October 2, 2009 - 11:02am
Inside Edge

Booker took heat for Codey endorsement

Newark Mayor Cory Booker needed to do some damage control yesterday after taking heat for his endorsement of Richard Codey (D-Roseland) in the race for Senate President.  Booker, at the urging of two lawyers who advise him, Elnardo Webster and Paul Fader, backed Codey after Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) had already announced he had a majority of the Democratic Senate Caucus on his side.   That caused some Democrats close to Sweeney - especially George Norcross - to offer Booker a bit of friendly guidance.  (It's fair to assume that the advice included strategic assumptions for the 2013 Democratic gubernatorial primary.)  Booker, realizing Webster and Fader might have screwed up a bit, put out a statement late in the day acknowledging Sweeney's victory over Codey, and endorsing Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) for Speaker.  That probably made Norcross happy, but it won't be any consolation to Codey, who thought announcing a Booker endorsement a few hours earlier might be his salvation.

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

Comments

Codey's time was 2005


Hindsight is 20/20, but I bet Codey is thinking he should have run for governor in 2005 -- even against Corzine's millions -- when he was sitting at 60%+ approval ratings.

Timing is everything.

For what it's worth, Booker will survive the Codey endorsement.

10/02/09 4:05 pm