Corzine hints he may name woman to U.S. Senate seat.

[Moooooo]

From NJ.com:

While various men jockey to replace him in the U.S. Senate, Governor-elect Jon Corzine said yesterday he very well could appoint a woman to fill his seat, a move that would prove historic.

Corzine yesterday mentioned state Sen. Nia Gill, D-Montclair, an appointment that would allow him to play a role in naming the first woman and minority from New Jersey to the U.S. Senate.

He called Gill an "extraordinarily capable woman."

 Corzine's decision is much anticipated and will be among the most important of his early decisions.

He said yesterday he didn't know when he would make a decision, but was considering the characteristics he wants to see in whomever he appoints to fill the final year of his U.S. Senate term.

"I got a lot of practice a year ago, and the last two years, when I was running the Senate campaign committees," Corzine said. "I have to look at adding people of character and people of capacity politically, and in my own view they have to be a progressive."

He continued, "But (at the) end of the day, the person has to have the capability to serve well, be a strong voice for New Jersey and they have to have the ability to win what I would expect will be a very tough election based on what I've seen of New Jersey politics."

[minionofmidas]

I'm not sure what to think of a Black woman who lists herself, on the Jersey legislature webpage, as "Senator Nia H. Gill, Esq."

[© tweed]

If he appoints someone other than Codey, he deserves to be starved.

[YRABNNRM]

Please do.

Tom Kean Jr. for Senate.

[TheresNoMoney]

Corzine needs to appoint somebody who can win first and foremost!

[TomC]

Menendez will get it.

[dazzleman]

Maybe he could name that sleazy union boss that he was having an affair with behind his wife's back.

[Ben.]

Corzine needs to appoint somebody who can win first and foremost!

Amen!

[Erc]

A pick like this (if it goes through) obviously won't be running for re-election--well, I hope so, for the Democrats' sake.

Silly on Corzine's part, because if he picked a decent candidate he could avoid a messy primary come next year.

[socaldem]

I don't think Dems have too many good options here.

Codey pretty clearly does not want the seat.

Menendez and Andrews both have corruption problems and polling shows them trailing Kean. 

I actually think Nia Gill looks like a fairly good choice.  She seems like a reformist Obama-style African American candidate who would perform strongly in the suburbs and among women.  That combined with a good African-American turnout could carry the day for her.  The problem, though, is that she might have trouble retaining white ethnic working class support. 

Any non-Andrews, non-Menendez selection will have huge problems with primary opposition.  Rush Holt, for instance, would surely face a primary and he doesn't have the cash to fend off an onslought.

Gill would face a primary, but she would have the built-in support of the state's African-American primary voters.  Add to that whatever suburban support she can get from Corzine and reformists and I think she would be in a pretty good position to fend off machine-backed opponents.  Moreover, fighting against the machine might help her in the general, though Kean is a daunting opponent for any Democrat...

Menendez, it seems to me, would have trouble retaining support from both suburbanites (because of corruption) and working class non-Latinos....  Andrews would likely be uninspiring to minority voters.  His selection, meanwhile, would piss off Menendez to high hell... so perhaps she'd also be a good general election candidate.