2011 Power List and Year in Review - PolitickerNJ.com

PolitickerNJ.com
year in review 2011
Pollster of the Year
Jeffrey Plaut
Global Strategies
Democratic Party insiders say the Global
Strategies operative was dead-on in his work
for the Assembly Democratic Committee.
Operative of the Year
Mike Muller
The veteran political consultant had his best
year yet interfacing with a wide range of Democratic
contests
around the state,
most critically
providing daily
strategic input
to battlegrounds
2, 14, 38, 7,
and the LD 20
Democratic
Primary, where
his candidates all won. Muller was also a backroom
player for the Ds in both legislative and
congressional redistricting.
Strategist of the Year
Nick Sacco
The only reason the
Hudson County Democratic
Organization (HCDO) didn’t
make it onto this year’s list as
a runner-up for loser of the
year is because we ran out
of room. The loss of HCDO
soldier Sal Vega in West New
York showed the weakness of the once vaunted
machine, exploited further when Sacco bucked
Chairman Mark Smith and went underground
himself to line up the votes for Speaker Sheila
Oliver. By personally taking action in the face
of a low bore and ultimately disorganized
insurrection, Sacco accomplished at least four
things. He secured a budget chairmanship for
Hudson County; presented himself as the face
of Hudson to George Norcross and delivered
on the deal; showed his own ability within the
HCDO to step forward at any given time and
take charge; and expanded his own power
against that of longtime neighboring rival
Brian P. Stack of Union City. Sacco took a hit
in December when a former employee came
forward with a sexual harassment claim, that is
likely to play out in the year to come.
Legislator of the Year
Steve Sweeney
It truly must have been unnerving for
Sweeney to stand in the shadow of Chris
Christie as the governor lapped up national
headlines for his work on pension and benefits
reforms. After all,
it was Sweeney
who first stood at
a podium back in
2005 and called
for the reforms.
Unsung on the
one hand, and
excoriated as a
Benedict Arnold
in the circles of
public worker
leaders on the other, Sweeney nonetheless
could quietly claim prime mover credit for the
legislation overhauling the state’s pension and
benefits system.
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32 PolitickerNJ