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Michael Drewniak was press secretary to the Governor of New Jersey. [1] He was appointed by Governor Christie to New Jersey Transit and started on April 1, 2015, [2] at a newly created position. [3] He has extensive management and strategy experience. [4] In May 2016 he was named acting director of the agency. [5]
Michael Drewniak lives in Long Branch, New Jersey and was press secretary for New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie.
Drewniak spent 12 years as a reporter for The Star-Ledger . [6] [7]
In 1998, Drewniak became the principal public information officer for the US Attorney's Office, where he was a spokesman for then-US Attorney Faith Hochberg, a Democrat, now a federal District Court Judge in Newark. He was also a colleague and protege of Stuart J. Rabner, then the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of New Jersey, who later went to work for the Gubernatorial administration of Governor Jon Corzine. Rabner is now Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Drewniak, then a registered Democrat, served subsequently for two other U.S. Attorney's, including Christopher Christie, beginning in 2002. Drewniak supported Christie's run for governor, and upon Christie's election, Drewniak became press secretary to the governor. [7]
Drewniak is one of several New Jersey state employees within the governor's office who subpoenaed by the New Jersey Legislature panel investigating the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. [8] Drewniak was also subpoenaed by the United States Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, and did appear as a fact witness before a federal grand jury. [9] He has never been charged with a crime by law enforcement agencies. [10]
Stuart Jeff Rabner is the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He served as New Jersey Attorney General, Chief Counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
Christopher James Christie is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
William Stepien is an American political consultant who served as the campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign beginning in July of that year. A member of the Republican Party, he was the White House Director of Political Affairs in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018.
William "Pat" Schuber is an American Republican Party politician who served as Mayor of Bogota, represented the 38th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly and served 12 years as the Bergen County Executive
David Samson is an American lawyer who served as New Jersey Attorney General under Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey from 2002 to 2003. He served as the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) from 2011 until his resignation on March 28, 2014 in the aftermath of the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Samson is a partner and founding member of the law firm Wolff & Samson from which he resigned in April 2015, and had been an ally of Governor Chris Christie.
The 2009 New Jersey gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 2009. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine ran for a second term against Republican Chris Christie, Independent Christopher Daggett, and nine others, in addition to several write-in candidates. Christie won the election, with about 48.5 percent of the vote, to 44.9 percent for Corzine and 5.8 percent for Daggett. He assumed office on January 19, 2010. This was the first election to fill the newly created office of lieutenant governor, with the candidates for governor choosing their running mates. Kim Guadagno, Christie's running mate, became New Jersey's first lieutenant governor following her inauguration.
Access to the Region's Core (ARC) was a proposed commuter-rail project to increase passenger service capacity on New Jersey Transit (NJT) between Secaucus Junction in New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City. New infrastructure would have included new trackage, a new rail yard, and a tunnel under the Hudson River. A new station adjacent to New York Penn Station was to be constructed as running more trains into the current station was deemed unfeasible. An estimated budget for the project was $8.7 billion. Construction began in mid-2009 and the project was slated for completion in 2018, but it was cancelled in October 2010 by Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who cited the possibility of cost overruns and the state's lack of funds. Six hundred million dollars had been spent on the project. The decision remains controversial.
Kimberly Ann Guadagno is an American lawyer and politician who served as the first lieutenant governor and 33rd secretary of state of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Dawn Zimmer is an American politician who served as the 38th mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. As president of the Hoboken City Council, she became acting mayor after incumbent Peter Cammarano's resignation on July 31, 2009 following his arrest on corruption charges. Zimmer is the first female mayor of Hoboken. She was first elected mayor in a special election for the balance of Cammarano's term on November 6, 2009 and was re-elected mayor for another four-year term in November 2013. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, she was ranked #3, #4 and #5, respectively, on The Hudson Reporter's list of the 50 most influential people in Hudson County.
Chris Christie took office as the 55th Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010, and began his second term on January 21, 2014, and left office on January 16, 2018.
The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, was a political scandal involving a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.
David Wildstein is an American businessman, Republican Party politician, political blogger, and the founder of the New Jersey political news website Politicker Network. A former mayor of Livingston, New Jersey, he served as a senior official in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey during the administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie until 2013, when Wildstein resigned in the midst of a scandal involving traffic lanes closures. On May 1, 2015, he pleaded guilty to two federal felony counts of conspiracy as part of a plea agreement. Wildstein was sentenced in July 2017 without incarceration. He was sentenced to three years' probation and 500 hours of community service. He was also fined $10,000 and prohibited from seeking or accepting employment with any government agency.
Bridget Anne Kelly is the former deputy chief of staff to the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, known for her participation in the Bridgegate scandal.
Regina M. Egea served as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. She was appointed in December 2013 and resigned in April 2016. She is the president of Garden State Initiative, a public policy think tank based in Morristown, New Jersey, which was founded in 2017.
Charlie McKenna is the former Executive Director of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority and former Chief Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey.
Kevin O'Dowd is a New Jersey public servant and political figure who served as Chief of Staff to the Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie. He was considered, but not formally nominated, for the position of Attorney General of the State of New Jersey.
Stronger than the Storm was an advertising campaign to promote tourism in New Jersey in 2013. It portrayed the state as being resilient and having recovered from the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which had caused severe damage in Autumn 2012. The media blitz included billboards, radio spots, and television commercials featuring the Jersey Shore and including appearances by the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, and his wife and children. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided funding for the promotional campaign. The awarding of the contract to marketing firm MWW and the propriety of Christie's use of the ads during a re-election campaign has drawn media and governmental scrutiny. In January 2014, HUD initiated an audit of the expenditure. The audit is one of two simultaneous federal inquiries begun in 2014 involving the Chris Christie administration use of federal funds provided by the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.
Philip Kwon is deputy counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a previous nominee for the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Marc-Philip Ferzan is an attorney, currently serving as Senior Managing Director at Ankura Consulting Group. He was formerly the director of the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, from November 2012 until resigning in July 2014. The position was created by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 to coordinate relief and recovery efforts in face of the effects of the storm on the state. After resigning, he became lecturer at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.