Don’t count on it happening. Senator Bob Mendendez as already survived a recall effort, an FBI investigation while Chris Christie was U.S. Attorney, Tom Kean JR and Joe Kyrillos. There’s little reason, so far, to think Menendez won’t survive his latest scandals involving illegal campaign donations and gifts, a sex offender illegal immigrant intern and allegations of engaging with prostitutes and underage girls in the Dominican Republic.Why would Menedez resign? It’s not as if he tweeted nude pictures of himself, or anything as bad as that.
For a senator to be expelled requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate. The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has not responded to State Senator Sam Thompson’s complaint about Menendez filed last November. There is no reason to think the Democratically controlled Senate will even consider censuring Menendez, much less expelling him, unless the FBI’s current investigation results in an indictment and/or conviction.
But if Menendez’s seat in the Senate were to become vacant this year, it would put New Jersey politics into a fabulous turmoil that would be fun to cover and generate unprecedented blog traffic. “Peter Williams,” if you’re reading, please cooperate with the FBI and bring the Domincan girls with you to the USofA!
Two former New Jersey political powerhouses joined NJTV’s Michael Aron on his weekly show, On the Record, this week to discuss the 2013 gubernatorial race, the 2014 U.S. Senate race and to reminisce about the good old days… the governors they served under and how the climate has changed in Trenton since the days when they held power.
Democrat Joe Doria served in the State Assembly from 1980-2004. He was Speaker in the 1990-1992 session. Doria left the Assembly after losing the Democratic primary in 2003. In 2004, he was elected by the Hudson Democratic Committee to fill the State Senate term vacated by the death of Senator Glenn Cunningham, who was also the mayor of Jersey City. Doria also served as mayor of Bayonne from July of 1998 through October of 2007. He resigned from the Senate and as mayor when Governor Jon Corzine nominated him to become the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, one of the most powerful Cabinet positions in the State. His public career came to a sudden end in July of 2009 when Corzine announced his resignation as DCA commissioner after his home was raided in the Operation Bid Rig sweep the resulted in 44 arrests. Doria was never arrested and the U.S Attorney’s Office cleared him of all charges in October of 2011.
Republican John Bennett is chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee. He served in the State Legislature for 24 years, 10 in the Assembly and 14 in the Senate. While a Senator, Bennett was co-president of the chamber with Richard Codey during first two years of the McGreevey administration. Bennett was Acting Governor for 3 1/2 days, during the week between the Whitman/DiFrancesco administration and the McGreevey administration when New Jersey had five governors…DiFrancesco, Codey, Bennett, former Attorney General John Farmer and McGreevey.
Bennett’s career as a senator came to an end after he was defeated at the polls by Ellen Karcher, then a member of the Marlboro Township Committee. The Asbury Park Press ran Bennett out of office with a relentless series of articles, over a period of months, over a billing irregularity while he was Marlboro’s Township Attorney. Bennett was cleared of any wrong doing by the Feds in March of 2007.
Bennett is collecting a $90,000 annual pension from his years in the legislature and a plethora of part time law appointments tacked together to provide a handsome income.
Governor Chris Christie’s choice of running mate for his 2013 reelection campaign will have little to do with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s performance during the first Christie term. By all accounts Guadagno has done her job well. She’s been a good soldier, loyal and obedient surrogate and fine ambassador to the business community.
The hint of scandal that NJ Watchdog has been pushing about Guadagno during her days as Monmouth County Sheriff will have little impact on her status on the ticket. Just like U.S. Senator Robert Menendez’s prostitution scandal, nobody in the media cares about the story Mark Lagerkvitz has been pushing for over two years about Gaudagno arranging for Mickey Donovan being able to collect a police pension while acting as her law enforcement chief in Monmouth. If Trenton Democrats were going to make an issue of Guadagno’s role in Donovan’s double dipping, there probably would already have been hearings in the Senate or Assembly into the matter already.
The imminent decision about Kim Guadagno’s future is all about 2016 and 2017 politics. It has little to do with the 2013 gubernatorial election.
There has been quiet speculation that Guadagno would not be the second term LG for months. A story was floated over the summer that she would become New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney if Mitt Romney was elected president.
If Christie runs for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination he will become a part time governor sometime in 2015. If he becomes the front runner for the nomination he could resign early 2016. Whether he resigns or not, New Jersey would need an acting governor who is really in charge. As often as Guadagno has been acting governor over the past three years, no one believes she was really in charge. If Christie runs for president in 2016, his lt. governor will be running for governor in 2017 as an incumbent, effectively.
Christie probably hasn’t made a decision about 2016. Yet, he undoubtably wants to keep his options open and to leave New Jersey is strong hands should he decide to run.
If Guadagno is the LG candidate in 2013, that would be a signal that Christie believes that she is ready to be governor and ready to lead the NJ Republican Party.
Bergen Record columnist Charles Stile posted a column yesterday speculating about possible Guadango replacements. Stile named Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and six state senators as possible future acting governors; Joe Kyrillos, Tom Kean, JR, Jennifer Beck, Diane Allen, Dawn Marie Addiego and Kevin O’Toole.
Christie chose Guadagno over Donovan, Allen and Beck in 2009. He’s not likely to choose any of them as his running mate in 2013. Choosing Kyrillos would create a context for Joe’s lackluster campaign against Menendez for U.S. Senate this year. Other than Kean, son of the former governor and the 2006 U.S. Senate nominee, none of the other mentions significant statewide name recognition. Kryillos just spent a year and $5 million building statewide name recognition.
Governor Chris Christie said at a press conference this afternoon that utilities will be connected to homes at Fort Monmouth this weekend and that New Jersey residents that were displaced by Hurricane Sandy should be able to start moving into the temporary housing sometime next week.
The governor said that “some type of lottery system” being developed by the Department of Community Affairs will be employed to select residents who will move onto the fort, because the demand of tempory housing is expected to exceed the supply.
The governor went on to explain that officials are assessing the need for housing this week by interviewing people still in shelters and surveying local officials.
Christie called the press conference to announced that he met with the four leaders of the legislature, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, JR and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, who all agreed that the states efforts to recover and rebuild from Sandy will not get bogged down in partisanship.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that resident selection for temporary housing must comply with FEMA rules and that specifics of when, how and who will be moved into Fort Monmouth is expected to be worked out within a few days.
“New Jersey needs Joe Kyrillos in the U.S. Senate”
Morris, Somerset and Union Counties – March 2… Today, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick endorsed Senator Joe Kyrillos for United States Senate.
Senate Leader Tom Kean said, “Joe Kyrillos has been a reliable conservative warrior on behalf of New Jersey taxpayers throughout his entire career. Joe has been a leader in the Senate and a valuable ally as we change business as usual in Trenton. I consider Joe and his wife Susan to be among my closest friends and as the people across New Jersey get to know Joe throughout this campaign, they will come to realize just as I have, that Joe is just the reformer we need to send to Washington, DC to change business as usual in our nation’s capital.”
Assembly Leader Jon Bramnick said, “Joe Kyrillos has been an incredible ally in our effort to fix New Jersey’s fiscal mess and I am proud to endorse him today. Not only has he been an ally, but he’s also been a leader – he led the charge for us in the Senate as we fought together for Governor Christie’s ‘Tool Kit’ initiative to reform government and cap our property taxes. He has played a vital role in the reforms we have been able to pass to get the New Jersey comeback started. When you compare Joe’s record of accomplishment to Bob Menendez’s failed record, it becomes crystal clear – New Jersey needs Joe Kyrillos in the U.S. Senate.”
Senator Joe Kyrillos said, “I am proud and humbled to have the endorsement of two of New Jersey’s leaders and most accomplished legislators. Today’s endorsement of my campaign by my friends Senator Kean and Assemblyman Bramnick demonstrates that our message of reform is resonating across this great state. Our representatives in Washington are failing us. They offer us nothing new or different—just more of the same: More spending, more debt, more job-killing regulation. I am running on my record of reform and I know that together, we can prove again what a free and enterprising people are capable of. We can renew America’s promise of opportunity, and make New Jersey proud. I don’t take this responsibility lightly, and I won’t let you down.”
Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr., 51, is married to Susan Doctorian Kyrillos and they live in Middletown with their children Max and Georgia. He began serving New Jersey’s 13th Legislative District in 1988 when he was elected to the General Assembly. After spending two terms in the Assembly he was elected to the Senate where he has served since 1993. In addition to his official duties, the Senator is employed as Senior Managing Director of Colliers International, the commercial real estate services firm with offices in New York and Parsippany. He is also an advisor to the Newport Capital Group in Red Bank, NJ.
