Tom Kean

The legislature’s two top Republicans criticized Gov. Corzine for allegedly making concessions to a public workers’ union for fear that their protest of his campaign kickoff would force Vice President Joe Biden to cancel his appearance there.

The Star-Ledger reported yesterday that the Corzine Administration, fearing Biden would not cross the picket line, made a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers that they would take 10 additional furlough days in exchange for “bankable” personal days they can use in the future.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-Westfield) accused Corzine of using taxpayer money for political gain.

HANOVER - Both rumored as lieutenant governor prospects for GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-Westfield) and state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) wouldn't delve into the LG question on Tuesday night.

"The only ones thinking about lieutenant governor right now are you guys at PolitickerNJ.com," said Allen, shortly before Christie accepted the Republican nomination.

Allen has said before she would consider the job if asked, and repeated her interest tonight - if her presence on the ticket served the party.

Kean waved off the LG question.

"Tonight is about Chris," he said of the nominee. "What Chris was talking about tonight was our need for a leader willing to make the tough choices, which Jon Corzine has been unwilling to make."

If Christopher Christie becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, he'll have thirty days to decide on a running mate.  Republican leaders close to the former U.S. Attorney seem to think the race for Lt. Governor is down to two finalists: Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) and State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), with Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan sitting third on the list.

Kean's fledgling candidacy is helped by his previous statewide experience and his knowledge of state issues.  He was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006, and while he sometimes struggled as a candidate - his avoidance of reporters in an Atlantic City elevator comes to find - his 44% in a bad Republican year had to be a growing experience.  And he's been vetted by the thorough opposition research of Bob Menendez, which means it is unlikely that anything in Kean's background would embarrass Christie.

He has won good reviews for his role as Senate Republican leader from colleagues who view him as more partisan and more aggressive than his predecessor, Leonard Lance.  He seems well-liked, and understands vast details of state government - a quality that might be a good balance for Christie, who has served as a Freeholder and as a federal prosecutor.

The 40-year-old Kean comes from a prominent political family: his father served two terms as Governor and later as Drew University President and as Chairman of the 9/11 Commission; his grandfather was a ten-term Congressman, and his great-grandfather served in the United States Senate.

But Kean's greatest weakness as a candidate for Lt. Governor is his natural hesitation to be an attack dog.  While he has become more combative since his 2006 defeat, he is not exactly the kind of guy who will criticize Democrats just for being Democrats.  He's often reluctant to get his hands dirty.  Kean may not attract voters that Christie won't get on his own, but he won't hurt Christie either.

Allen, 61, has a legitimate base in South Jersey, where she was well known as a television news anchorwoman for a Philadelphia network affiliate before launching a career in politics in 1995.  She has won five races in a district that has elected Democrats to the Assembly for the last twelve years, and got received seasoning as a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2002.  She helps Christie in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties - places Republicans will need to better than they have in recent statewide elections if they want to beat Gov. Jon Corzine.  And Allen might be more willing than Kean to be act in a fiercely partisan manner.

Because Gov. Jon Corzine is not accepting public financing for his re-election campaign, he is not legally obligated to participate in the two official debates sponsored by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).  That could mean a two-way debate between the Republican nominee - either Christopher Christie or Steven Lonegan - and Independent Christopher Daggett, if the former state Environmental Protection Commissioner raises the $360,000 needed to qualify for matching funds.

Refusing to debate could be an issue in the race for Governor, although it didn't seem to affect the 2008 campaign for U.S. Senate.  In that race, debates were held during the final days of the campaign.

An official debate between the candidates for Lt. Governor will not happen unless the Legislature passes a bill that requires it, and if Corzine signs it.  Some insiders think this ought to be done before the gubernatorial candidates pick their running mates, so the decision to have a debate won' be made based on whether legislators think it favors, for example, Barbara Buono or Thomas Kean, Jr.

New Jersey Republicans are likely to nominate a pro-life candidate for Governor today - only the sixth abortion opponent to win a statewide GOP primary since the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.  Pro-Choice Republicans have won fourteen statewide Republican primaries.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield), left, with his running mate, Assembly Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield).

Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin said state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-Westfield) would do a good job as lieutenant governor, and would be an asset to a ticket headed by Chris Christie, should Christie land the Republican gubernatorial nomination tomorrow.

Gov. Jon Corzine addresses the crowd at Friday night's LLANJ 10th Anniversary Gala at Rutgers University.

NEW BRUNSWICK – Midway into Gov. Jon Corzine’s speech to the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (LLANJ), a powerful and expanding grassroots organization celebrating its tenth anniversary, the door flung open and former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie strode into the room. 

He took a seat.

Murmurs ensued. 

The two men had shared a stage at Newark’s North Ward Center, and now they were once again in close proximity with the potential for their general election showdown building as Corzine rattled off what he argued were his achievements of particular interest to the Latino community before a receptive crowd of LLANJ members.

Moments later, Christie would seemingly bash Corzine in his absence and make his own case for why Latinos should consider his candidacy, basing his argument in part on his record of choosing minorities for jobs at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and on his commitment to dramatic public education reform. 

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan this morning in Westfield.

WESTFIELD – The commuters sprint across the rain-spattered parking lot toward the east bound platform and many of them skirt past Bruce Meringolo’s entreaty to stop and meet GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Longman, but a few slow down and engage the man under the red and white umbrella.

The movement conservative and grassroots organizer who with just one weekend left is fighting frontrunner Chris Christie for his party’s nomination bristles when he hears an accounting of Christie’s latest radio ad. Broadcasting steadily on Millennium radio this morning, the spot amplifies the establishment Republican’s complaint about Lonegan’s flat tax plan, accompanied by the particular condemnation of how the plan would impact rookie cops and firefighters and new teachers. 

“And what about two years from now, when that cop is moving up the pay scale and making $60,000?” Lonegan wants to know. “Under my plan, he’ll see a savings. As they move up the income bracket, they will receive tax cuts. For a single person at $43,000, he or she will start to see a savings.”

There are some Lonegan partisans there in the spitting rain. One woman, a “Dump Corzine” button affixed to her yellow raincoat, is infuriated over the Christie campaign’s repeated use of the70% figure to characterize what it calls that bulk of taxpayers who would get hammered with tax hikes under Lonegan’s plan.

Speculation that Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) could be headed to the Board of Public Utilities raises a question regarding political control of the BPU.  

Stender is reportedly under consideration for the seat currently occupied by Frederick Butler, a BPU Commissioner since 1999.  Some Democrats, sources say, are not happy that Gov. Jon Corzine might dump Butler, who spent seventeen years on the Assembly Democratic staff, including seven as Executive Director. 

If Democrats lose the 2009 gubernatorial election, the new Republican Governor would be able to designate one of the Republican Commissioners to serve as President.  The current BPU President, Jeanne Fox, would retain her seat, but the new Republican Governor would have the option of elevating one of the GOP Commissioners, former State Sen. Nicholas Asselta (R-Vineland) or former Assemblywoman Elizabeth Randall (R-Hillsdale), to the presidency.

BPU Commissioners serve six year terms, and traditionally the party that controls the governorship gets three of the five seats.  But if the Senate confirms a new BPU appointee, it would stop Republicans from holding a majority of seats until 2012, when Joseph Fiordaliso is up.

The only leverage the GOP has in the appointment process is senatorial courtesy.  Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) could block Stender, and State Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Branchburg) could block Butler.  Union County Republicans would not be pleased if Kean signed off on Stender.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) is under consideration for a seat on the Board of Public Utilities, according to several Democratic sources familiar with her interest in the state post.  The speculation seems to have annoyed her Republican opponent, former Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks, who could face a replacement candidate for the second time in six years. There has been talk of Stender's interest in a pension boosting job since she lost a bid for Congress last year by nine percentage points for an open seat she nearly won two years earlier. 

Marks and his running mate, Bo Vastine, have asked Gov. Jon Corzine not to appoint Stender to the BPU.  "By being complicit in this quid pro quo to get a politician in danger of being voted out of office a cushy state job, you would directly contradict the two priorities you set for yourself upon becoming governor," Marks wrote in a letter to the Governor.  We ask you not to abet yet another end run around the electoral process, like those we saw in the 2002 Lautenberg for Torricelli U.S. Senate candidate switch and the 2003 Scutari for Suliga State Senate candidate switch that occurred right here in the 22nd district. If such a switch occurs again -- this time connected to the promise of a lucrative state job for Mrs. Stender -- the citizens of New Jersey and especially here in the 22nd Legislative District will not accept any reason other than New Jersey politics as usual."

Republicans can stop the appointment of Stender, if Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) refuses to sign off on her nomination.  Kean has senatorial courtesy over Union County appointments that require Senate confirmation.