Watch the NJ Gubernatorial Debates Live

The candidates for the Democrat and Republican nominations for New Jersey Governor will be debating this evening at Stockton University.

Republicans Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli will face off from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Democrats former U.S. Treasury official Jim Johnson, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy, and state Assemblyman John Wisniewski will debate from 8 p.m. until 9 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lesniak planning a gubernatorial run, won’t seek re-election to Senate

TRENTON — Longtime Democratic state Sen. Raymond Lesniak said Thursday he’s planning to run for governor in 2017. Lesniak (D-Union) said he plans to focus “on the issues I championed in my legislative career,” and will not seek reelection to the state Senate. He’s served in the Legislature for 37 years. “I’m not running for reelection.… Read the rest of this entry »

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GWB letter raises credibility questions for Chris Christie, Port Authority official, politicians say

GWB letter raises credibility questions for Chris Christie, Port Authority official, politicians say (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — If true, the claims in former Port Authority official David Wildstein’s letter are explosive and potentially deadly to Gov. Chris Christie’s political future, New Jersey politicians agreed today. But they also conceded the letter raised…

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Bridge scandal: Democrats say they will pursue investigation into lane closures

Bridge scandal: Democrats say they will pursue investigation into lane closures (via NJ.com)

By Salvador Rizzo and Mark Mueller Democratic lawmakers say they will “aggressively” press on with their investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal after Friday’s release of thousands of pages of documents showing key members…

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Codey Wan Kenobi

State Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) wants former Acting Governor Dick Codey to stop Starship Christie from conquering the dark side of Trenton this November.

Lesniak said on facebook:

Codey for Governor?  Christie’s style has vaulted his popularity, but Codey has style also.  Christie’s feisty style has overshadowed his support for Romney and his policies that would cut taxes on the wealthy while putting added burdens on everyone else.  Honk if you like Codey for Governor.  Now that Corey Booker has chosen not to run, Codey is our Obi Wan Kenobi.

Codey, a senator representing parts of Morris and Essex Counties served as governor after Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

Codey has yet to declare his candidacy for the Democratic nomination to challenge Christie.  Recent media reports say that Codey is weighing his options and is 50-50 about running.  State Senator Barbara Buono (Middlesex) is the only announced Democratic candidate so far.

In addition to Codey, Senate President Steve Sweeney(Gloucester) is considering a run.  Our friends at SaveJersey.com report that an unknown organization is conducting a push poll for Sweeney in South Jersey.

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Democratic Senator invokes Vietnam era race riots in opposing Christie’s Supreme Court nominations

State Senator Ronald Rice (D-Newark)  is not satisifed that Governor Christie’s nomination of an Asian American to the State Supreme Court represents the racial diversity of New Jersey.

That the nominee, Judge David F. Bauman, the presiding Judge of the Monmouth County Court’s Civil Division, is a former U.S. Marine like Rice, did not satisfy the senator. “That doesn’t carry the weight a good African American would.  Even in the Marines we had race riots during Vietnam,” said Rice according to PolitickerNJ.

Rice said that diversity in this state should always include African Americans, Latinos, and women.

Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) also said that race would be a factor as he considers Christie’s nominees, Bauman and BPU President Robert Hanna.  Lesniak said that he wants to be highly confident that the nominees would use their independent judgement in interpreting the law and that they “will not be caught looking

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Christie defends Oxley nomination

State Street Wire, the pay sister site of Politickernj, is reporting that Governor Chris Christie said that the controversy State Senator Ray Lesniak is making over former Monmouth County Sheriff Joe Oxley’s nomination as a Superior Court Judge is “just another excuse” by Lesniak and the Democrats not to give Christie’s judicial nominations confirmation hearings.

Lesniak wants the FBI’s files from their investigation into Solomon Dwek’s allegations that Oxley, while sheriff, tipped off the real estate swindler to foreclosures in Monmouth County prior to the information becoming public.  Oxley has refused to authorize the release of the files and the Justice Department has declined Lesniak’s appeal that the public interest outweighs Oxley’s privacy.

Christie said that his successor as US Attorney, Paul Fishman, found “no factual basis” in Dwek’s claims.

Christie said he knows first-hand how the data provided by cooperating witnesses can be.

“Sometimes it can be reliable, sometimes it can be fiction,” he said.  “I think it’s unfair to put that kind of fiction on the public stream.”

Christie said that the judiciary committee should do its job and hold a confirmation hearing for Oxley.

Oxley has referred requests for comment to the governor’s office.

As a practicing attorney, Oxley could have legitimate reasons, including attorney-client privilege, for refusing to authorize the release of his recorded conversations.

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Menendez complains about constitutional amendment to make judges pay their fair share

Politics should trump good public policy and the will of the people, in the mind of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

The Auditor is reporting that New Jersey’s junior Senator called Democratic State Senators Steve Sweeney and Ray Lesniak to complain about the fact that they’re allowing voters to decide on the constitutional amendment that, if passed, will require New Jersey’s privileged Judges to abide by the same pension and benefit rules as all other state employees.

Menendez wasn’t complaining about the merits of the legislation.  He was complaining that the presence of the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall would get Governor Chris Christie out on the campaign trail supporting the amendment….and also supporting State Senator Joe Kyrillos in Joe’s quest to unseat Menendez.

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Yo Christie! Don’t be like Corzine!

By Jay Lassiter, on January 26, 2012, cross posted on Blue Jersey

In August of 2008, Multiple Sclerosis patient John Ray Wilson of Franklin Township, NJ, was arrested for growing medical cannabis in his backyard. According to news reports, Mr. Wilson was:

“charged with ‘manufacturing’ 17 marijuana plants that he used to treat his Multiple Sclerosis. Wilson faced 20 years in state prison for this crime. At trial, Superior Court Judge Robert Reed would not let the jury hear the reason that Wilson grew the marijuana plants, essentially removing Wilson’s only defense.“

Four years after his arrest (and two years after NJ’s medical marijuana law was signed) John Ray Wilson — currently out on appeal — was ordered to return to prison TOMORROW to serve out his 5 year term.

Senator Raymond Lesniak, who was a chief proponent of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law, had this appeal to Gov. Chris Christie:

“I am disappointed by the recent decision of the Supreme Court to deny the appeal of John Ray Wilson. He was merely trying to alleviate the symptoms of a dreadfully painful and regressive disease. It is unconscionable that this Friday he will be behind bars. Three years ago, I called on Gov. Corzine to commute the sentence of Mr. Wilson. After inaction with the last governor, I was hopeful Gov. Christie would better understand the unfair reality of this situation. Unfortunately, Gov. Christie has been just like Corzine, refusing to use his and only his power to make things right when the true intentions of the law were misapplied. (Ironically) before John Ray Wilson completes his prison sentence, the State of NJ will have its medical marijuana program up and running, and Mr. Wilson may likely be using medical marijuana behind bars or the prescription pain killers he couldn’t afford, paid for by the state’s taxpayers. Governor Christie should commute his sentence immediately.”

 

Chris Goldstein from the Coalition for Medical Marijuana in NJ wonders,”how many more seriously ill residents are we going to send to prison? We call on Governor Chris Christie to demonstrate his compassion for qualifying medical marijuana patients and his commitment to a new stance on non-violent drug offenders by issuing a pardon for John Ray Wilson.”

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Mulshine: It’s Guadagno’s fault if his cat poops on the rug

By Art Gallagher

Paul Mulshine says he will blame Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno if his cat poops on the rug.  Really, he said that.

Mulshine’s cat usually poops outdoors, but the usual spot, probably on a neighbor’s property, is snow covered and the pussy won’t go where it usually goes.  Mulshine wasn’t prepared for the storm.  He couldn’t navigate the snow covered roads to get kitty litter so his pussy would have a warm place to do it.

Guadagno is at fault because she’s on vacation out of state at the same time Governor Christie is out of state, leaving Senate President Steve Sweeney in charge as Acting Governor.

Mulshine speculates that Guadagno vacationing at the same time as Christie could be the end of her political career.  He quotes Rick Shaftan as saying that “nothing will screw up your poll numbers more than snow.”  Shaftan, who is famous for talking to Mulshine and for running Steve Lonegan’s 2009 gubernatorial primary, noted that former New York Mayor John Lindsay lost the 1969 GOP primary due to mishandling a snow storm.  Lindsay was reelected on a third party line. 

If Shaftan, Lonegan, Mulshine and the ideologues were in charge of the NJ GOP, like they want to be, a third party candidate could get elected in New Jersey too.

Mulshine and Shaftan speculate that Guadagno wants the GOP nomination to run against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in 2012.  Yet another example of ideologues who can’t count. 

If the NJ GOP mounts a top tier talent challenge to Menendez in 2012 we’re in deep trouble as a nation.  Barack Obama will be on the top of the Democratic ticket in 2012.  The only way a Republican is going to win a state wide race in 2012 is if Obama is unelectable in New Jersey.  If that is the political environment in 2012 the economy will be in worse shape than it is now.  Obama’s poll numbers are over 50% in NJ now, as bad as things are.

Mulshine and Shaftan have a strange bedfellow in windbag Senator Ray Lesniak who called in from Florida to criticise Guadagno and Christie for leaving Sweeney in charge of cleaning up the snow.

Sweeney assured Christie he wouldn’t create mischief while keeping the Governor’s seat warm.  If Christie didn’t trust Sweeney to keep his word, other arrangements would have been made.  If Sweeney breaks his word, other arrangements will be made in the future.  

The constitutional purpose of the Lt. Governor’s office is to prevent one person from controlling two-thirds of the state government, as was the case when Dick Codey was Governor and Senate President after Jim McGreevey’s resignation and when Don DiFrancesco held both offices after Christine Whitman’s resignation.  The current banter is nonsense.

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