Corzine to Declare for NJ Governor This Week
By REUTERS, from the NYTimes on the Web, November 30, 2004
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Jon Corzine |
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WASHINGTON -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine will announce his candidacy for governor of his home state of New Jersey as early as Wednesday, seeking to fill the job of the former governor who left office amid a gay sex scandal, a party source said.
Corzine, the former head of Goldman Sachs & Co., was urged to run in next year's election by state Democratic
leaders, the source said on Tuesday.
"He is seen as the most effective person in the party to run for governor," the source said.
Corzine is a first-term senator who set a record by spending almost $70 million of his own fortune to win his seat in
2000.
The latest contest for New Jersey governor was triggered in August when then Gov. James McGreevey announced his intention to resign.
McGreevey, who is married, declared that he was gay and had been involved in an adulterous affair with a man he hired to head the state's Homeland Security department.
Political observers say Corzine, 57, would be an early favorite, given his popularity in polls and his personal war chest to fund a
campaign.
He also is popular among fellow Democrats, whose campaigns he helps with large donations and appearances on the stump.
Corzine headed the Senate Democratic campaign committee this year and had hoped to help his party win back the Senate.
In the end Democrats lost seats.
"He will announce as early as tomorrow that he will run for governor," the party source said, adding that Corzine would likely make his announcement in Newark, New Jersey.
Observers say the position of governor may better suit the former Wall Street executive than that of senator, particularly given Republican control of the legislative body.
"There is a crisis of confidence," the source said. "Given his executive experience, he believes he can ... be a force for change."
Corzine faces a likely challenge from fellow Democrat and acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who took over from McGreevey.
Republican candidates include Douglas Forrester, who lost a bid for the Senate in 2002, and Bret Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor who lost his bid for governor in 2001, and four others.
The aide said Corzine intends to remain in the Senate until the election. Should he win, Corzine would name his own successor to fill his unexpired six-year Senate term that expires at the end of 2006, the party source said.
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