Posted on May 5, 2005, and tagged as
A Zogby poll released yesterday showed nearly half of New Jerseyans would vote for former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey should he again run for political office. Mr. McGreevey resigned in August 2004 after admitting to an adulterous affair with another man who was also a state employee. He left office in November, after the deadline for holding a special election passed, thereby making sure the governor's office would fall to a fellow Democrat, Senate President Richard Codey. Yesterday's Zogby poll, sponsored by a New Jersey gay-rights organization, also showed strong support for gay marriage in the Garden State.
Mr. McGreevey's stronger than expected popularity may come as good news to the former governor. He's looking for a new job after being fired last week from a politically-connected law firm run by his mentor and Union County political boss, State Senator Raymond Lesniak. Mr. McGreevey's departure came within hours of disclosing that he was working on the $1.3 billion Xanadu development project, which his administration green-lighted with a state land lease in the Meadowlands. In the daylight of retirement, it looked like another ethics scandal of the sort that plagued Mr. McGreevey while he was in office. Acting Gov. Codey acted swiftly to tighten ethics rules for ex-governors and Mr. McGreevey became unable to serve his client.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported that Mr. Lesniak delivered the bad news in his home. The breakup was a tearful surprise for Mr. McGreevey. While in office, Mr. McGreevey rewrote ethics rules for state employees. Absent were any restrictions on ex-governors doing business with the state. Not anymore.
-- Christian Knoebel