Barbara Boxer

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Paterson this afternoon.

PATERSON – There’s an old boast in Hudson County that if you take a politician out of there and put him anywhere else in the country, he’ll soon be running the place.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) didn’t gloat today as he faced the cameras and took questions on the day Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) named him to succeed U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

But the former mayor of Union City was Hudson County-cryptic when asked how his helmsman-ship would differ from that of his predecessor across the river.

“In terms of style, he has his, and I have mine, and that’s it,” Menendez said.

Speaking at a press conference in Paterson City Hall on the issue of federal foreclosure aid with Gov. Jon Corzine, who served in the U.S. Senate as DSCC chairman when President-elect Barack Obama’s came of age as a statewide candidate, Menendez later fielded several questions about his new role.

An aide to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) who used to work for former New Jersey U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli was fired last week after he was arrested on child pornography-related charges, the Washington Post reports.

According to information available on the internet, the suspect, Jeff Rosato, worked as a staff assistant for Torricelli from 2001 until he left office in 2003. 

After another suspect led investigators to Rosato, after which they said that they found pornographic images and videos of children on his home computer.