Kim Guadagno to be NJ Secretary of State

This is the first time that New Jersey will have a Lt. Governor, due to a law passed by the Democrat legislature and Democrat Governor. The law recommended that the Lt. Governor also serve as Secretary of State. Christie complied with that Democratic recommendation, and selected Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno to serve as Secretary of State.

Governor-elect Chris Christie has selected Kim Guadagno to be New Jersey’s Secretary of State.

Guadagno says her salary for performing that job in addition to her Lieutenant Governor duties will be $141,000 a year, the same as any other cabinet position.

Guadagno: Which is the beauty of it. You don’t have to have two salaries. One for Lieutenant Governor and other for the Secretary of State. It’s just the one salary. I’ve been doing two jobs for one salary for many, many years.

Guadagno’s appointment to the cabinet position does not need Senate confirmation.

You would thunk Democrats would be happy that number one: Christie is taking their recommendation to heart, and number two: the state is saving on a salary and benefits. Ah, but you would be wrong.

Reaction to the nomination was decisively different from the state’s two party chairs.

Republican State Committee Chairman Jay Webber called the selection of Guadagno “a home run.”

However, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, the chairman of the Democratic State Committee, raised concerns about Guadagno being permitted to oversee the Elections Division.

“There would be an apparent conflict of interest if a candidate seeking public office, such as the Lieutenant governor, were to hold the position,” Cryan said in a statement. “To ensure the fairness and integrity of our elections it is vital that the person in charge of our state’s election process does not have a vested personal interest in the results.”

While their beloved Corzine could do no wrong no matter how bad he screwed up the state, Christie can do no right, even when they asked for it.

The amendment also provides:

The Governor shall appoint the Lieutenant Governor to serve as the head of a principal department or other executive or administrative agency of State government, or delegate to the Lieutenant Governor duties of the office of Governor, or both. The Governor shall not appoint the Lieutenant Governor to serve as Attorney General. The Lieutenant Governor shall in addition perform such other duties as may be provided by law. (Article V, Section I, paragraph 10)

~ by Eyes Everywhere on December 17, 2009.