Some members of New Jersey’s presscorps, along with Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and the Democratic National Committee seem think they finally have an issue to thwart Governor Chris Christie’s rising star. They’re hoping traffic jams in Fort Lee will prevent Christie from becoming President of the United States.
The Star Ledgerhas an article this morning quoting Democrats and academics saying “the scandal” could hurt Chrisite’s national ambitions.
But questions about the incident have fueled a scandal that even Christie’s masterful team of brand managers can’t make go away.
Stile and The Star Ledger’s reporters have it wrong. Christie deftly accepted “ultimate responsibility” for the mistakes made in Fort Lee last September, while deflecting blame, at his press conference on the matter on Friday. As NJTV’s Michael Aron said on Reporters Roundtable, the issue is ‘fundamentally over.” If the ‘Bridgegate’ story gets any ink at all in 2014 and beyond, it will be deep in the back pages.
It’s doubtful that the subpoenas that Wisniewski, as Chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, issued will result in any smoking gun that proves that Christie or anyone in his inner circle other than Port Authority’s Bill Baroni or David Wildstein knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closures that tied up traffic in Fort Lee for a few days is September. Even if a smoking gun is discovered, as Hillary Clinton would shout, “What difference does it make?”
Now that Christie is a legitimate presidential contender, the front runner in the early polls, it is perfectly appropriate that the press and his opponents attempt to make mountains out of traffic jams and other mole hills as part of the vetting process for a president. Barack Obama got a pass from the press and his opponents in 2008 and 2012. Look what that got us.
Governor Chris Christie has called a press conference for 11am this morning to announce personnel changes in his administration.
‘Bridgegate’, the controversy over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last September, will likely be the hot topic the press corps wants to talk about, unless Christie declares the press conference ‘on topic’ or restricted to questions about his new appointments or nominations. Christie has done this on occasion and then lambasted reporters who asked off topic questions. Any reporter who lets him get away with that today, if he tries it, will deserve to be called an idiot.
Democrats are alleging that the lane closures were political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, for failing to endorse Christie’s reelection.
At his press conference on December 2 announcing Kevin O’Dowd’s nomination to be State Attorney General, Christie blew off questions about the GWB lane closures by joking that he was incognito, moving the cones to close the lanes. But his joke did not satisfy Assemblyman John Wisniewski who is acting as if he finally has an issue with which to take down Christie, politically.
Christie’s men at the Port Authority, the bi-state agency that manages the GWB, said the lane closures were part of a traffic study. David Wildstein ordered the closure/study and has resigned. Bill Baroni gave testimony to Wisniewski’s Assembly Transportation Committee justifying the study. Wisniewski called Baroni’s testimony “less than truthful.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s guy at the Port Authority, Executive Director Patrick Foye, threw Wildstein and Barnoni under a bus in his testimony before Wisniewski’s committee. Wisniewski has called for Baroni’s resignation and has subpoenaed emails and memos from Port Authority.
Tune in at 11 to see if Christie can put this issue behind him before it becomes a distraction to his second term, his chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association and to his 2016 presidential prospects.
By any measure, the last four years of Democratic control of the Legislature yielded the party little political benefit. But the Democrats may be able to recover some lost ground, courtesy of what started as a hellacious tie-up on the George Washington…
If Governor Chris Christie appoints someone to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy caused by Senator Frank Lautenberg’s death, there will either be a special election this year for the remainder of the term, or next November, depending on who’s interpretation of seemingly conflicting paragraphs in Title 19.
Christie has the power to appoint a replacement, but is not required to do so. He very likely will.
The Office of Legislative Services has issued an opinion stating that the Governor can appoint a replacement who will serve until November of 2014. The winner of the November 2014 election would serve the remaining two months of the term and a full term to start in January of 2015.
Christie could also call a special general election to fill the remainder of the term, which would be proceeded by a special primary election.
Now that Newark Mayor Cory Booker has taken himself out the the gubernatorial race, everyone expects him to run for Frank Lautenberg’s U. S. Senate seat in 2014. A recent poll indicated that Booker would easily beat Lautenberg in a Democratic primary should the 88 year old senator make another run.
That hasn’t stopped Congressman Frank Pallone from calling Democratic County Chairs to remind them that he is still interested in the Senate seat he has long coveted but never had the guts to fight for.
Pallone best shot at becoming a Senator came and went in 2002 when he declined Governor Jim McGreevey’s offer to replace the disgraced Senator Robert Torricelli on the ballot against Doug Forrester. McGreevey brought Frank Lautenberg out of retirement and got the State Supreme Court to rewrite New Jersey’s election law so the switch could be made after the statutory deadline. The polls showing Forrester beating Toricelli scared Pallone off from giving up a easy victory in CD-6 in favor of his dream job in the Senate.
Lautenberg went on to clobber Forrester in 2002 and was elected again in 2008.
Pallone was passed over for the Senate in 2006 when Governor Jon Corzine chose Bob Menendez to replace him in the Senate. Menendez won his own term that November and was reelected last month. He is on the verge of becoming the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pallone clearly wants to be a Senator, but his history indicates that he doesn’t have the fortitude to risk his cushy lifestyle as a congressman in order to fight for his dream. I hope he grows a pair and goes for it, because the race to replace him in the 6th Congressional District would be great for blog traffic.
WHO WOULD RUN FOR PALLONE’S CD-6 SEAT IF IT WAS VACANT?
Governor Chris Christie told first responders and volunteers from Monmouth County’s Bayshore that he will seek an second term as New Jersey’s Chief Executive while speaking at a Season of Service event at the Port Monmouth Fire House in Middletown Township.
Christie said that his family unanimously supported his seeking a second term when they discussed it over the Thanksgiving weekend. He said that Hurricane Sandy played a role in his decision. “I think the one thing that strikes me right now is I have a job to finish. It would be wrong for me to leave now.”
In his remarks to the volunteers assembled at the fire house, Christie said, “I will not forget you,” as spoke of New Jerseyans determination to rebuild after the storm.
Democrats reportedly considering a challenge to Christie include Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Senate President Steve Sweeney, former acting Governor Richard Cody, State Senator Barbara Buono, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Assemblyman Lou Greenwald.
The Democratic nomination is Booker’s for the taking. Booker is also considering a run for U.S. Senate in 2014.
Monmouth University Pollster Patrick Murray told The Star Ledger, “Bruce Springsteen would have to run against Chris Christie to make this a fair fight…But having said that, we’re still a long ways from next November.”
The Christie campaign has set up a temporary website here and is accepting donations here.
Prior to last month the buzz about Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s future was that he would run for U.S. Senate in 2014, challenging Senator Frank Launtenberg if necessary. Booker opened a federal PAC last year and Lautenberg has been sniping at him ever since.
But in the weeks leading up to the convention Booker met with county chairs to plant the seeds of a gubernatorial run against Governor Chris Christie last year. In Charlotte he went into full campaign mode without making an announcement. In the process he made himself the front runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2013. A Booker candidacy for governor will clear the Democratic field. Without Booker in the race there will be a contentious primary. Senators Dick Codey, Barbara Buono and Steve Sweeney could be contenders. Assemblymen John Wisniewski and Lou Greenwald are acting like candidates. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage says he will run if Booker doesn’t.
None of the other potential candidates will be able to gain any traction until Booker makes his intentions clear.
As a nod to Booker’s front runner status, Quinnipiac polled a Christie/Booker match up. Christie won the poll by 7%, but Booker’s name was recognised by 60% of those polled. That is an extraordinary high number for a New Jersey politician who has never run a statewide race. Booker has better name recognition than Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. He is as well known and better liked than U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.
Booker told the New Jersey delegation in Charlotte that Christie can be beat and that he is only governor because urban Democrats didn’t come out to vote for Jon Corzine in 2009. The implication is that he can get urban voters out, regardless of the desires of Democratic bosses George Norcross in the south and Joe DiVincenzo in the north who didn’t rev their machines for Corzine in 09.
Marlboro and Neptune Township held school board elections yesterday. Of the 45,035 registered voters in the the two townships, 2,618 voted.
By far most of those voters were from Marlboro, where over 2000 people came out. In Neptune, less than 600 of aproximately 16,000 registered voters came out.
As of February 18, there was 24,926 registered voters in Marlboro and 15,865 in Neptune Township, according to Labels and Lists. The county website says there were 45, 035 eligible voters in yesterday’s election. Where those 4,244 new voters came from since February could be the subject of a future column. In the meantime GOP leaders should take note that someone seems to be having a voter registration drive in Democratic towns.
For now I’d like to speculate about why there was a close to normal 10% turnout in Marlboro while only 3% turned out in Neptune.
One obvious reason could be competition. In Marlboro, there were 7 candidates for 3 seats on the school board. In Neptune, the 3 seats were not contested.
A not so obvious reason could be campaign spending. In Marlboro one of the candidates, Bonniesue Rosenwald, mailed out a professionally produced post card late last week which included an endorsement from Mayor Jon Hornick. Rosenwald, an incumbent, squeaked out a third place finish by 13 votes to retain her seat.
Some in Marlboro were upset that Rosenwald and Hornick politicised a school board election. I say politicisation increases participation.
With the recent and perennial hubbub about campaign spending and pay to play, few of the critics of the pay to play/PAC/wheeling system are offering alternatives. No one is talking about the public service campaign spending provides.
If not for campaign signs littering our roadways and lawns and mail boxes filled with glossy advertisements few people would know when to interrupt their routines to vote.
With the arguable exception of presidential and gubernatorial elections, the media, local and national, does a horrible job of covering campaigns. The media looks as electioneering as a revenue source, not a story to be covered as if democracy depends upon it.
Current campaign finance laws thwart participation by limiting contributions and making the process more complicated. The process is so complicated that only the most motivated and self interested contribute. Recently, pundits at The Star Ledger, The Asbury Park Press and even the usually smarter than that InTheLobby criticised the John Wisniewski/Middlesex County PAC practices for violating the spirit of campaign finance laws. Hogwash. The complex system that reduces transparency is the spirit of our campaign finance laws.
If our leaders really want to reform the system, rather than give lip service to ethics while voting for a bill with “loopholes” intentionally written in, the would create a simple system with full and immediate disclosure required.
The legal money laundering of Assemblyman John Wisniewski in Middlesex County has been in the news this month as Politickernj and The Star Ledger brought to light the how Middlesex Democrats are circumventing state and local pay to pay laws by having government vendors, primarily the Middlesex based CME engineering firm, fund campaigns through PACs when the campaign finance laws prohibited contributions directly to the campaigns in jurisdictions where they were earning large fees.
Wisniewski, of Sayreville, is the Chairman of the State Democratic Party and the Assembly Transportation Committee.
Despite the fact that the PACs are run by his former staff members and fund campaigns in his district and county, Wisniewski says he has nothing to do with them. If that is true, the State Democratic Committee needs a new chairman. If it’s not true, the Democrats still should get a new chairman and the people of the 19th legislative district should elect a new Assemblyman.
Also in the news this month are the guilty pleas of insurance broker Frank Gartland of Federal Hill Risk Management. Gartland plead guilty to giving $2 million in bribes to Toms River School Superintendent Michael Ritacco, and to theft by deception and money laundering for bilking the Perth Amboy Board of Education, an Abbott district, out of more than $2 million.
Gartland also admitted to making illegal contributions to the campaigns of former Assemblyman and former Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas through “straw” contributors. Vas is now serving a 6 ½ year sentence for funneling illegal money from a real estate scheme into his unsuccessful 2006 congressional campaign. Vas was Wisniewski’s running mate and they represented the 19th district together in the Assembly from 2004-2009.
While all of this bribery, stealing and money laundering was going on, Gartland and his associates were also donating heavily to the Middlesex County PACS that Wisniewski says he has nothing to do with.
All information from NJ ELEC
Democracy in Motion PAC
12 Deerfield Road
Sayreville, NJ 08872
democrat org
Christina Montorio – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
1/16/2009
$3,200.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
10/16/2008
$4,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
10/24/2008
$3,200.00
New Expectations PAC
2 Lincoln Highway, ste 511
Edison, NJ 08820
other ongoing cmte
Denise Anstett – Treasurer
AST Development – Robert D’Anton
1/7/2009
$5,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
1/7/2009
$4,666.00
Cmte for Efficiency in Government PAC
11 Barton Road
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
other ongoing
Michael Revolinsky – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Victor Bramble
10/20/2008
$1,300.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
10/20/2008
$2,400.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – John Hope
10/20/2008
$2,400.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Victor Bramble
8/15/2007
$2,000.00
Dynamic Claims Mngt
8/15/2007
$1,000.00
E-Administrative Systems
8/15/2007
$1,000.00
Dynamic Claims Mngt
10/17/2007
$2,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
10/17/2007
$2,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Derek Johnson
10/17/2007
$3,000.00
Women for Good Government PAC
PO Box 11434
New Brunswick, NJ 08906
idealogical pac
Deborah Celey – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
10/22/2008
$2,600.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
2/9/2009
$4,666.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Robert D’Anton
2/9/2009
$5,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
10/30/2008
$4,666.00
AST Development – Robert D’Anton
10/30/2008
$5,000.00
Raritan Bay Leadership Fund
251 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
idealogical pac
David Lonski – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt
1/19/2006
$2,000.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
1/28/2009
$4,666.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
1/17/2008
$2,600.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Diana Gartland
10/30/2008
$4,666.00
Committee for Civic Responsibility
PO Box 184
Kendall Park, NJ 08824
68 Old Road, Princeton, NJ 08540
civic association
Bharat Patel – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Derek Johnson
6/9/2009
$2,500.00
19th District Democratic Leadership Fund
13 Zaleski Drive
Sayreville, NJ 08872
Michael D’Addio – Treasurer
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
1/16/2009
$3,200.00
Federal Hill Risk Mngt – Frank Gartland
10/16/2008
$4,000.00
$82,730.00
Wisniewski and Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, a former Republican State Senator, got into it this week over the PACS and Wisniewski using his authority as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee to issue subpoenas requiring that Port Authority executives appear before his committee. Baroni accused Wisniewski of a “shakedown” because CME did not receive preferential treatment while pitching their engineering services to Port Authority.
In response, Wisniewski said “the truth is an expendable commodity” for the “Christie character assassination team”
Let’s see some truth from Wisniewski regarding these PACS, including what quid pro quo Gartland received for his “contributions.”
