Democrats to Select Wisniewski as N.J. State Chairman
January 26, 2010
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) will be elected as the new chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee Tuesday night at a party conclave in Middlesex County.
Camden Mayor Dana Redd will be re-elected the party′s vice chairperson, a position she has held since 2006.
Party leaders confirmed that neither Wisniewski nor Redd are facing any opposition.
Wisniewski, 47, of Sayreville, will replace Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), who has held the post since 2006 and was in charge when Gov. Jon Corzine lost his re-election bid and the Democrats retained control of the Assembly on Nov. 3. Wisniewski has served in the Assembly since 1995.
A total of 113 Democratic state committee members will vote at the Forsgate County Club in Monroe.
"It′s a tough job and not too many people want to do it under these circumstances (a Republican governor in Trenton) but John stepped up to the plate,′′ said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). "God bless him, not too many people will do that.′′
Robert Angelo, who is retaining his position as the party′s Trenton-based executive director, said Wisniewski would serve an initial three-year term as chairman. The winner of the 2013 Democratic gubernatorial primary would decide if he would serve an additional 18-month term.
The chairmanship will not be a summer party picnic for Wisniewski.
This year, he will have to guide the re-election efforts of the state′s Democratic Congressional members in the face of Republican challengers waving the issues of national health care and the economy.
In 2011, Wisniewski will face the challenge of getting Democratic incumbents re-elected to the state Senate and Assembly and maintaining control of the Legislature. At the same time, he will be working with the six Democrats on the state′s 13-member Congressional Redistricting Committee to ensure that if a district is lost due to a drop in the state′s population, something that is expected, that it is not one held by a Democrat. In 2012, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will face re-election.
