Former Gov. Richard J. Codey is firmly behind the nomination of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Paul Juliano for a seat on the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Board of Directors.
“I will fight to the death for Paul Juliano,” Codey, a Democratic state senator from Essex County, told the New Jersey Globe.
Gov. Phil Murphy filed his nomination of Juliano on Thursday to replace Michele Brown, a former top aide to Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
Christie has been pushing for Brown to keep the job as a holdover, something that occurs only if the State Senate declines to confirm Juliano.
“The nomination of Michele Brown should never have happened,” he said.
The often-controversial Brown, a former federal prosecutor, came after Christie withdrew her nomination to a Superior Court judgeship during his final year as governor.
Brown has served as Christie’s appointments counsel, as the CEO of the Economic Development Authority, and later as the $450,000-a-year CEO of Choose New Jersey, a privately-funded group formed by Christie allies to help attract new businesses to the state.
In addition to her $76,000-a-year Horizon board post, Brown is the executive director of the non-profit Christie Institute for Public Policy
