Neil Cohen

Gary Schaer will replace Neil Cohen as Chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance CommitteeAssemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) is expected to be named chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. The post became available in July when Neil Cohen resigned his Assembly seat after being caught with child pornography on his state computer.  A formal announcement from Speaker Joseph Roberts is expected to come later this afternoon.  

With jurisdiction over the banking and insurance industries, the committee is considered to be one of the most powerful assignments in the Legislature.  Schaer, a two-term Assemblyman, has a background and career in the financial services industry and has formed a solid relationship with Roberts.  For now, Schaer will retain his vice chairmanship of the Assembly Budget Committee.

Annette Quijano will resign her post as Assistant Counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine to take her seat in the State Assembly. She won a special election convention last night to replace Neil Cohen in the 20th district.  Quijano's election further reduces the number of minorities on the Governor's senior staff: he has not had an African American Deputy Chief of Staff since Jeanine LaRue left to take a job at Rutgers, and has not had a Latino Deputy Chief of Staff since Javier Inclan, who had replaced LaRue, resigned after testifying in the corruption trial of former Guttenberg Mayor David Della Donna.

Sources in Union County say Roselle Councilwoman Cecilia Dallas-Ricks did not muster enough support in Roselle to be a credible Democratic Party candidate and consequently will not be in nomination Tuesday night when the party votes for a successor to District 20 Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Roselle).

That sets up a showdown between Annette Quijano, assistant counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine; and Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste.

With Roselle out of contention, sources say Quijano is likely to summon more power-player support in a district where overall, registered Latino voters have a decided edge over African-Americans.

The governor’s assistant counsel has the backing of Union County Freeholder Director Angel Estrada and real estate agent and Hispanic party activist George Castro, both of whom retreated from their own pursuit of the vacated seat.

The Roselle Democratic County Committee voted Thursday night to support Councilwoman Cecila Dallis Ricks for the open 20th district State Assembly seat vacated by Neil Cohen.  She won 17 votes, followed by 5 for Mayor Garret Smith.  There were two abstentions, and fourteen County Committee members did not attend. 

The front runner to succeed Neil Cohen in the 20th district State Assembly seat is Cecelia Dallis-Ricks, a Roselle Councilwoman, according to Democratic sources familiar with the special election convention.  But most Union County Democratic leaders suggest that front runner status in this race could change quickly, since the only voter that really matters is State Sen. Raymond Lesniak.  Lesniak has not yet endorsed a candidate, but has said he plans to support a minority candidate.

Union County Democrats will meet next Tuesday at a special convention to elect the replacement for former Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who resigned his seat late last month after child pornography was allegedly found on one of his legislative office computers.

The replacement will be selected by the members of the county’s Democratic committee from the four towns that comprise Legislative District 20: Roselle, Elizabeth, Union Township and Kenilworth.  But the endorsement by the district’s other two legislators – Assemblyman/Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan and State Sen. Ray Lesniak -- will undoubtedly weigh heavily on the committee’s decision.

Among the local political players said to be interested in the post are Roselle Councilwoman Cecelia Dallis-Ricks; Union County Freeholder Director Angel Estrada; Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste; Elizabeth Councilman Manny Grova; Roselle Councilman and former Cohen Chief-of-Staff Jamel Holley and Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith, who has butted heads with party leaders in the past. 

There is nothing out of the ordinary about legislative staffers drawing down paychecks from both the government and from campaign committees.  But the case of Gleisha Givens, who served as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Neil Cohen, looks a little strange.

Over the last seven months, Givens has received eighteen separate payments totaling $23,400 from Cohen’s campaign while working full-time for his legislative district office.  All of these payments came after the 2007 election, where Cohen had just token opposition.  They are listed on Cohen’s Election Law Enforcement Commission reports as bonus payments, or payments for extra work.

Cohen resigned Sunday amid allegations that he had child pornography on a legislative office computer. 

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State Sen. Leonard Lance’s congressional campaign yesterday questioned why his Democratic rival, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, was so quick to give her campaign donations back to former Assemblyman Neil Cohen, but has kept larger donations from U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Rangel has faced scrutiny for leasing four rent stabilized apartments in his Harlem home district—one of which he uses as a campaign office and pays for with campaign funds.  Cohen resigned from his Assembly seat on Monday amid allegations that he had child pornography on a legislative office computer.