Murphy names Gail Gordon as Sports Authority commissioner

Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Gail Gordon, a Republican attorney, and fundraiser, to serve as a commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

She will replace Bob Yudin, a former Bergen County GOP chairman, who has served on the panel for the last dozen years.

Rutherford Councilman Tom Mullahey was also named to the sports authority, replacing Arthur Kapoor.

Gordon worked on the staff of Pennsylvania Gov. Richard Thornburgh and then for the Reagan White House as a speechwriter.   Later, she worked for Howard J. Rubenstein Associates, a New York public relations firm, and helped NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti set up a spinal cord research center at the University of Miami after his son suffered a catastrophic football injury while plating for The Citadel.  Later, Gordon helped NHL Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux form a non-profit foundation centered on cancer and neonatal research.

After moving to New Jersey in 2006 to marry Bob Gordon, a Democratic state senator from Bergen County and now a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities commissioner, the Emmy Award-winning Gordon became Of Counsel to Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, and Fader.  For the last eleven years, she has run GBGordon LLC, which helps companies deal with governmental affairs.

A trustee of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network and a Joseph A. Sanzari Children’s Hospital board member, Gordon served on the board of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.  She has served on finance committees for multiple Republican campaigns, as chair of the New Jersey Conference for Women, and as one of Murphy’s appointees to the Complete Count Commission during the 2020 U.S. Census.

Gordon’s nomination marks the fourth time Murphy has attempted to replace Yudin, who has lasted into the second year of the Democratic governor’s second term.   The Sports Authority seat had previously been held by Gordon’s close friend, Candy Straight.

Murphy today nominated West Morris Regional High School Superintendent Michael Ben-David to serve as a trustee of Ramapo College, replacing former Morris County Democratic Chairman Thomas Zelante.  Albert Nieves, a Wood-Ridge school board member, was picked to serve as a Ramapo trustee for the seat currently occupied by Gary Montroy; Christopher Lopez of Oakland will replace Vincent Coleman.

As first reported by the New Jersey Globe, the nominations of Murphy’s chief of staff, George Helmy, his deputy chief of staff, Joe Kelley, and Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage as commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were also formally submitted to the State Senate.

A group of Administrative Law judges – Robert Herman and Rebecca Lafferty, both of Mays Landing –and Workers’ Compensation Court judges – Brian Eyerman of Maywood, Peter Koulikourdis of Franklin Lakes, Philip LaPorta of Rutherford – were also nominated today.

The New Jersey Globe also first reported Murphy’s intent to nominate nine Superior Court judges, including Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, Brick Mayor John Ducey, and Little Ferry Councilman Thomas Sarlo.