Thomas Kean

Members of Jim Florio's staff, campaign and administration will gather at Drumthwacket tomorrow to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his election as Governor of New Jersey.  Gov. Jon Corzine will not be in attendance, and no taxpayer funds are being used for the event.

Voting yes on the Senate confirmation of New Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justice Barry Albin early this morning was the Republican leader of the State Senate, Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield).  Christopher Bateman (R-Branchburg) and Sean Kean (R-Wall) were also among a group of Republicans who voted to confirm Albin, who may now serve on the state's top court until he reaches the age of seventy in 2022.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission has named Jeffrey Brindle, an ELEC staffer since 1985, as the new Executive Director.  He will replace Frederick Herrmann, who is retiring after 25 years in office.  He becomes the fifth ELEC Executive Director, following David Norcross, Lewis Thurston, Scott Weiner and Herrmann.

Brindle was active in Republican politics before taking a post at ELEC.  He worked as a political consultant in the 1970's, served as New Brunswick GOP Municipal Chairman, worked on the legislative staffs of State Sen. John Ewing and Assemblymen Walter Kavanaugh and Elliot Smith, and as Deputy Somerset County Clerk.  He was the Republican candidate for State Assembly in the 17th district in 1977, but lost the general election to Democrats David Schwartz and Joseph Patero.  He joined state government after Thomas Kean's election as Governor and was the Communications Director at the Department of Community Affairs from 1982 to 1985.

After the 1973 election left Assembly Republicans with just fourteen seats, the GOP actually came close to winning control of the lower house in 1975, Brendan Byrne's mid-term election year.  That would likely have meant the return of Thomas Kean as Assembly Speaker; in turn, that could have altered the political landscape for the 1977 gubernatorial election.

Republicans picked up seventeen seats in '75, ousting eleven incumbents and picking up six open seats.  That reduced the Assembly Democratic majority from 66-14 to 49-31.

Seven other Democratic incumbents won close races: Walter Kozloski (D-Freehold) by 428 votes,  Robert Burns (D-Hasbrouck Heights) by 638 votes, Steven Perksie (D-Margate) by 725 votes, Harold Martin (D-Cresskill) by 995 votes, Mary Keating Croce (D-Pennsauken) by 1,068 votes, Vincent Ozzie Pellecchia (D-Paterson) by 1,275 votes, and Paul Contillo (D-Paramus) by 1,821 votes. 

In a warm-up act response to what many insiders believe will be her role as Corzine Defender Number 1 on the campaign trail as New Jersey’s first candidate for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) defended the governor today against former Republican Gov. Thomas Kean.

Referring to a Star-Ledger article, Buono took issue with Kean’s reference to Corzine as a “Philistine governor” because Corzine proposes to cut arts funding below the statutory level.

Conservative GOP statewide candidates, left to right: Albert Hawkes, Charles Sandman, Jeff Bell and Bret Schundler

If Steve Lonegan wins election as Governor, he might be the first conservative Republican to win a statewide election in New Jersey since Albert Hawkes ousted incumbent William Smathers in the 1942 U.S. Senate race. Hawkes served as President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before running for the Senate - his first bid for public office.

Since then, Republican statewide winners have been considered moderates: Governors Alfred Driscoll, William Cahill, Thomas Kean and Christine Todd Whitman; and U.S. Senators Robert Hendrickson, Alexander Smith, and Clifford Case.  Other Republicans widely viewed as conservatives, including Charles Sandman, Jeffrey Bell, and Bret Schundler, were unsuccessful general election candidates.

Christopher J. Daggett

The early centerpiece of Christopher J. Daggett’s independent gubernatorial campaign appears to be his record as a facts-based consensus builder who can get tough if the situation requires, evidenced by his work as regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Ronald Reagan, and his chairmanship of the 24-member DEP Efficiency Review Task Force under Gov. Jon Corzine.

“I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I have the experience of working effectively with different, often opposing groups,” the underdog Daggett told PolitickerNJ.com.

In 1984, Reagan appointed Daggett to run the EPA here in the midst of a squabble over a Manhattan development project ranging along the West Side Highway, a 250-acre fill-job that would have buried enormous amounts of striped bass spawning grounds.

Despite pressure from unions that wanted the jobs, New York politicians like U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato, editorial boards, and even President Reagan, who made a grip-and-grin appearance as he handed over a mock check for the development, Daggett denied the project based on scientific evidence that it would crush the area’s striped bass population.

Left to right: Charles Sandman, Ralph DeRose, Anthony Imperiale, Raymond Bateman and Frank "Pat" Dodd.

If you are a New Jersey State Senator, you are more likely to die in office than to win higher elective office. Under the current State Constitution, 49 sitting State Senators have asked voters to promote them to a new office, but only twelve have won.

Nearly half of the State Senators seeking higher office have run for Governor and all 21 have lost: Malcolm Forbes (1957), Wayne Dumont (1965), Raymond Bateman (1977) and James E. McGreevey (1997) won major party nominations but list the general election -- each time to an incumbent; William Schluter ran as an Independent in 2001; and Walter Jones (1961), Charles Sandman (1965), William Kelly (1969), Frank McDermott (1969), William Ozzard (1969), Harry Sears (1969), Ralph DeRose (1973), Raymond Garramone (1977), Frank Dodd (1981), William Hamilton (1981), Joseph Merlino (1981), James Wallwork (1981), Bill Gormley (1989) and Gerald Cardinale (1989).

State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), left, with Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-Franklin).

Following a lead taken by state Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr., (R-Union), State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) today called on Gov. Jon Corzine to detail what fund he intends to freeze to address a $1.2 billion revenue drop in this year's budget.  

"Time is of the essence if we are going to adequately address New Jersey's declining revenue," Beck said in a release. "Tough decisions inevitably must be made, but that is what governors and members of the legislature are elected to do. Governor Corzine should not keep stonewalling the release of these documents if they exist, which they should.” 

The governor’s office gave a “must be a slow news day” acknowledgement of Beck’s plea, noting that Corzine has already said he plans to release the budget details in the New Year. 

Governor Corzine is talking about the right moves when it comes to ethics reform. Republicans who have been advocating these reforms for the past three years welcome his decision to join the fight, and hope he can sway the members of his party who have blocked reform.