State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) will support Gov. Phil Murphy’s nomination of John Jay Hoffman as an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
O’Scanlon, a conservative Republican from Monmouth County, becomes the tenth senator and fourth Republican to publicly announce their intention to vote to confirm Hoffman to the state’s top court.
“John Hoffman will be an outstanding Supreme Court justice. I’ve had the opportunity to work with John, so I know firsthand that he’s smart, deliberative, and open-minded. His analytical skills are exceptional. He has an even-handed temperament and a deep dedication to public service. John is exactly the right fit for New Jersey’s Supreme Court,” O’Scanlon stated. “I congratulate him on his nomination & look forward to enthusiastically voting for his confirmation.”
Hoffman is the general counsel to Rutgers University and a former acting attorney general of New Jersey under Gov. Chris Christie. He is unaffiliated with any political party and is being named to a Republican seat on a Supreme Court that has maintained a partisan balance during its 77-year history.
The justice he is replacing, Lee A. Solomon, is retiring in August when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. Solomon is a former Republican assemblyman and freeholder from Camden County.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian P. Stack (D-Union City), Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch), Joseph Lagana (D-Paramus), Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City), Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor Township), Robert Smith (D-Piscataway), and Douglas Steinhardt (R-Hopatcong) have already signed on as supporters of Hoffman’s confirmation.
At this point, the greatest barrier to a rapid confirmation vote before the Senate adjourns for the summer after the budget is approved later this month are the two senators from Hoffman’s home county of Burlington: Troy Singleton (D-Delran) and Latham Tiver (R-Southampton); under the unwritten rules of senatorial courtesy, Hoffman must get signoff from both for his nomination to get a Judiciary Committee hearing.
