal straits the State is in, these programs must be changed to ensure that they can continue to provide access to higher education for the State’s best and brightest students,” said Senator Cunningham, D-Hudson, who is a member of the NJ STARS Task Force.  “I’ve listened to the testimony of students who have benefitted greatly from the NJ STARS programs, even in the short time since they were created.   This is a tough, but necessary decision that we’ve had to make, and these revisions to the current law would allow the State to continue to provide these scholarship programs to hard-working New Jersey students.”