As Senate colleagues and fellow New Jersey residents learned the news on Monday morning that Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg died at age 89, speculation began over what would happen next in Garden State politics.
From Trenton to Washington, D.C., betting is strong that Republican Gov. Chris Christie will appoint his closest political friend, state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, to the vacant seat, raising GOP seats in the Senate from 45 to 46, at least until a special election is held.
Earlier this year, amid speculation that corruption charges would bring down New Jersey's other Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, top GOP sources throughout the state were unanimous in assuring Newsmax that Kyrillos would be tapped to the vacancy.
"It is 99 percent certain that Sen. Kyrillos would get the appointment," David Norcross, former New Jersey Republican National Committeeman and state party chairman, told Newsmax. "Chris and Joe are very, very close."
James Courter, a former congressmen and 1989 Republican gubernatorial nominee, agreed, telling Newsmax without hesitation: "If Menendez is forced to resign, Joe Kyrillos will be appointed."
Menendez weathered the storm and remains in the Senate. But with the passing of Lautenberg creating a Senate vacancy and giving Christie the appointment, speculation about 53-year-old Kyrillos is again rampant.
A 20-year state senator and former Republican state chairman, Kyrillos chaired Christie's first campaign for governor in 2009. Since then, his role as "First Friend" to the governor has been likened to that of Republican Sen. Paul Laxalt of Nevada to President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
Kyrillos carried the Republican banner in 2012 against Menendez but lost by a margin of 58 percent to 40 percent.
Kyrillos, considered a moderate-conservative in the mold of Christie, is also the sponsor of legislation to put the reinstitution of the death penalty on the state ballot. Like Christie, he has had his problems with the local tea party movement, although several sources say the relationship between Kyrillos and tea partiers in his district is now "cordial."
Other Republicans mentioned for the appointment in published reports include Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (now running for re-election on Christie's ticket) and state Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean, Jr., namesake son of the former governor.
If anyone has Christie's ear, you might suggest two candidates with ties to New Jersey.
The first one is Frank Sinatra. I know, I know, he's dead. But that shouldn't matter to the party who has a major voting bloc in the nation's cemeteries. Plus, his ties to The Mob should make him attractive to the state's democrat majority.
The other is Jerry Lewis. His appeal should be obvious - he's a clown. Just like Christie.
RIGHT'S RIGHT 
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Mon Jun 03, 2013 2:07 pm
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