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Happy New <strong>Year</strong> from <strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com<br />

INSIDE<br />

Winners & Losers of the <strong>Year</strong> * Politician of the <strong>Year</strong><br />

Best & Worst Campaigns of 2009 * Stripper of the <strong>Year</strong><br />

Top Ten Political Stories of the Decade * People to Watch * More...


WINNER OF THE YEAR LOSER OF THE YEAR POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR<br />

Christopher Christie<br />

Christopher J. Christie was elected governor by a<br />

49%-45% margin, becoming the first Republican to win a<br />

statewide election in New Jersey since 1997 – each of the<br />

other 49 states had done so at least once since then – and<br />

the second Republican in state history to oust an<br />

incumbent Democratic governor. As the U.S. Attorney for<br />

eight years, Christie was the dominant Republican figure of<br />

the decade; GOP leaders stood in awe of his fight against<br />

political corruption. Democrats spend seven years fawning<br />

all over him, and two years trying to beat him up. His<br />

election in one of America’s most Democratic states, and<br />

perhaps the nation’s most powerful governorship, changes<br />

the face of state government at a time when New Jersey’s<br />

economy faces potentially game changing challenges.<br />

It’s easy to look at Gov. Jon Corzine’s tenure in office and<br />

conclude that his ultimate conqueror didn’t win the election<br />

so much as find himself in the right place at the right time<br />

in an economic downturn against a perennial loser,<br />

a governor whose policy agenda, from toll roads<br />

monetization to dual office holding reform to stem cell<br />

research, routinely sputtered.<br />

“Anybody but Corzine” was an oft repeated explication for<br />

poll numbers that - until the final weeks leading up to Nov.<br />

3rd when the race tightened - repeatedly showed the<br />

incumbent lagging behind GOP challenger.<br />

But to simply pin the loser tag on Corzine would be to<br />

discount Christie the competitor, who had to overcome<br />

his own significant obstacles (sometimes manufactured,<br />

sometimes self-inflicted) to win.<br />

After losing re-election to the Morris County Board of<br />

Freeholders, Christie reinvented himself three years later<br />

as a fundraiser for George W. Bush’s presidential<br />

campaign, and was the new president’s choice to become<br />

the state’s federal prosecutor. He had to deal with being<br />

the president’s guy in a state where Bush recorded a 15%<br />

favorable rating by the end of his term.<br />

Christie, however, complemented his record as a<br />

corruption buster by focusing on his natural connections to<br />

his home state - connections that Corzine lacked. As a<br />

boyhood fan of Gov. Tom Kean, Christie knew the<br />

importance of cross-the-aisle relationships in New Jersey,<br />

how critical it is to project comfort in the heavily urban<br />

power structures of this state - and ultimately the value of<br />

building a coherent public identity. The fact that Christie<br />

carried Ocean and Monmouth by more than Corzine won<br />

Essex and Hudson was not just a GOTV issue; despite the<br />

extreme partisanship of the campaign, some Democratic<br />

insiders felt comfortable with the idea of a Christie<br />

administration.<br />

When he ran for governor this year, he did so not as a<br />

Republican so much as an unerringly proud and tough New<br />

Jerseyan. Now he gets to be governor, and while he no<br />

longer gets to hear wiretaps of John Lynch and Jim<br />

Treffinger phone calls, he’ll undoubtedly still have some<br />

fun. Christie is now responsible for fixing a government he<br />

says is broken, and he doesn’t seem to have a problem if<br />

New Jerseyans hold him accountable.<br />

Jon Corzine<br />

Jon S. Corzine was the dominant political leader in<br />

New Jersey during the first decade of the 21st<br />

century, largely because he spent more than $130<br />

million of his own money to fund three statewide<br />

campaigns. Despite all that money, Corzine could<br />

never get the people of New Jersey to really like<br />

him, and the best he would do was 45% of the<br />

vote. He always said to hold him accountable, so<br />

it’s no surprise that Corzine joins Jim Florio as the<br />

only incumbent governors in state history to lose<br />

re-election bids. And Corzine must deal with the<br />

shame of having essentially been fired from the<br />

only two jobs he’s ever held: Wall Street tycoon<br />

and New Jersey politician.<br />

Corzine didn’t give up without a fight: his<br />

campaign took off the gloves and threw everything<br />

they could scrounge up at the Republican, Chris<br />

Christie. New Jersey was a Democratic state,<br />

Corzine thought, and voters would still hold the<br />

GOP accountable for George W. Bush’s eight years<br />

in the White House. While he knew he could not<br />

win an election, he thought he could make Christie<br />

lose.<br />

But what was painfully obvious over the course of<br />

the campaign trail was that few of Corzine’s allies<br />

beyond a core of paid operatives and Democratic<br />

State Chairman Joe Cryan were passionate about<br />

a second term. Having landed a U.S. Senate seat<br />

out of nowhere almost a decade ago then jumped<br />

to the governorship at the near height of Bush<br />

fatigue, all the while forking over millions of<br />

dollars to the political machinery of the<br />

Democratic Party, the multi-millionaire Wall Street<br />

banker from Illinois possessed no built-in political<br />

infrastructure. Democratic partisans weren’t his<br />

people; they didn’t care about him and they<br />

viewed him as politically tone deaf. Consequently,<br />

he went into battle with no deep connections to<br />

his troops. He couldn’t buy huge pluralities in<br />

Democratic-rich Essex and Hudson counties and<br />

the Republican-leaning shore voters couldn’t stand<br />

him. He lost in Middlesex, Gloucester, Burlington<br />

and Atlantic.<br />

Not a naturally gifted speaker, no mixer of great<br />

consequence, and shouldering twin burdens of<br />

never having nurtured but a few personal<br />

relationships within his party, Corzine headed out<br />

on the trail in an economic downturn with a<br />

looming $10 billion budget deficit against a very<br />

aggressive opponent. He hadn’t done enough<br />

politically to excite Black and Latino voters –<br />

critical to a Democratic base vote – and his record<br />

and personality caused him to lose blue collar<br />

White voters.<br />

While Christie capitalized on headlines about those<br />

same political infrastructures that had buttressed<br />

Corzine now crumbling amid corruption trials, it<br />

was neither Christie, nor the economy that<br />

ultimately finished Corzine. Never schooled in the<br />

up from the bottom world of New Jersey and in a<br />

time of crisis, Corzine lost because he lacked a<br />

political foundation. New Jerseyans held him<br />

accountable.<br />

Steve Sweeney<br />

An ironworker from Gloucester County, Stephen<br />

M. Sweeney ran a campaign among insiders to win<br />

the Senate Presidency. In doing so, he ousted<br />

Richard Codey, a former governor and longtime<br />

Senate Democratic leader who was, according to<br />

independent polls, the most popular politician in<br />

New Jersey.<br />

Sweeney knew he wasn’t a household name, and<br />

his image wasn’t enshrined on a bobble head doll.<br />

But while Codey reveled in his role as a former<br />

governor, even as a critic of an unpopular<br />

governor from his own party, Sweeney as the<br />

Majority Leader focused on the Democratic<br />

Caucus. His plan was based on simple math: he<br />

needed to convince eleven other Democratic<br />

Senators that it was time for a change. He<br />

needed to open doors to some very ambitious<br />

Senators who had been shut out of the inner circle<br />

during the Codey years. He wanted the Senate to<br />

move on from a caucus where the most powerful<br />

were Codey, Bernard Kenny, Wayne Bryant and<br />

Sharpe James. And a built a coalition around<br />

Democrats who have been waiting for years to put<br />

the screws to Codey.<br />

Essentially, Sweeney didn’t care who knew him<br />

outside that network of deal-primed senators and<br />

their extended contacts ― the very constituency<br />

that packed Sweeney’s senate majority leader<br />

parties in a show of increasing strength. Adeptly,<br />

and extraordinarily, he packed the races for<br />

Senate President and Assembly Speaker into one<br />

deal. He steadily built up the requisite 12 votes to<br />

oust Codey, and made the announcement finally<br />

that he had 14.<br />

It’s helpful to have smart and powerful friends like<br />

George Norcross and Stephen Adubato, Sr., who<br />

helped to build a statewide base that wound up<br />

including Senators from Essex, Hudson, Bergen<br />

and Middlesex. And bringing the Senate<br />

Presidency to South Jersey was a long term plan<br />

that bolstered South Jersey’s clout; Democratic<br />

pickups of Senate seats in Gloucester (Madden<br />

‘03), Cape May (Van Drew ‘07), and Atlantic<br />

(Whelan ‘07) were the foundation of Codey’s<br />

defeat.<br />

After 36 years in the Legislature, Codey will be<br />

relegated to the back benches of the Senate to<br />

watch his nemesis control the power of the upper<br />

house – a post that takes on increased clout and<br />

visibility now that New Jersey will have a<br />

Republican governor. Sweeney will control the<br />

board list, Senate committees, and the<br />

confirmation of Christopher Christie’s nominees.<br />

In 2010, Sweeney will become the face of the New<br />

Jersey Democratic Party. Ironically, it could be<br />

him and not Codey who runs for governor in four<br />

years. But Sweeney, who honed his political skills<br />

in the rough-and-tumble world of the politics of<br />

organized labor, knows as the man who<br />

engineered Codey’s fall, he must zealously guard<br />

his own power and his relationships with his<br />

colleagues.


RUNNERS UP<br />

WINNER OF THE YEAR<br />

RUNNERS UP<br />

LOSER OF THE YEAR<br />

George Norcross<br />

The South Jersey<br />

Democratic helped<br />

engineer a deal that<br />

gave his allies control<br />

of both houses of the<br />

Legislature, a little<br />

more important now<br />

that the new governor<br />

is a Republican.<br />

Bill Palatucci<br />

The veteran GOP<br />

strategist and lawyer is<br />

the new governor’s<br />

closest political ally,<br />

friend and advisor.<br />

Chris Christie’s victory<br />

was, for this shrewd<br />

tactician, nearly a<br />

decade in the making.<br />

Sheila Oliver<br />

For the second time in<br />

eight years, an<br />

obscure, back-bencher<br />

rode the coattails of<br />

party leaders to<br />

become Assembly<br />

Speaker, possibly the<br />

third most powerful position in state<br />

government.<br />

Tom Moran<br />

He started the year as<br />

a PSE&G<br />

communications staffer<br />

and ends as the voice<br />

of New Jersey’s largest<br />

newspaper as the new<br />

Star-Ledger editorial<br />

page editor.<br />

Richard Codey<br />

The popular former<br />

governor loses his bid<br />

for re-election as<br />

Senate President after<br />

being outmaneuvered<br />

by party leaders and<br />

tossed aside by<br />

onetime friends and colleagues.<br />

Bonnie Watson<br />

Coleman<br />

The Assembly Majority<br />

Leader and former<br />

Democratic State<br />

Chairman could not<br />

secure the public<br />

endorsement of more<br />

than one colleague in<br />

her bid for Assembly Speaker.<br />

Joseph Ferriero<br />

The former Bergen<br />

County Democratic<br />

Chairman, the 2004<br />

<strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com<br />

Politician of the <strong>Year</strong>, is<br />

found guilty of federal<br />

corruption charges.<br />

Peter<br />

Cammarano<br />

Viewed as a rising star<br />

after his election as<br />

Mayor of Hoboken, he<br />

was in office for less<br />

than a month before<br />

federal agents arrested<br />

him on bribery charges.<br />

“Politics, like sex, is about<br />

pleasing other people. Some<br />

politicians, and some men I<br />

know, don’t understand<br />

that. But Jon Corzine isn’t<br />

one of them.”<br />

― Former labor leader Carla Katz,<br />

who was Corzine’s girlfriend for<br />

several years. (<strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com,<br />

7/15/09)<br />

“Please. I wouldn’t have<br />

enough paper. So let’s not<br />

even bother writing one.<br />

This is now about<br />

governing. I won. The one<br />

thing I could never<br />

understand about people in<br />

politics was winners who<br />

are sore winners.”<br />

― Gov.-elect Christopher Christie, on<br />

putting together an enemies list.<br />

(PolickerNJ.com, 11/4/09)<br />

“You’re beautiful, New<br />

Jersey ― in your own way.”<br />

― Bono at Giants Stadium in<br />

September.<br />

Politicians of the <strong>Year</strong><br />

Donald Scarinci, 2000<br />

John Lynch, 2001<br />

Christopher Christie, 2002<br />

Michael Beson, 2003<br />

Joseph Ferriero, 2004<br />

Richard Codey, 2005<br />

Juan Melli, 2006<br />

Stephen Adubato, 2007<br />

Frank Lautenberg, 2008<br />

Stephen Sweeney, 2009


TOP TEN POLITICAL STORIES OF THE DECADE<br />

1 James E. McGreevey announces that<br />

he is a Gay American and resigns as<br />

Governor of New Jersey. August 2004.<br />

4 Donald DiFrancesco becomes Acting<br />

Governor of New Jersey after Christie<br />

Whitman resigns to take a cabinet post,<br />

and then drops his bid for a full-term after<br />

a series of ethics allegations sinks his<br />

campaign. February-April, 2001.<br />

8 Essex County Executive James<br />

Treffinger was the front runner for the GOP<br />

nomination for U.S. Senate, but dropped<br />

out of the race four days after federal<br />

agents raided his county office. He later<br />

went to prison. April 2002.<br />

5 Christopher Christie for is elected<br />

Governor, defeating incumbent Jon<br />

Corzine by a 49%-45% margin.<br />

November, 2009.<br />

2 With his poll numbers in a nosedive<br />

after being admonished by the Senate Ethics<br />

Committee, U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli drops<br />

his bid for re-election five weeks before<br />

Election Day and is replaced on the ballot by<br />

Frank Lautenberg. September 2002.<br />

9 Robert Menendez became the first<br />

Latino to represent New Jersey in the<br />

United States Senate when he was<br />

appointed to fill a vacancy. He later won<br />

election to a full six-year term. January<br />

2006.<br />

3 Wall Street mega millionaire Jon Corzine<br />

enters New Jersey politics and spends more<br />

than $70 million to win a seat in the U.S.<br />

Senate, defeating former Gov. Jim Florio in<br />

the Democratic primary, and U.S. Rep. Bob<br />

Franks in the general election. During the<br />

course of the decade, Corzine spent over<br />

$130 million of his own money running for<br />

public office. 2000.<br />

6 Nearly 150 public officials and party<br />

leaders were sent to prison during a war<br />

on political corruption initiated by<br />

Christopher Christie during his eight years<br />

as the United States Attorney. 2002-2002.<br />

7 Legislative Redistricting under<br />

Princeton University Professor Larry<br />

Bartels produced a map that favored<br />

Democrats, who won control of the<br />

Assembly that year and of the Senate two<br />

years later. April 2001.<br />

10 Richard Codey, the state’s most<br />

popular politician and the Governor from<br />

2004 to 2006, is ousted as Senate<br />

President by Stephen Sweeney, a member<br />

of the powerful South Jersey Democratic<br />

organization. November, 2009.<br />

IN MEMORIUM<br />

Celebrated by his colleagues for his<br />

intelligence, gentility and dedication to public<br />

service, Assemblyman Eric Munoz died on<br />

March 30 of complications following heart<br />

surgery that day. He was 61.<br />

Other New Jersey politicians who passed away<br />

in 2009 include: George Branch, former<br />

Newark City Councilman; Dwight Brown,<br />

Newark Central Ward Democratic Chairman;<br />

Robert Brown, former Assemblyman and<br />

Orange Mayor; Willie Brown, former Assembly<br />

Minority Leader; Peter Bruce, former Passaic County Freeholder; Bill<br />

Cahir, former newspaper reporter and congressional candidate; Finn<br />

Caspersen, Republican fundraiser; Dennis Collins, former Bayonne<br />

Mayor; Dan Gaby, former U.S. Senate candidate;<br />

James Galdieri, former State Senator; Alan Herman, Republican<br />

State Committeeman; Anthony Impreveduto, former<br />

Assemblyman; John Januszewski, former Bayonne Councilman;<br />

John Kelly, former Assemblyman and Nutley Mayor; Skip<br />

McMahon, former Republican State Committeeman; Evangelina<br />

Menendez, mother of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez; Steve Moses,<br />

Democratic powerbroker; Sybil Moses, former Superior Court<br />

Judge; Daniel O’Hern, former Supreme Court Justice, Red Bank<br />

Mayor and DEP Commissioner; George Otlowski, former<br />

Assemblyman and Perth Amboy Mayor; Roxie Pascrell, mother<br />

of U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell; Dafiq Rasheed, former Atlantic City<br />

Council candidate; Bernard Rodgers, former Dunellen Mayor and<br />

congressional candidate; Stephen Sassala, former Whitman<br />

administration official; David Satz, former U.S. Attorney; Sidney<br />

Schreiber, former Supreme Court Justice; Ernest Schuck, former<br />

Assemblyman; Jack Shaw, Democratic political consultant; Don<br />

Wagner, former Gloucester County Surrogate.


Congratulations!<br />

To All The<br />

New Members<br />

Of The<br />

2010 Legislature<br />

______________________________________________<br />

Senator Joe Vitale<br />

PAID FOR BY THE ELECTION FUND OF SENATOR JOSEPH VITALE


BEST AND WORST CAMPAIGNS OF 2009<br />

BEST CAMPAIGNS<br />

OF THE YEAR<br />

1. Chris Christie for Governor<br />

The biggest prize in New<br />

Jersey politics is<br />

Drumthwacket. The<br />

Christie campaign stayed<br />

relentlessly on message,<br />

rejecting pro-bono<br />

consulting opportunities<br />

from editorial page<br />

writers, columnists and many in their own party<br />

regarding a property tax plan. The campaign<br />

refused to get dragged into some of the process<br />

issue fights – more than a dozen separate<br />

negative attacks ― despite the best efforts of the<br />

Corzine campaign (and sometimes from the<br />

formidable primary campaign of Steve Lonegan)<br />

to throw things up against the wall with the hope<br />

that they might stick. But when they chose to<br />

fight back, they did so effectively. Team Christie,<br />

knowing they couldn’t compete with Corzine’s<br />

personal checkbook, held firm to their campaign<br />

plan and harvested their money until they were<br />

ready to spend it. That takes incredible<br />

discipline. The Christie campaign successfully<br />

squashed independent Chris Daggett so they<br />

could take anti-Corzine votes away from Daggett<br />

while keeping the anti-Christie voters content to<br />

support Daggett. In what is arguably America’s<br />

bluest state, Christie’s 86,714 vote win, with<br />

pluralities in Democratic strongholds like<br />

Middlesex County, was indeed impressive.<br />

2. Nelson Albano and Matt Milam for State<br />

Assembly<br />

The 1st districts<br />

Democrats were the #1<br />

GOP targets and in a<br />

district that the<br />

Republican gubernatorial<br />

candidate won handily,<br />

Jeff Van Drew’s team<br />

scored a solid and<br />

impressive victory. Democrats separated the two<br />

Assemblymen from the unpopular Republican<br />

governor and made it into a local campaign. Two<br />

other things that helped them win: South Jersey<br />

Democratic money and an inept campaign from<br />

the Republicans.<br />

3. Jerramiah Healy for Mayor of Jersey City<br />

The uncertainties of Jersey City<br />

politics made Team Healy<br />

remain in campaign mode for<br />

four years. They raised lots of<br />

money, ran an excellent<br />

incumbency protection operation<br />

from City Hall, and scared some<br />

serious challengers out of the<br />

race. With a 53%-26% win –<br />

his two main competitors were<br />

arrested two months later), Jerry Healy is only<br />

Jersey City Mayor since Frank Hague to win three<br />

times without a runoff<br />

4. Mike Doherty for State Senate<br />

After losing a special election<br />

convention last January, the<br />

conservative Warren County<br />

Republican said he’d “rather die”<br />

than not run in the June<br />

primary. Insider contests<br />

weren’t his thing, and over the<br />

next five months, Doherty<br />

effectively made his case<br />

directly to Republican primary<br />

voters in a well-organized,<br />

strongly-messaged campaign<br />

that beat incumbent Marcia Karrow.<br />

5. Kristin Corrado for Passaic County Clerk<br />

Passaic Republicans weren’t<br />

supposed to win; they were<br />

deeply divided into two<br />

warring factions – one side<br />

won the County Clerk<br />

nomination and the other<br />

three Freeholders nods. Much<br />

credit goes to the guys out of<br />

power, Peter Murphy and Mike<br />

Mecca, who overcame Jon<br />

Corzine’s win in Passaic<br />

County with huge suburban<br />

pluralities and a surprise win<br />

in Clifton that helped the GOP win three<br />

Freeholder seats too.<br />

6. Peter Cammarano for Mayor of Hoboken<br />

Too bad he turned out to be<br />

an alleged crook: Pete<br />

Cammarano’s campaign for<br />

Mayor of Hoboken was<br />

masterful. The campaign<br />

forged a coalition of young<br />

professionals who were<br />

relatively short-term residents<br />

with the born-and-raised<br />

Hoboken old guard, and added<br />

support from public employees.<br />

7. Bruce Garganio and Mary Ann O’Brien for<br />

Burlington County Freeholder<br />

The numbers favor Republicans in Burlington<br />

County, and while the GOP was helped by internal<br />

strife within the Democratic leadership, they get<br />

credit for running a strong, detail-oriented<br />

campaign to keep control of the Board of<br />

Freeholders in Republican hands. Chris Russell<br />

gets a lot of credit for making sure the GOP made<br />

no mistakes in a county where Democrats were<br />

on the verge of winning.<br />

8. Joe Menza for Mayor of Hillside<br />

This political newcomer beat<br />

the machine – Charlotte<br />

DeFilippo’s local machine – in<br />

a runoff. Joe Menza skillfully<br />

won the support of the losing<br />

candidates in the first election.<br />

Still no explanation why the<br />

Democratic Governor’s<br />

Association viewed the Hillside<br />

mayoral race as important<br />

enough to invest $10,000 in<br />

their bid to beat Menza.<br />

9. Lou Magazzu for Cumberland County<br />

Freeholder<br />

Two ex-Democratic<br />

Freeholders ran as<br />

independents and joined<br />

Republicans in beating up on<br />

Magazzu. He ran an<br />

aggressive campaign, didn’t<br />

let his opponents drive his<br />

negatives, and won decisively.<br />

People in Cumberland County<br />

really do like Lou Magazzu,<br />

and politically, he’s stronger<br />

than ever.<br />

10. John Curley for Monmouth County<br />

Freeholder<br />

After narrowly losing control in<br />

2008, Monmouth Republicans,<br />

helped by Christie/Guadagno<br />

coattails and a strong direct<br />

mail campaign by Jamestown<br />

Associates, easily won their<br />

majority back with Curley<br />

ousting formidable Democrat<br />

Sean Byrnes by 20 percentage<br />

points.<br />

PREDICTION OF THE YEAR<br />

In his closing arguments to the jury,<br />

former State Sen. Joe Coniglio’s<br />

lawyer, Gerald Krovatin said: “What<br />

kind of fantasy world do we live in<br />

here where they’re trying to convince<br />

you someone would send a bill for a<br />

bribe? Bribes are paid in cash — in<br />

envelopes, in diners, in parking lots, in<br />

shadows. Bribes aren’t paid in check<br />

pursuant to invoices.”<br />

RUNNERS UP:<br />

Dick Codey in September: “And I can<br />

handle Sweeney.” Steve Sweeney’s<br />

response: “I can take Codey with one<br />

hand tied behind my back.”<br />

“Right now, the Italians, the Hispanics,<br />

the seniors are locked down. Nothing<br />

can change that now. . . . I could be,<br />

uh, indicted, and I’m still gonna win 85<br />

to 95 percent of those populations.” –<br />

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano at<br />

a diner discussing his runoff campaign<br />

against Dawn Zimmer with a political<br />

consultant and an undercover witness<br />

cooperating with the U.S. Attorney.<br />

According to Nick Sacco: “People say<br />

they don’t like negative campaigns<br />

but, let’s face it, if candidates go<br />

completely positive they usually don’t<br />

win.”<br />

“It’s great to be at the Steve Sweeney<br />

for Senate Presidency breakfast.” ―<br />

Gov. Jon Corzine at the 115th annual<br />

Peter J. McGuire Labor Day<br />

Observance in Camden County, in<br />

September.<br />

South Amboy Mayor Jack O’Leary,<br />

denying that he would drop out, before<br />

he dropped out: “I just need time. I<br />

can take you on a walk right now and<br />

you’ll see people giving me the<br />

thumbs-up sign and honking their<br />

horns at me and encouraging me to<br />

run - 100 people have reached out to<br />

me telling me to run ― but I need<br />

time. Time is on my side when it<br />

comes to vetting this thing out.”


INSIDE<br />

Winners & Losers of the <strong>Year</strong> * Politician of the <strong>Year</strong><br />

* Best & Worst Campaigns of 2009 * More...


WORST CAMPAIGNS<br />

OF THE YEAR<br />

1. Chris Daggett for Governor<br />

The independent<br />

gubernatorial campaign of<br />

Christopher Daggett can be<br />

summed up in two words:<br />

five percent. Despite all the<br />

hype, the matching funds,<br />

the Star-Ledger<br />

endorsement, the fact that<br />

he was a good driver, the<br />

Codey-wannabee one-liners<br />

in the debate, the arrogant indignation, the<br />

massive ego, and the presence of Jesse Ventura’s<br />

media consultant, Daggett for Governor was a<br />

poorly run, ineffective, bad campaign. Daggett<br />

never figured out that his poll numbers were soft,<br />

that voters rarely vote for third party candidates.<br />

He railed against process issues and that tried to<br />

use some of them – like bad ballot position – to<br />

his advantage. He got outmaneuvered on a key<br />

environmental endorsement, and was unable to<br />

find anyone with gravitas beyond John Farmer Sr.<br />

to praise him. The campaign relied on some cute<br />

TV ads that were not as good as the ones Bill<br />

Hillsman created for Ventura and Paul Wellstone,<br />

and didn’t make any substantial effort to target<br />

specific voters. Daggett ends his not so excellent<br />

2009 adventure having lost a bunch of his<br />

Republican friends, who viewed his candidacy and<br />

his campaign as a waste of time.<br />

2. Randal Pinkett for Lt. Governor<br />

The idea of a former reality<br />

TV star running for Lt.<br />

Governor was exactly why<br />

some Democrats viewed Jon<br />

Corzine as politically tone<br />

deaf. But Pinkett didn’t<br />

know it was a trial balloon,<br />

and didn’t have the political<br />

experience to understand<br />

that you don’t publicly run<br />

for a running mate position.<br />

Democratic leaders and<br />

newspaper editorials reacted<br />

poorly to Pinkett’s bid, especially after an op-ed<br />

and press conference made Corzine look bad.<br />

3. Joan Voss and Connie Wagner for State<br />

Assembly<br />

The two Democratic<br />

Assemblywomen won a<br />

Democratic district despite a<br />

bad campaign marked by an<br />

over-the-top mailer<br />

attacking two unknown<br />

Republicans for promulgating pornography and<br />

putting guns near schools. The faulty opposition<br />

research was eclipsed only by the bad judgment<br />

of the mailer, which cost Voss and Wagner The<br />

Record’s endorsement and some of their<br />

reputation.<br />

4. Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino for State<br />

Assembly<br />

The two Republicans challenged<br />

incumbents David Russo and<br />

Scott Rumana in the primary<br />

and ran a campaign that<br />

seemed like Todd Caliguire Part<br />

II. It was mean spirited and<br />

poorly executed, and the only<br />

real impact it had was the<br />

indictment of their political<br />

consultant for violation of the<br />

Fair Campaign Practices Act.<br />

5. Jun Choi for Mayor of Edison<br />

The re-election campaign of<br />

another self-proclaimed<br />

Democratic rising star failed to<br />

give voters any reason why he<br />

deserved a second term. It<br />

most mostly stuff like this:<br />

“Toni the Phony’s House of<br />

Bologna… You can get any<br />

sandwich you like as long as<br />

it’s full of bologna… Just like<br />

Toni the Phony.”<br />

6. Beth Mason for Mayor of Hoboken<br />

The Councilwoman ran twice<br />

for Mayor in 2009 – the May<br />

election (she didn’t make the<br />

runoff) and the November<br />

special. She spent nearly $1<br />

million running for office and it<br />

seems as though she made no<br />

impact at all.<br />

7. Arthur Marchand and George Shivery for<br />

State Assembly<br />

Blame this lost opportunity<br />

on the state GOP, who didn’t<br />

get their act together in<br />

defense of their handpicked<br />

candidates. Could<br />

Marchand, the former<br />

Cumberland Surrogate and<br />

Prosecutor, have beaten<br />

Celeste Riley in a race she<br />

won by just 1,300 votes?<br />

Maybe, but we’ll never know.<br />

8. Doug Cabana for State<br />

Assembly<br />

In a race between two<br />

brothers-in-law, the Morris<br />

County Freeholder lost his<br />

second bid for the GOP<br />

Assembly nomination,<br />

despite endorsements from<br />

most of the Republican<br />

establishment and a decent<br />

amount of money. He still<br />

doesn’t get it.<br />

9. Chris Calabrese for<br />

Bergen County Freeholder<br />

It’s got to kill Chris<br />

Calabrese that the Bergen<br />

GOP won two Freeholder<br />

seats and he would probably<br />

have been one of them if not<br />

for a stupid flyer that<br />

bragged about the total<br />

number of votes he got in<br />

2008 (a presidential year)<br />

that made other GOP<br />

candidates look bad. This was a stupid mistake .<br />

10. Craig Stanley for State Assembly<br />

The former five-term<br />

Assemblyman got crushed in<br />

his second consecutive<br />

Democratic primary after he<br />

couldn’t convince family<br />

member Phil Thigpen to give<br />

him the line. The support of<br />

the Payne machine couldn’t<br />

help a bad campaign.<br />

CORRUPTIONGATE 2009<br />

“One-month Pete. That’s the moniker that<br />

should stick to Peter Cammarano, the former<br />

mayor of Hoboken. It’s not as poetic as Anne of<br />

the Thousands Days. But Anne Boleyn lost her<br />

head. One-Month Pete just lost office.”<br />

― The Record’s Alfred Doblin (8/4/09)<br />

“I think about how close to evil I came.”<br />

― Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville), who says<br />

he turned down legal work offered by Assemblyman Harvey<br />

Smith (D-Jersey City) on behalf of Solomon Dwek. (8/3/09)


THE NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION<br />

Barbara Keshishian, President<br />

Wendell Steinhauer, Vice President<br />

Marie Blistan, Secretary-Treasurer<br />

Vincent Giordano, Executive Director<br />

Richard Gray, NJEA Assistant Executive Director/<br />

Research Director


MOST INSIGNIFICANT<br />

STORY OF 2009<br />

The race for Lt. Governor was a lot<br />

like a Seinfeld episode: it was a<br />

campaign about nothing. For months,<br />

insiders speculated about who would<br />

be selected to run for the new post.<br />

Kim Guadagno and Loretta Weinberg<br />

did well as running mates, but their<br />

presence had little effect on the<br />

outcome of the election.<br />

THE NEW MATH<br />

Until 2009, no Republican had ever<br />

won a statewide election without<br />

carrying Bergen County. But Chris<br />

Christie won Ocean and Monmouth by<br />

larger pluralities than Jon Corzine’s<br />

margins in Hudson and Essex, and<br />

Bergen (won narrowly by the<br />

Democrats) didn’t matter as much.<br />

DYNASTY OF THE YEAR<br />

Frank Huttle, a partner at one of New<br />

Jersey’s most powerful law firms, is<br />

the new Mayor of Englewood. That<br />

means the new First Lady of<br />

Englewood is Valerie Vainieri Huttle, a<br />

three-term Assemblywoman.<br />

BRUSH OFF OF THE YEAR<br />

It’s no secret that Chris Christie and<br />

Rick Merkt, running mates in a 1995<br />

State Assembly primary, don’t get<br />

along. After Merkt decided to<br />

challenge Christie for the GOP<br />

gubernatorial nomination, he ran into<br />

the former U.S. Attorney at a party<br />

event and asked him to pose for a<br />

picture. Christie declined: “I’m here<br />

to talk to people not pose for pictures<br />

with you.”<br />

IT SUCKS TO BE JOHN<br />

MURPHY<br />

An impressive third place finish in the<br />

2005 GOP primary for governor made<br />

John Murphy a rising star in state<br />

politics, but the election of his nemesis<br />

Chris Christie won’t help advance his<br />

career beyond his current Freeholder<br />

post.<br />

AND YOU WANTED TO BE<br />

MY LATEX SALESMAN<br />

When it involves their own money,<br />

Carl Goldberg (Roseland Properties),<br />

Orin Kramer (First Boston), Jon<br />

Corzine (Goldman Sachs) have made<br />

billions, but public money is another<br />

story. Under Goldberg’s stewardship,<br />

the New Jersey Sports and Exposition<br />

Authority is in dire financial straits,<br />

Kramer’s State Investment Council<br />

lost $25 billion in pension funds, and<br />

Corzine got booted out of office, in<br />

part because voters didn’t like how he<br />

managed the state’s fiscal affairs.<br />

FLIP FLOPPER OF THE YEAR<br />

Pastor Shannon Wright, who started<br />

the ‘09 cycle as campaign manager for<br />

GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian<br />

Levine, then quit to launch to her own<br />

independent campaign for governor,<br />

then dropped out of the race, and<br />

then tried, unsuccessfully, to run for<br />

Lt. Governor with another third party<br />

candidate.<br />

FAMILY FEUD OF THE YEAR<br />

Anthony M. Bucco defeated his<br />

brother-in-law, Douglas Cabana, in the<br />

Republican primary for State Assembly<br />

in District 25. Bucco now joins his<br />

father, State Sen. Anthony R. Bucco,<br />

in the Legislature.<br />

ANOTHER JOE<br />

After Joseph Ferriero resigned as<br />

Bergen County Democratic Chairman,<br />

one potential candidate was labor<br />

leader Richard “Buzz” Dressel, who<br />

told a reporter that “everybody is<br />

afraid of getting another Joe in there.”<br />

While the job went to Ferriero’s pick,<br />

Michael Kasparian, Democrats didn’t<br />

get another Joe – they lost two<br />

Freeholder seats.<br />

HOW MUCH?<br />

Jon Corzine spent $130 million<br />

running for office in two campaigns for<br />

governor and one for the U.S. Senate.<br />

“Corzine’s willingness to buy public<br />

office ― along with his less-thanstellar<br />

record as an elected official ―<br />

does not impress us. The possibility of<br />

him injecting additional tens of<br />

millions in to the economy, however,<br />

we would welcome,” the Courier-Post<br />

said in an editorial.<br />

From The Record’s Charles Stile:<br />

“Corzine’s clutch of high-paid<br />

campaign advisers might consider this<br />

radical idea: Run a reelection<br />

campaign without the checkbook.<br />

Keep your loot locked up in your blind<br />

trust. Try running without greasing<br />

every county chairman’s palm with<br />

$37,000 donations or funneling cash<br />

to church foundations.”<br />

THE GENERAL SHERMAN<br />

AWARD<br />

Mike Doherty on challenging Marcia<br />

Karrow in a State Senate primary,<br />

after he lost to her at a special<br />

election convention: “Wild horses<br />

couldn’t prevent me from running<br />

in that primary,” “Put it in stone. I’d<br />

rather die than not run in that<br />

primary.”


WOOLEY GOT IT RIGHT<br />

Fairleigh Dickinson University political<br />

science professor Peter Woolley: “The<br />

first rule of choosing a running mate,<br />

whether it’s a Vice President or Lt.<br />

Governor is; do no harm. Now, that<br />

sounds easy, but it’s really tougher than<br />

you might think. You want the Lt.<br />

Governor who at the very least is not<br />

going to drag you down, who’s not going<br />

to do any damage to the ticket.”<br />

STAR WARS METAPHOR<br />

“If I may use a Star Wars metaphor, we<br />

are leaving behind the Empire to focus on<br />

building a Rebel Alliance.” ― Lonegan for<br />

Governor campaign chairman Hank<br />

Butehorn, announcing that the campaign<br />

will not compete for organization lines.<br />

Christies’s response: “If you’re unwilling<br />

to compete for these votes, and if you’re<br />

unable to win these votes, then you’ve<br />

got to wonder if you belong on the ballot<br />

at all.” (3/09)<br />

IT DOESN’T TAKE A BRAIN SURGEON<br />

“Is he a brain surgeon? No. Neither am I. Joe Coniglio is not a<br />

conniver. He doesn't have the street smarts that Joe [Ferriero]<br />

has. And he doesn't have a mind that thinks that way.”<br />

― Senate President Richard Codey, on former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio.<br />

(The Record, 04/17/09)<br />

OINK! OINK!<br />

“My first bill that I voted for under<br />

your committee made it illegal to have<br />

sex with an animal in the state of New<br />

Jersey. I will never forget you making<br />

that my first vote.” ― Assemblyman<br />

Nelson Albano (D-Vineland), saying<br />

farewell to Assembly Agriculture and<br />

Natural Resources Committee<br />

Chairman Douglas Fisher (D-<br />

Bridgeton) who resigned to become<br />

the new Secretary of Agriculture.<br />

(3/6/09)<br />

his platform which, at its heart, is a<br />

conservative fantasy of returning New<br />

Jersey back to an earlier time before<br />

toll roads or a state income tax, or as<br />

he said Wednesday, when a guy could<br />

build a model rocket and launch it —<br />

without getting a state Labor<br />

Department permit... The Bulworth of<br />

Bogota is a kooky, iconoclastic wild<br />

card, the voice of the disenchanted<br />

party’s right wing, who hold plain<br />

vanilla establishment Republicans and<br />

Democrats equally responsible for<br />

bloating government into a tax-andspend,<br />

anti-business behemoth.” ―<br />

The Record’s Charles Stile. (3/9/09)<br />

JUST KIDDING?<br />

At Steve Adubato’s annual Irish-Italian<br />

Awards dinner in March, Democratic<br />

leader Phil Alagia told Newark Mayor Cory<br />

Booker: “I’m surprised you could find the<br />

North Ward Center. There was nothing in<br />

New York or Washington tonight?”<br />

TAKE MY GOVERNOR, PLEASE<br />

“I heard the governor said yesterday in<br />

Atlantic County that he needs four more<br />

years to get the job done. I think he’s<br />

done enough of a job on us already.” ―<br />

GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris<br />

Christie. (3/24/09)<br />

LEAST ARTICULATE MAYOR<br />

OF THE YEAR<br />

Magnolia Mayor Betty Ann Cowling-<br />

Carson got a little tongue tied when<br />

talking about Assemblywoman Nilsa<br />

Cruz-Perez “She is very dedicated to<br />

our community, and we are very<br />

dedicated because of her<br />

dedication.” (3/9/09)<br />

STILE ON LONEGAN<br />

“I’m glad (Steve) Lonegan is running<br />

for the Republican nomination for<br />

governor, and it has little to do with<br />

ONLY IN BERGEN<br />

“It’s not accurate to say that I have<br />

ever publicly stated that I wanted the<br />

job.” ― Bergen County Freeholder<br />

James Carroll on whether he wants to<br />

become the next Executive Director of<br />

the Bergen County Utilities Authority.<br />

Charles Stile’s follow-up question:<br />

“OK, then, what about discussing it<br />

privately?”<br />

Carroll: “You know what my mother<br />

used to say — what’s said in private is<br />

meant to be private or else it would<br />

be publicly said.” (4/6/09)


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THE EMILY LITELLA AWARD<br />

Monmouth County Clerk Claire French,<br />

explaining the delay in reporting<br />

school election results to the Asbury<br />

Park Press: There is always something<br />

with this technology.’’ (4/21/09)<br />

TRUST ME<br />

In the Palisades Park school board<br />

race, absentee ballots exceeded the<br />

machine vote. Mike Pollotta, the 80-<br />

year-old Democratic ‘boss’ in Palisades<br />

Park, says he produced 625 of the 780<br />

absentee ballots cast, and defended<br />

the numbers to The Record’s Mike<br />

Kelly: “So what? There’s no fraud<br />

involved. No fraud I can imagine.<br />

“We all live a reasonably hectic life.<br />

Not everybody has the time to stand<br />

in line at the polls and wait your turn.<br />

Times have changed.”<br />

OBVIOUSLY<br />

CHRIS, TELL US, PLEASE<br />

“There are cases you will never know<br />

about that I left on the table that were<br />

close calls, but my view all along was<br />

that if you’re going to bring a federal<br />

indictment against someone that is —<br />

just by the bringing of that indictment<br />

— is going to markedly change their<br />

lives, then you better be sure. And<br />

that’s the way I conducted myself.”<br />

― Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie,<br />

who did not name names. (5/1/09)<br />

VOMITER OF THE YEAR<br />

Middlesex County Democratic<br />

Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo was<br />

nominated to serve as a Commissioner<br />

of the New Jersey Sports and<br />

Exposition Authority. His confirmation<br />

took a while; he missed a Judiciary<br />

Committee hearing when he went<br />

home after vomiting in the governor’s<br />

office.<br />

THANKS, ALEX<br />

Dr. Robert Villare came within 1,300<br />

votes of unseated a Democratic<br />

incumbent, without the support of the<br />

state GOP: “All they gave was lip<br />

service,” said.<br />

WORD OF THE YEAR<br />

“Timid.” – That’s how Christopher<br />

Christie started describing Jon Corzine<br />

in June.<br />

FUNNY AS IT SEEMS<br />

“Five thousand dollars to me is<br />

meaningless.” ― Former New Jersey<br />

Sports and Exposition Authority<br />

Executive Director George Zoffinger,<br />

agreeing to pay $5,000 to settle a<br />

complaint with the state Ethics<br />

Commission. More Zoffinger: “In New<br />

Jersey, politics is a blood sport. I<br />

want to get out of this place. Even the<br />

Mafia doesn’t bring people’s families<br />

into things.” (Star-Ledger, 8/7/09)<br />

In a move that drove the Corzine<br />

campaign nuts, NJ101.5 hired Carla<br />

Katz, the governor’s ex-girlfriend, as a<br />

shock jock. “Obviously I’ll be talking<br />

about the election.” – the former CWA<br />

President said.<br />

DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE<br />

YEAR<br />

A few days before the GOP primary,<br />

polling at 2%, Rick Merkt lowered<br />

expectations: “If it doesn’t work out,<br />

it’s a disappointment, not a tragedy<br />

HOW A BILL BECOMES A<br />

LAW<br />

Former Senate Majority Leader<br />

Bernard Kenny explains how state<br />

government works:<br />

“There are three people in Trenton<br />

that ultimately decide everything: the<br />

governor, the Senate president and<br />

the Assembly speaker.” ― Former<br />

Senate Majority Leader Bernard F.<br />

Kenny, Jr. (D-Hoboken). (4/10/09)<br />

“Jane Christy lives in a place where the X-Files meets the<br />

Twilight Zone. She is just a deluded, pathetic individual.”<br />

― Cumberland County Freeholder Louis Magazzu on former Freeholder<br />

Jane Christy. Christy left the Democratic Party to run as an independent<br />

against Magazzu this year. (12/10/09)<br />

THE ROVE FACTOR<br />

One of the low points of Chris<br />

Christie’s campaign for governor was a<br />

story about talking over his political<br />

ambitions with Karl Rove: “I talked to<br />

him twice in the last couple of years,<br />

perhaps one time while I was at the<br />

White House and once or twice since I<br />

left the White House, but not<br />

regarding his duties as U.S. Attorney,<br />

but regarding his interest in running<br />

for governor, and he asked me<br />

questions about who ― who were<br />

good people that knew about running<br />

for Governor that he could talk to,”<br />

Rove said during his July 2009<br />

testimony before the House Judiciary<br />

Committee.


DISNEY CHARACTER OF THE<br />

YEAR<br />

Nidia Rivera Lopez won a Jersey City<br />

Council seat in May, and by July was<br />

defending herself in a lawsuit that<br />

alleged she lived in Florida. Her<br />

defense: “Up until March of 2008,<br />

Orlando has been my real home. Then<br />

I had two operations, and I couldn’t<br />

keep going back and forth all the time.<br />

And I got a new husband, so I live up<br />

there now [Jersey City]. But this is my<br />

home too. All my clothes are here.”<br />

SONG OF THE YEAR<br />

From Alfred Doblin’s column on Joe<br />

Ferriero in The Record, sung to the<br />

tune of “My Way”:<br />

And now, the end is near;<br />

And so I face my final sentence.<br />

My foes, no doubt will cheer,<br />

But I will sneer without repentance.<br />

I’ve played a game that’s mean.<br />

I was a force, no one could stop me.<br />

But now, it all is gone,<br />

Chris Christie got me.<br />

Regrets, they’re just for fools,<br />

The little tools I used for glory,<br />

Who knew I would be screwed,<br />

By my legal bud named Denis Oury.<br />

I schmoozed, cajoled and charmed,<br />

Each man and gal who would allow<br />

me,<br />

But more, I wanted more,<br />

But Chris Christie got me.<br />

Yes, there were days when all was<br />

good<br />

When I did things I never should.<br />

And then at night, I’d have my fill,<br />

Drinking with kings at the Stony Hill.<br />

I was sublime, now I’ll do time;<br />

‘Cause Chris Christie got me.<br />

I’ve pushed, I’ve shoved, I’ve steered.<br />

I was a threat in every suburb.<br />

And now, when all is done,<br />

The “pol” who won’s Loretta Weinberg.<br />

A Republican with eyes,<br />

On the big prize made me a trophy.<br />

And so to jail I may go.<br />

Chris Christie got me.<br />

So what if he wins, I’ll feel no guilt.<br />

I will not cry for milk that’s split.<br />

To say I should have been more<br />

smart;<br />

It’s too late now to fall apart.<br />

I’m just a man from Old Tappan.<br />

Chris Christie’s got me.<br />

“It was the first time in<br />

my life that I followed<br />

anybody's orders since I<br />

got out of the Army.”<br />

— State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, on being<br />

robbed by two intruders in the bedroom of<br />

his Elizabeth home early Saturday<br />

morning in April. (Star-Ledger, 4/19/09)<br />

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?<br />

Chris Christie’s driving record went<br />

public this summer: “He was a little<br />

loud at the prospect of being towed<br />

and then calmed down,” Lambertville<br />

Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said<br />

about Christie’s 2005 traffic incident.<br />

“He identified himself as a U.S.<br />

Attorney but I don’t think the officer<br />

on duty knew what that was.”<br />

SPIN OF THE YEAR<br />

“It was accidentally left in the loaner<br />

car.” ― Independent gubernatorial<br />

candidate Chris Daggett, on leaving a<br />

loaded handgun behind. (10/21/09)<br />

AGRICULTURAL AGENT OF<br />

THE YEAR<br />

“That’s bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit.” ―<br />

Senate Judiciary Chairman Paul Sarlo,<br />

after the nomination of his friend,<br />

Nicholas Fargo, was not released by<br />

his own committee in December.<br />

Fargo, nominated for a seat on the<br />

Hudson County Tax Board, has four<br />

jobs.<br />

THE NOT QUITE AS DUMB<br />

AS PETE CAMMARANO<br />

AWARD<br />

Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, who<br />

defended a ‘Porn and Guns’ mailer<br />

that attacks Republican Judith Fisher<br />

for selling accounting software to<br />

Playboy, and for Nicholas Lonzisero for<br />

renting a store he owns to a gun shop.<br />

“You know what? Everything in there<br />

is true. Is it a little strong? Yes, it is.<br />

But it’s a campaign, and that’s what<br />

the campaign is about.”<br />

THE STAR-LEDGER’S TOP 10<br />

REASONS TO VOTE IN 2009<br />

1. Our democracy — “by the people”<br />

— depends on it.<br />

2. To honor those who fought, and<br />

died, to preserve that democracy.<br />

3. To pay tribute to those who fought<br />

for the voting rights of women and<br />

African-Americans.<br />

4. To vote for candidates you want to<br />

elect.<br />

5. To vote against those you don’t.<br />

6. To cancel the liberal/conservative<br />

vote of your spouse/kid/boss/coworker/neighbor/in-law.<br />

7. To support the wise gubernatorial<br />

endorsement of The Star-Ledger.<br />

8. To vote against the knuckleheaded<br />

gubernatorial endorsement of The<br />

Star-Ledger.<br />

9. To celebrate the end of political ads<br />

and phone calls.<br />

10. To earn the right to complain for<br />

the next four years.<br />

“I actually have to work<br />

for a living. I have to<br />

feed my family.”<br />

― Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-<br />

Mendham), a candidate for the<br />

Republican nomination for Governor, on<br />

why he can't spend too much time<br />

seeking votes for the Union County GOP<br />

convention on Saturday. Merkt and<br />

Franklin Mayor Brian D. Levine are<br />

locked in a fight for third place in the<br />

first-in-the-state convention to award the<br />

organization line. (<strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com,<br />

2/9/09)


PEOPLE TO WATCH IN 2010<br />

Richard Bagger<br />

The smart and well-liked<br />

former State Senator is Chris<br />

Christie’s new Chief of Staff.<br />

Cory Booker<br />

The Mayor of Newark will<br />

seek re-election without the<br />

benefit of voters in New<br />

York, Washington, and<br />

Hollywood.<br />

Jeff Chiesa<br />

Chris Christie’s former law<br />

partner and Executive<br />

Assistant U.S. Attorney will<br />

be the Chief Counsel to the<br />

Governor.<br />

Richard Codey<br />

How will the former<br />

Governor deal with his new<br />

role as a back bench<br />

member of the State Senate.<br />

Steven Goldstein<br />

The talented Garden State<br />

Equality Chairman will<br />

continue his relentless<br />

pursuit of same sex<br />

marriage.<br />

Kim Guadagno<br />

The Lt. Governor-elect and<br />

Secretary of State-designate gets<br />

to define her new job as the<br />

state’s first elected second-incommand.<br />

Barbara Keshishian<br />

The math teacher from New<br />

Milford is the new head of the New<br />

Jersey Education Association in a<br />

time of fiscal crisis and a<br />

Republican governor.<br />

Jeff Michaels<br />

Don DiFrancesco’s former Chief of<br />

Staff was the only lobbyist in<br />

Chris Christie’s inner circle, and he<br />

is now in a position of<br />

considerable influence.<br />

Jon Runyan<br />

How will the 6’7, 340 lbs. former<br />

NFL offensive tackle do in the<br />

rough-and-tumble world of South<br />

Jersey politics?<br />

John Wisniewski<br />

The Assemblyman from Middlesex<br />

County is expected to become the<br />

new Democratic State Chairman.<br />

Richard Bagger Cory Booker Jeff Chiesa<br />

Richard Codey Steven Goldstein Barbara Keshishian<br />

Jeff Michaels Jon Runyan John Wisniewski


DRUMTHWACKET 2009<br />

"The only times<br />

Republicans can<br />

win, in my opinion,<br />

is when Democrats<br />

screw it up." ―<br />

Republican lobbyist<br />

Roger Bodman, who<br />

managed Tom Kean's<br />

successful campaign for<br />

Governor in 1981.<br />

(1/2/09)<br />

"The public is looking for strong<br />

leadership in this volatile time,<br />

but they are unsure of Jon<br />

Corzine's hand on the tiller."<br />

― Patrick Murray, director of the<br />

Monmouth University Polling Institute.<br />

(2/2/09)<br />

"2009 seems to be a different<br />

kind of political climate. The<br />

person who doesn't get specific is<br />

the person who's not being<br />

serious. Corzine, I imagine, is<br />

going to come out with a<br />

campaign that says, 'I'm tough<br />

and I've made tough decisions<br />

and you'll be better off because<br />

I've made tough decisions.'"<br />

― Prof. Ben Dworkin, Director of the<br />

David Rebovich Center for New Jersey<br />

Politics at Rider University. (3/6/09)<br />

"Sometimes timing is everything.<br />

He's the only incumbent governor<br />

in the country up for election this<br />

year as the financial crisis hits."<br />

– Prof. Peter Woolley, the director the<br />

FDU poll which has Gov. Jon Corzine<br />

trailing. (4/8/09)<br />

"A boxing match is a good<br />

analogy. In the first few rounds,<br />

they're feeling each other out,<br />

looking for any potential<br />

weaknesses and any potential<br />

gaps. Neither candidate was really<br />

going to come out and shoot for a<br />

knockout punch. This was a<br />

coming-out party in a lot of ways."<br />

― Seton Hall political science professor<br />

Joseph Marbach, on the GOP gubernatorial<br />

debate between Chris Christie and Steve<br />

Lonegan. (5/14/09)<br />

"New Jersey is set for a highly<br />

competitive governor's race that<br />

pits a former Marine who learned<br />

how to wield a shovel as a farm<br />

boy against a swashbuckling exprosecutor<br />

with a Jersey-size chip<br />

on his shoulder."<br />

― Philadelphia Inquirer's Cynthia Burton.<br />

(6/5/09)<br />

"In case you haven’t heard this<br />

before, I am a feisty Jewish<br />

grandmother from Bergen County.<br />

I will never be accused of being<br />

part of any – of any —insider<br />

political club."<br />

—State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the<br />

Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.<br />

(7/27/09)<br />

"The businessman<br />

has trouble getting<br />

to the point, and<br />

the lawyer talks too<br />

much. They each<br />

achieved success<br />

and prominence in<br />

a slightly different<br />

realm ― in the case<br />

of Corzine, it's<br />

business, and Christie, it's law ―<br />

and those things don't necessarily<br />

lend themselves to politics."<br />

― Veteran strategist Roger Stone,<br />

described by the Star-Ledger as a<br />

"renowned master of political dirty tricks<br />

who has worked on New Jersey<br />

campaigns." (8/14/09)<br />

"Christopher Christie is still ahead<br />

in the Garden State, but when he<br />

looks in the rear-view mirror, he<br />

sees the bearded visage of Gov.<br />

Jon Corzine getting closer."<br />

― Maurice Carroll, director of the<br />

Quinnipiac University Polling<br />

Institute. (9/30/09)<br />

"If Corzine drives you crazy,<br />

Christie leaves you cringing and<br />

Daggett disappoints you, don't<br />

despair: You've got nine other<br />

choices for governor on this<br />

year's ballot."<br />

― Gannett New Jersey's Michael Symons<br />

(10/27/09)<br />

“You’re going to need to get<br />

Cousin Pookie off the couch and<br />

say ‘Pookie, it’s time to go vote.'<br />

You’ve all got a Cousin Pookie.<br />

You know whom I’m talking<br />

about.”<br />

― President Obama, at a Corzine for<br />

Governor rally at the Prudential Center in<br />

Newark on the Sunday before Election<br />

Day. (11/3/04)<br />

"Hey, New Jersey - we did it."<br />

― Gov.-elect Christopher Christie, on<br />

election night.(11/3/09)<br />

"You just don’t get the vote out at<br />

election time and be successful. It<br />

has to be a year-round<br />

communication, a year- round<br />

interaction. The governor turned<br />

his back on the political<br />

establishment that supported him<br />

throughout his political career. He<br />

was totally isolated by political<br />

reality and surrounded himself by<br />

people who were totally isolated<br />

by political reality."<br />

― State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, on why<br />

Jon Corzine lost. (11/6/09)


STRATEGIST OF THE YEAR<br />

Mike DuHaime<br />

2009 marked<br />

the return to<br />

state politics<br />

for this New<br />

Jersey native,<br />

who launched<br />

a career in<br />

running<br />

campaigns<br />

when he<br />

managed a<br />

race that ousted a Democratic State<br />

Senator a dozen years ago. After serving<br />

as Executive Director of the NJ GOP, he<br />

moved on to the national political stage<br />

as top political staffer on the Bush/<br />

Cheney re-election campaign, followed by<br />

a stint as Political Director at the<br />

Republican National Committee. He<br />

managed Rudy Giuliani’s presidential race<br />

before joining a top political consulting<br />

firm last year. He has the distinction of<br />

becoming the first Republican to beat<br />

Steve DeMicco in a statewide election,<br />

and is held in high regard by the new<br />

governor, who picked him as one of ten<br />

members of his executive transition team.<br />

OPERATIVE OF THE YEAR<br />

Bill Stepien<br />

In New Jersey politics, the pinnacle of<br />

success is to run a winning race for<br />

governor. Chris Christie’s campaign<br />

manager has a tireless work ethic, a<br />

reputation for effectively managing<br />

resources and understanding grass roots<br />

politics, and fierce loyalty to his<br />

candidate. He ran a campaign that<br />

captured the GOP nomination against a<br />

formidable rival, and became one of two<br />

campaign managers in New Jersey history<br />

to beat an incumbent governor in a<br />

general election. He emerges from the<br />

2009 campaign as one of the state’s very<br />

best political operatives, and is about to<br />

take on another powerful post: Deputy<br />

Chief of Staff to the Governor.<br />

RUNNER UP: Allison Murphy, Campaign<br />

Manager, Albano & Milam for Assembly<br />

POLLSTER OF THE YEAR<br />

Adam Geller<br />

The recent<br />

gubernatorial<br />

campaign had an<br />

abundance of<br />

independent polls<br />

showing a wide<br />

variety of numbers,<br />

and Barack Obama’s pollster, Jay Benenson<br />

(who worked for Jon Corzine) had the<br />

incumbent ahead by 6 points in the final<br />

week. But the guy who had the numbers<br />

right was Adam Geller, a New Jersey-based<br />

pollster for Republican Christopher Christie,<br />

who seems to be one of the few who can<br />

get the sample right.<br />

LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR<br />

Joe Kyrillos<br />

The most influential<br />

Republican in the<br />

Legislature next year<br />

with be the veteran<br />

Monmouth County<br />

Republican, who<br />

chaired Chris Christie’s<br />

campaign for governor.<br />

Kyrillos was one of<br />

Christie’s earliest and most earnest<br />

supporters, and had a seat at the table<br />

from the first day of the campaign.<br />

BROTHER OF THE YEAR<br />

Todd Christie<br />

The 2009 campaign<br />

wasn’t easy on the<br />

soon-to-be first<br />

brother, who wound up<br />

getting attacked in Jon<br />

Corzine’s TV<br />

commercials.<br />

Republicans say that<br />

Todd Christie is fiercely<br />

loyal to his brother and best friend, and<br />

was more concerned about the campaign<br />

than he was about himself. He helped<br />

raise money, and bought pizza for<br />

headquarters volunteers. If you are Todd<br />

Christie’s Facebook friend, you know how<br />

genuinely proud he is.<br />

CRIMINAL OF THE YEAR<br />

Solomon Dwek<br />

Solomon Dwek<br />

dominated New Jersey<br />

politics in 2009. As a<br />

government<br />

informant, Dwek went<br />

undercover to help the<br />

federal government<br />

arrest 44 individuals<br />

as part of a probe of political corruption,<br />

money laundering and human organ<br />

trafficking, pleaded guilty to bank fraud<br />

and money laundering charges today.<br />

Later, he admitted his plan to defraud PNC<br />

Bank out of more than $50 million. He<br />

faces a sentence of 108 to 135 months in<br />

federal prison in prison, although his<br />

cooperation in Operation Bid Rig and other<br />

federal probes is likely to win him a lighter<br />

sentence.<br />

RUNNERS UP: Brian Kinney and Antoine<br />

Neal, who entered the Elizabeth home of<br />

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak and robbed<br />

him at gunpoint.<br />

STRIPPER OF THE YEAR<br />

A website called burlesquebabesshop.com<br />

says that former Jersey City Deputy Mayor<br />

Leona Beldini, who was arrested in July as<br />

part of the U.S. Attorney's Operation Bid<br />

Rig, is a former exotic dancer who<br />

performed under the name Hope Diamond.<br />

According to several websites, Hope<br />

Diamond was a top tier stripper and<br />

burlesque performer in the 1950's and<br />

early 1960's. The 74-year-old Beldini was<br />

named to her city post by Mayor Jerramiah<br />

Healy, who suspended her after she was<br />

arrested.<br />

“He’s a nice man with good intentions, but in the<br />

end he’ll be remembered for timidity. Being a<br />

business titan and issuing orders from the corner<br />

office is a lot different than having to cajole and<br />

persuade people in politics and having the<br />

toughness and fortitude to see your vision become<br />

reality.”<br />

― Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, on<br />

Gov. Jon Corzine. (Star-Ledger, 11/17/09)<br />

“This is a typical<br />

scenario of the pulpit<br />

pimp v. Christian<br />

crusader syndrome.<br />

Money talks.”<br />

― GOP Assembly candidate<br />

Herbert Glenn, on Rev.<br />

Reginald Jackson’s endorsement<br />

of Jon Corzine for Governor.<br />

(<strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com, 10/19/09)<br />

“Teachers are not the<br />

problem. It’s the<br />

over-politicized of the<br />

leadership of their<br />

union.”<br />

― Christie, on the New<br />

Jersey Education<br />

Association.<br />

(<strong>PolitickerNJ</strong>.com, 12/9/09)


RE-ELECT<br />

JOE D<br />

Joseph DiVincenzo<br />

Essex County<br />

Executive<br />

<br />

2010

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