In November the citizens of New Jersey will go to the polls to elect a governor. While most campaigns usually kick off in September around Labor Day, this year the campaign has already heated up. The Democratic candidate is U.S. Senator Jon Corzine, and the Republican candidate is Douglas Forester, founder of Benecard and the party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002.

As the campaign heats up, African American leadership is already jockeying for position and influence with the next governor. This is important because the governor of New Jersey is probably the most powerful governor in the United States. The governor controls thousands of appointments, many which do not need legislative confirmation, has line-item veto or authority over the budget, and a host of other powers that other governors only dream of.

The governor of New Jersey has immense impact on the lives of every citizen of this state, so it is important that African Americans have influence with whomever the next governor is.
mcgreevey landslide...

It is my earnest hope and prayer, that we have learned some valuable lessons from previous campaigns and victorious outcomes. Let me use the 2001 election as an example. Former Governor James E. McGreevey won the election in a landslide, yet it is important to look closely inside that landslide, for numbers are not always what they seem. McGreevey the Democrat, got 49% of the white vote and Bret Schundler the Republican candidate, got 48% of the white vote. That clearly is not a landslide. McGreevey won in a landslide because he got 76% of the Hispanic vote and 88% of the African American vote. Minorities were responsible for the landslide.

This raises an important question: what did African Americans and Hispanics get for our 88% and 76% of the vote? In response some will say, that we elected African Americans to major positions in the administration, perhaps more than any other administration. However, the outcome points to at least one lesson I hope we have learned, and that is, that African Americans in positions do not necessarily translate into influence or power. Outside judicial appointments, African Americans who garnered major appointments have made very little difference.

Policy vs Impact

Governor McGreevey appointed African Americans to major positions, but either withdrew or eliminated their impact or influence over policy. It is policy that matters and makes a difference! African Americans in the governor’s cabinet had little impact. In fact Governor McGreevey made the cabinet almost irrelevant. He operated through his inner circle. The governor himself rarely attended cabinet meetings.

For all the major appointments the governor made, African Americans gained very little. Individuals gained titles and positions, but African Americans did not gain. Let us be clear, the same was true under former Governor Whitman. We had African Americans in positions, but they had little impact on policy.

This leads to the second lesson we need to learn, and that is that we must stop allowing the same folk to dictate to governors who they should appoint. We have seen over and over again that some of our leadership is more interested in what’s best for them, as opposed to what’s best for us.

Votes=Representation

It is my prayer, hope and determination this time, during this campaign, African Americans will have an agenda us to present to the candidates; not one candidate, but both candidates; an agenda that addresses the needs of African Americans as a whole, and not a select or selfish few. There are major issues that we must address— education, housing, healthcare, economic development, etc?

Not only do we have needs, we also need commitments to policies that address our needs. We have had enough celebrating because an African American got appointed to a position; we need some policies to address the needs of our people. We need more than faces that look like us; we need policies, which will change the face of our cities and neighborhoods, the quality of education for our children, the state of our healthcare and the quality of our lives.
This time let’s get something for our votes.