2011 Power List and Year in Review - PolitickerNJ.com

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year in review 2011
Editor’s Note
The year dawned with great anticipation as state Republicans
hoped to catch the tail end of the GOP wave that
had swept the country during congressional mid-terms
and once again take control of the legislature.
Nationally, Republicans wrested back control of
the House of Representatives — aided by a win in
New Jersey’s District 3 - and picked up six seats in the Senate. The
Tea Party movement had Democrats backpedaling and the GOP
hoped it would carry over into November’s legislative races.
But more than hope or change in the Garden State, 2011 was
marked by collisions.
The New Year did not ring in happily for Gov. Chris Christie as a late
December snowstorm that dropped nearly three feet of snow caught
him out of state and left him defending a family vacation to Disney
World.
In typical pugnacious style, Christie attacked critics of the state’s
response to the massive storm. Democrats made hay from the snow
and the governor ducked for cover, in the process making an uncharacteristic
misstep when he said he’d been in touch with acting Gov. Steve
Sweeney, who took on the role because Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno also
was absent from the state during the storm.
But Sweeney denied he’d spoken to the governor forcing Christie to
admit he’d misspoke. But despite attempts from Democrats to make the
snow stick to the governor, all thoughts quickly turned to the sewer.
In late January the governor axed six of seven commissioners at
the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission. The move once again put
Christie in the spotlight as a governor unafraid to take on the political
establishment.
The governor took on another long-sacred institution in February
with the proposal for sweeping changes to tenure and teacher
compensation, making good on his word that 2011 would be the year
of education reform and drawing fire from the teachers union.
The busy month culminated with Christie’s unveiling of the budget,
which he dubbed the “new normal,” proclaiming the state would no
longer continue to fund every program as it had in the past. Some
fuzzy math proved useful to Christie’s cost cutting narrative as a shuffling
of pension contributions allowed the governor to claim another
year of spending cuts.
The governor did restore much of the education funding he had
slashed in 2010 – funding he was forced to increase after a special
master ruled his school aid formula invalid.
Democrats said the new normal was nothing more than the same
old same old, accusing the governor of putting off pension payments
into the future and setting the scene for a major battle to come.
In April, state Republicans suffered one of the few defeats of the
Christie era when Rutgers Professor Alan Rosenthal, the tie-breaking
member of the state’s redistricting commission, voted in favor of the
map put forth by Democrats. The vote all but assured Democratic
control of the state legislature for the short term and possibly for the
next decade.
Republicans chastised the new map, calling it far too tilted toward
Democrats, but claimed it was at least better than the current one.
Christie had been heavily invested in the process and the party’s bitterness
toward the map was evident.
The biggest test of Christie’s political muscle took shape in early
spring as proposals to increase public worker contributions to pension
and health benefit programs began to pick up steam.
The push for benefit reform fomented massive discontent among
the unions and lead to several emotional outpourings on the Statehouse
steps. But Christie and legislative Republicans continued to
push alongside Senate President Steve Sweeney , long a champion
of the reforms and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, a convert to the
cause. With the aid of Democrats in both houses, Republicans bucked
the unions and rammed home a bill.
Support from Sweeney and Oliver sparked a near civil war in the
Democratic caucus. The fracture among pro-union Democrats and
pragmatic party members like Sweeney has not fully healed and may
carry over into the coming year as the governor attempts to push home
education reform.
Next up was the budget battle. Democrats were determined to knock
Christie off his perch, but remained disorganized after the dispiriting
pension benefits battle. In an attempt to stake their claim, the party
submitted their own budget using their own version of fuzzy math.
Using the full power of his office, Christie slashed the Democrats’
budget, cutting programs – such as transitional aid – that had been
included in his first submission. Petty cuts such as one to a residential
center for abused children had Democrats howling and even some
Republicans questioning the governor’s vindictive nature.
The budget episode led to one of the most candid public exchanges
in gold dome history as Sweeney went ballistic, calling Christie a
“bully and a punk” in an interview with the Star Ledger. The big men
patched things up but it was clear Sweeney felt used.
Christie’s flourishing national profile set the stage for a fall unlike any
other in Trenton’s recent memory. Pulled in by the siren song of national
Republicans, Christie once again flirted with a run for president.
The governor had many times declared he had no interest in the
job, but as October approached – and with it the deadlines for entering
state primaries – Christie was on the fence. A breathless week
followed as the media hung on the governor’s every word hoping for
a hint of his intentions. In the end, the answer remained the same as
Christie declared before a national audience that his work in New
Jersey is not yet done.
“You’re stuck with me,” he said.
With the unfavorable map lines adopted in April the GOP entered
November with little hope of altering the make-up of the legislature.
The governor and state GOP leaders worked hard to downplay expectations
and in the end they proved prescient as Republicans lost a seat
in the Assembly and maintained their 16 seats the Senate.
So what’s next for the governor with the affinity for the fight?
In nixing his presidential bid, Christie left the door open should
he get the nod for V.P. Many pundits say it’s unlikely given that the
governor’s chosen candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt
Romney, is like Christie a northeast Republican and would likely go
for a more geographically suitable number 2. Christie himself said the
choice is unlikely citing his own penchant for the spotlight.
Rumors continue to surface that Christie has no plans to stand for
reelection in 2013, but so far they remain rumors.
26 PolitickerNJ