Read PolitickerNJ.com's Year End Review

STRATEGIST OF THE YEAR
Mike DuHaime
2009 marked
the return to
state politics
for this New
Jersey native,
who launched
a career in
running
campaigns
when he
managed a
race that ousted a Democratic State
Senator a dozen years ago. After serving
as Executive Director of the NJ GOP, he
moved on to the national political stage
as top political staffer on the Bush/
Cheney re-election campaign, followed by
a stint as Political Director at the
Republican National Committee. He
managed Rudy Giuliani’s presidential race
before joining a top political consulting
firm last year. He has the distinction of
becoming the first Republican to beat
Steve DeMicco in a statewide election,
and is held in high regard by the new
governor, who picked him as one of ten
members of his executive transition team.
OPERATIVE OF THE YEAR
Bill Stepien
In New Jersey politics, the pinnacle of
success is to run a winning race for
governor. Chris Christie’s campaign
manager has a tireless work ethic, a
reputation for effectively managing
resources and understanding grass roots
politics, and fierce loyalty to his
candidate. He ran a campaign that
captured the GOP nomination against a
formidable rival, and became one of two
campaign managers in New Jersey history
to beat an incumbent governor in a
general election. He emerges from the
2009 campaign as one of the state’s very
best political operatives, and is about to
take on another powerful post: Deputy
Chief of Staff to the Governor.
RUNNER UP: Allison Murphy, Campaign
Manager, Albano & Milam for Assembly
POLLSTER OF THE YEAR
Adam Geller
The recent
gubernatorial
campaign had an
abundance of
independent polls
showing a wide
variety of numbers,
and Barack Obama’s pollster, Jay Benenson
(who worked for Jon Corzine) had the
incumbent ahead by 6 points in the final
week. But the guy who had the numbers
right was Adam Geller, a New Jersey-based
pollster for Republican Christopher Christie,
who seems to be one of the few who can
get the sample right.
LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR
Joe Kyrillos
The most influential
Republican in the
Legislature next year
with be the veteran
Monmouth County
Republican, who
chaired Chris Christie’s
campaign for governor.
Kyrillos was one of
Christie’s earliest and most earnest
supporters, and had a seat at the table
from the first day of the campaign.
BROTHER OF THE YEAR
Todd Christie
The 2009 campaign
wasn’t easy on the
soon-to-be first
brother, who wound up
getting attacked in Jon
Corzine’s TV
commercials.
Republicans say that
Todd Christie is fiercely
loyal to his brother and best friend, and
was more concerned about the campaign
than he was about himself. He helped
raise money, and bought pizza for
headquarters volunteers. If you are Todd
Christie’s Facebook friend, you know how
genuinely proud he is.
CRIMINAL OF THE YEAR
Solomon Dwek
Solomon Dwek
dominated New Jersey
politics in 2009. As a
government
informant, Dwek went
undercover to help the
federal government
arrest 44 individuals
as part of a probe of political corruption,
money laundering and human organ
trafficking, pleaded guilty to bank fraud
and money laundering charges today.
Later, he admitted his plan to defraud PNC
Bank out of more than $50 million. He
faces a sentence of 108 to 135 months in
federal prison in prison, although his
cooperation in Operation Bid Rig and other
federal probes is likely to win him a lighter
sentence.
RUNNERS UP: Brian Kinney and Antoine
Neal, who entered the Elizabeth home of
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak and robbed
him at gunpoint.
STRIPPER OF THE YEAR
A website called burlesquebabesshop.com
says that former Jersey City Deputy Mayor
Leona Beldini, who was arrested in July as
part of the U.S. Attorney's Operation Bid
Rig, is a former exotic dancer who
performed under the name Hope Diamond.
According to several websites, Hope
Diamond was a top tier stripper and
burlesque performer in the 1950's and
early 1960's. The 74-year-old Beldini was
named to her city post by Mayor Jerramiah
Healy, who suspended her after she was
arrested.
“He’s a nice man with good intentions, but in the
end he’ll be remembered for timidity. Being a
business titan and issuing orders from the corner
office is a lot different than having to cajole and
persuade people in politics and having the
toughness and fortitude to see your vision become
reality.”
― Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, on
Gov. Jon Corzine. (Star-Ledger, 11/17/09)
“This is a typical
scenario of the pulpit
pimp v. Christian
crusader syndrome.
Money talks.”
― GOP Assembly candidate
Herbert Glenn, on Rev.
Reginald Jackson’s endorsement
of Jon Corzine for Governor.
(PolitickerNJ.com, 10/19/09)
“Teachers are not the
problem. It’s the
over-politicized of the
leadership of their
union.”
― Christie, on the New
Jersey Education
Association.
(PolitickerNJ.com, 12/9/09)