Everything about Jon Corzine totally explained
Jon Stevens Corzine (born
January 1,
1947) is the
Governor of New Jersey. He was sworn into office on
January 17,
2006, for a four-year term ending in 2010. He represented New Jersey in the
United States Senate from 2001 until 2006, when he stepped down to take his seat as Governor. Prior to his political career, Corzine was Chairman and CEO of
Goldman Sachs. He resides at
Drumthwacket, the New Jersey Governor's
official residence in
Princeton, and also maintains a private permanent residence in
Hoboken.
Early years and education
Corzine was born in central
Illinois to Nancy June Hedrick and Roy Allen Corzine; his surname originates from
The Netherlands. He grew up on a small
family farm in
Willey Station, Illinois and near
Taylorville. After completing high school at Taylorville High School, where had been the
football quarterback and
basketball captain, Forrester later came under fire for using the quote because of its inherently personal nature.
Corzine had lived with his wife in
Summit. After their separation, Corzine moved to an apartment in
Hoboken, in the same building as
Eli Manning and
Jesse Palmer.
Business career
His first experience in business was in the Bond Department at Continental-Illinois National Bank in Chicago where, starting in 1970, he worked as a portfolio analyst while attending the
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business at night. He then moved to
BancOhio National Bank, a regional bank in
Columbus, Ohio that was acquired by National City Bank. He worked there until 1975 when he moved his family to New Jersey. There he was hired as a
bond trader for
Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he worked his way up to
Chairman and
CEO of the company in 1994 and successfully converted the investment firm from a private partnership to a worldwide publicly traded
corporation. He received numerous awards and recognition for his job including being named one of
Time magazine's Top 50 Technology Executives in 1997. Being a Democrat, Corzine also chaired a presidential commission for Bill Clinton and served on the U.S. Treasury Department's borrowing committee.
Entry into politics
After being forced from Goldman Sachs in January 1999, Corzine campaigned for one of New Jersey's
Senate seats after
Frank Lautenberg announced his
retirement. Corzine was elected to the Senate by a four percent margin over his
Republican opponent
Bob Franks in
the November 2000 election and was sworn into the Senate in January 2001. He spent over $62 million of his own money on his campaign, the most expensive Senate campaign in U.S. history — over $33 million of this was spent on the primary election alone, where he defeated former Governor
James Florio 58%-42%.
Senate career
In the Senate, Corzine was a member of the Committees on
Banking,
Intelligence, the
Budget, and
Energy and Natural Resources. He co-authored the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a piece of legislation designed to crack down on corporate malfeasance. He was a supporter of introducing legislation that reforms the
401(k) plan to minimize the risk of investment portfolios. He was a sponsor of the
Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Act, which expands health care coverage for children and pregnant women. Corzine supported providing a two-year
tax break to victims of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to help them recover financially and help grant
citizenship to victims that were legal
resident aliens. He supported tighter
gun control laws, outlawing
racial profiling, and subsidies for
Amtrak. He was also the chief sponsor, along with U.S. Senator
Sam Brownback, of the
Darfur Accountability Act, which would apply sanctions on the
Sudanese government and create a framework for addressing the
genocide occurring in the
Darfur region. He was also one of 23 senators to vote against the
Iraq War Resolution. Corzine also was the prime sponsor, along with U.S. Senator
Frank Lautenberg, of a federal version of John's Law, in memory of Navy Ensign John R. Elliott of New Jersey, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who was killed by a drunken driver. The legislation provides federal highway safety grant incentives to encourage states to impound the cars of DUI suspects.
Since May 2005 he's been a contributing blogger at
The Huffington Post.
Campaign for governor
Corzine's candidacy for Governor, like his prior run for the U.S. Senate, broke all prior spending records. The combined expenditures for Corzine's run for the Senate and Governorship exceeded $100 million.
Corzine won his campaign for the post of
Governor of New Jersey with 54% of the vote. Republican nominee
Doug Forrester, a businessman and a former Mayor of
West Windsor Township, in
Mercer County, won 43%. Corzine received 1,224,493 votes to Forrester's 985,235. A total of 80,277 votes, or 3%, were scattered among other candidates.
Corzine won 13 of New Jersey's 21 counties:
Atlantic,
Bergen,
Burlington,
Camden,
Cumberland,
Essex,
Gloucester,
Hudson,
Mercer,
Middlesex,
Passaic,
Salem, and
Union. Corzine won the three most populous counties (Bergen, Essex, and Middlesex), five of the top six, and seven of the top nine.
Governor
Shutdown of state government
Corzine, in attempting to pass the 2007 fiscal year budget, came into conflict with fellow state Democrats in the
New Jersey General Assembly, particularly over the proposed increase of the state's sales tax from 6% to 7%. Corzine stated that he wouldn't accept a budget that didn't include the sales tax increase. After the legislature failed to pass Governor Corzine's budget by the midnight deadline of
July 1,
2006, he signed an executive order that immediately closed down all non-essential state government services, such as road construction projects. Legislators failed to resolve the situation by July 4 and casinos, among other governmentally-regulated industries, closed their doors at 8:00 am on July 5. Governor Corzine called the shutdown "deplorable," though he refused to negotiate with legislators and accept alternate plans that didn't increase the sales tax. It is estimated that the state lost several millions of dollars of revenue every day the casinos remained closed. Some surmised the casino closure was an effort to encourage reluctant South Jersey legislators to break the impasse.
(External Link
).
After six days of the New Jersey state government being shut down Corzine and Assembly Democrats reached an agreement on the state budget. The compromise raised the state sales tax from 6% to 7% with half of the 1% increase going to the state budget and the other half going to property tax relief. On
July 8,
2006, the $30 billion dollar state budget, with the sales tax agreement, passed both houses and Governor Corzine signed the budget into law ending the budget impasse.
Appointments
U.S. Senate replacement
Corzine continued to serve in the U.S. Senate while running for Governor, which ensured that he could resign from the Senate and appoint a successor if he won, and allow him to retain his Senate seat if he lost.
Initial speculation was that he'd appoint a Democrat from one of the congressional districts in New Jersey, such as Congressmen
Rob Andrews,
Rush Holt, or
Frank Pallone. Governor
Richard Codey had also been touted, though on
November 23 2005, he announced that he wasn't interested in pursuing the seat. On
December 9,
2005, Corzine named U.S. Rep.
Bob Menendez, a Democrat, to succeed him.
Nomination of State Attorney General
One of Corzine's first nominations was that of
Zulima Farber as
New Jersey Attorney General.
Farber had been nominated to serve on the
New Jersey Supreme Court by former Governor
James E. McGreevey (who resigned in August 2004), but McGreevey withdrew the nomination after learning that Farber had bench warrants issued for her arrest due to numerous motor vehicle infractions. Despite criticism, Corzine nominated her as Attorney General. She served for approximately seven months until Governor Corzine demanded her resignation after an ethics investigation concluded that she'd improperly influenced local police in
Fairview, New Jersey who had stopped her boyfriend for a motor vehicle violation.
UMDNJ Board
On
February 9,
2006, after many scandals regarding financial mishandling had emerged at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Corzine nominated
Robert Del Tufo, the former
Attorney General of New Jersey and
U.S. Attorney, as chairman of the board of trustees. Corzine also nominated Oliver Quinn, Prudential Financial's vice president and chief ethics officer, as vice chairman of the board.
Abolition of capital punishment
Corzine, a
death penalty opponent, as Governor supported and presided over abolition of the capital punishment in
New Jersey and replacing it with
life imprisonment. After the legislature passed this and he signed it into law, New Jersey became the first state to legislatively eliminate capital punishment since 1965.
Just before the enactment of the new law, he commuted the death sentences of all
death row inmates to life in prison, including
Jesse Timmendequas, whose murder of seven year old
Megan Kanka inspired
Megan's Law. This decision raised some controversy and criticism (even among supporters of abolition), because at that time life imprisonment still wasn't mentioned in the law and there were doubts about whether the commutations were legal.
Polling data and approval
After taking office in January of 2006, Corzine's approval numbers were low for a new governor. Many polls seemed to indicate that much of this negative polling was a direct result of the
2006 New Jersey State Government shutdown. An
April 26,
2006, poll from
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed Corzine at a 35% approval with a 42% disapproval. A
February 28,
2007, poll from
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed Corzine at 50% approval with 34% disapproval. With a release of a controversial plan to decrease the state's budget deficit, his approval rating fell to 40% in January, 2008. In conjunction with this fall in approval rating, an initiative to recall the Governor was started.
Motorcade accident
On
April 12,
2007, the Governor's two-car motorcade was involved in an accident on the
Garden State Parkway near
Galloway Township. Corzine, a state trooper, Secretary of Education Rosenberg and an aide were all injured in the accident. The Governor, who was riding in the front passenger seat, wasn't wearing a
seat belt. Subsequent investigation by the
New Jersey State Police determined that the
SUV was traveling in excess of 90
MPH (147 km/h) in a 65 MPH (105 km/h) zone when the collision occurred. Corzine and the state trooper were
flown by helicopter to
Cooper University Hospital in
Camden, a
Level I trauma center, while the Governor's aide was taken by ambulance to
Atlantic City Medical Center. Neither the state trooper nor the Governor's aide were found to be seriously injured. However, Corzine suffered numerous broken bones, including an
open fracture of the left
femur, 11 broken
ribs, a broken
sternum, a broken
collarbone, and a fractured lower
vertebra. He also received a large cut on his face that required repair by a
plastic surgeon. Governor Corzine was traveling from a meeting with the New Jersey Conference of Mayors being held in Atlantic City to his official residence in
Princeton to meet with radio personality
Don Imus and the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team when the accident occurred.
On
April 23,
2007, Corzine was upgraded from
critical to stable condition at
Cooper University Hospital in
Camden, New Jersey. Corzine had been unable to speak due to the presence of a breathing tube in his throat and remained under heavy sedation (in addition to being on
antibiotics to prevent potential infection of the wound on his leg). Due to Corzine's inability to perform his duties as Governor, in accordance with the
New Jersey State Constitution,
New Jersey Senate President
Richard Codey assumed the Acting Governorship from April 12 until May 7, 2007.
An amendment to the New Jersey constitution to create a
Lieutenant Governor position — who would become the governor's designated successor in the event of a vacancy — was approved by the voters in 2005, but that position won't be filled until 2010.
The accident occurred when the Governor's SUV was driving at . on the leftmost lane of the highway with its emergency lights flashing. A red pickup truck swerved and another vehicle swerved to avoid the pickup truck and hit the car containing the Governor. Corzine's vehicle spun and hit the guardrail on the highway. There is some suggestion that the red pickup truck was attempting to avoid the Governor's SUV when it suddenly changed direction. The New Jersey State Police reviewed roadside camera recordings and
E-ZPass records to track down the driver of the red pickup truck. The driver was identified, but wasn't charged with any violation for his involvement in the accident. A New York Times interactive graphic based on NJ State Trooper reports shows Corzine's vehicle being struck in the right front corner, sliding off the road, and striking a guardrail.
Corzine's chief of staff Tom Shea said he didn't believe the governor had been wearing his seat belt. Friends of the governor have long said that they've rarely seen him wear one. "If he was not, he certainly should have been", Shea said, "and we'd encourage the
state police to issue a
citation". When asked why the state trooper who was driving wouldn't have asked Corzine to put on his seat belt, Shea said the governor was "not always amenable to suggestion". The Superintendent of State Police has also noted that the trooper could be charged in connection with the accident if it's determined that the crash was preventable.
Corzine was released from the hospital on
April 30,
2007. He recuperated at the Governor's Mansion in Princeton, which had been modified (at Corzine's own expense) to include both equipment that Corzine will need as part of his recovery as well as a
videoconferencing center to allow him to communicate with New Jersey legislators. Shortly after his release from the hospital, it was reported by
New York Post columnist Leonard Greene that the Governor's motorcade, while traveling on
Interstate 295 en route to Drumthwacket, was clocked by unnamed non-police motorists at a speed of 70 MPH while in a 55 MPH zone.
Corzine issued a public apology and voluntarily paid a $46 ticket for not wearing a seatbelt.. Corzine shot a
public service announcement, opening with the blunt statement "I’m New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, and I should be dead."
State Cabinet
- Bradley Abelow, Chief of Staff to the Governor. Served earlier as State Treasurer.
- Virginia Bauer, Secretary of Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism.
- Ronald Chen, Public Advocate.
- Lucille Davy, Commissioner of Education.
- Joseph Doria, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
- Jeanne Fox, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
- Sharon A. Harrington, Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
- George Hayman, Commissioner of Corrections.
- Kris Kolluri, Commissioner of Transportation (from February 2006)
- Charles Kuperus, Secretary of Agriculture
- Anne Milgram, Attorney General of New Jersey.
- Major General Glenn K. Rieth, Adjutant General.
- Gary Rose, Director of the Office of Economic Growth
- Rick R. Rosenberg Jr., Secretary of Education
- Kevin Ryan, Commissioner of Children and Families.
- Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State of New Jersey.
Electoral history
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jon Corzine'.
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