Seventeen years after he opposed Gov. Jon Corzine’s bid to sell the New Jersey Turnpike, former Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) will continue to safeguard one of the state’s major highways as a new commissioner of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Wisniewski’s former running mate, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, named him to the seat. This was a direct appointment for Coughlin that did not require Senate confirmation.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to continue my involvement with New Jersey transportation,” Wisniewski told the New Jersey Globe.
He replaces John Minella, a top advisor to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Minella had been appointed by Coughlin’s predecessor, Vincent Prieto.
During his 22 years in the legislature, transportation had been Wisniewski’s signature issue. He chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee and wrote the law that consolidated the Turnpike Authority and the Garden State Parkway Authority into a single entity.
Corzine’s asset monetization plan, pilloried for trading a key state government asset for a quick infusion of cash as he moved toward a re-election campaign, was killed by Wisniewski and other Democrats.
He served as Democratic State Chairman from 2010 to 2013, and as head of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in New Jersey in 2016.
Wisniewski sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2017, finishing third in a field of six candidates with 21.6% of the vote. Phil Murphy won the primary by a 48%-22% margin over former Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jim Johnson; Wisniewski finished 1,718 votes out of second place.
The 61-year-old Middlesex County Democrat was elected to the Assembly in 1995 on his second try. He came within 400 votes of ousting Ernest Oros (R-Woodbridge), who had won an Assembly seat in the 1991 anti-Florio Republican wave election; he won a 1997 rematch, beating Oros by 7,594 votes.