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."
