January 13, 2009 - 4:46pm
Inside Edge

With Bateman's help, Senate confirms Pelios

State Sen. Kip Bateman (R-Somerset) helped the former Somerset County Democratic Chairman win Senate confirmation as an Administrative Law Judge.

Ethics complaints he filed against seven Republican legislators in 2007 – all subsequently dismissed – came back to haunt former Somerset County Democratic Chairman Elia Pelios today, but with the help of a home county Republican it didn’t matter and the State Senate today confirmed his nomination as a state Administrative Law Judge.   Despite strong opposition from several key Republicans, including Joseph Kyrillos and Kevin O’Toole, Christopher Bateman, a Republican Senator from Somerset County, signed off on Pelios’ nomination and voted for his confirmation.

Pelios and Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr had alleged that Kyrillos, O’Toole, State Sens. Robert Singer and Peter Inverso, and Assemblymen David Wolfe, Christopher Connors and Rick Merkt had violated the state’s conflicts of interest law and the legislative code of ethics related to their votes on the 2002 budget.  The Joint Committee on Ethical Standards dismissed all seven complaints, and Pelios offered apologies to several of the legislators.

Wally Edge can be reached via email at politicsnj@aol.com.