user: Q: Christie faces key decision over appointment to Lautenberg seat

Appointing a replacement following the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and setting a special election for his seat will be up to Gov. Chris Christie (R).

For Christie, the decision is more difficult than it may seem. Deciding on an appointment won’t be easy. And opaque special election laws offer little clarity on what comes next.

The popular first-term governor could, as is often the case in situations like these, choose to select a close ally from his own party as a replacement for Lautenberg. State law says the governor “may” appoint a replacement, and it’s hard to see Christie leaving the seat vacant. A few obvious possibilities are state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., the party’s 2006 Senate nominee; Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno; and Joe Kyrillos, a close Christie ally whom the GOP nominated for the Senate in 2012.

Of course, it’s possible — though less likely — that Christie would appoint a Democrat to the seat. He is campaigning as a bipartisan governor in a very blue state, after all. Tapping a Democrat would be seen as a major stroke of bipartisanship. Replacing a Democrat with a Democrat and then saying the voters should decide what happens next in November would no doubt be very well received by Democrats and moderates.

But such a move would be politically perilous for Christie and would run the risk of angering Republicans, the last thing Christie needs if he has any designs on running for president in 2016. He has already stoked some concern among conservatives by embracing President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Because Lautenberg had already announced he was not running for reelection in 2014, the Democratic race to replace him has been in full swing. Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) has been actively exploring a bid and has been viewed as the clear frontrunner ahead of the regularly scheduled 2014 election. Rep. Frank Pallone (D) also has been considering a bid.

Booker had long been seen as a potential Christie opponent leading up to this year, but he opted to run for the Senate instead. Christie and Booker have a good relationship, which they have poked fun at over the years. If there is a Democrat whom Christie might be tempted to appoint, Booker would be that Democrat.

Christie will also have broad authority to set a special election for the seat. But when that will happen is unclear. Because of the high costs associated with holding an election, setting an election to fill the seat for Nov. 5, 2013 seems like the natural choice. New Jersey is already holding its off-year state elections at that time. Christie is running for his second term this year, and polls show he is a substantial favorite.

But New Jersey special election law is a somewhat murky, with two provisions that are difficult to square up. One rule states that if the vacancy occurs more than 70 days before the next general election (as it does in this case), then it will be filled in the next general election. Simple enough.

Another, however, reads that if the vacancy occurs less than 70 days before the primary — this year’s primary is set for June 4, so were are within that window – the election wouldn’t be held until 2014, unless Christie calls for an earlier special election.

On one hand, appointing a Republican replacement this year and affording that person more than a year to build a Senate record and a base would seem to work to the GOP’s advantage. But running a GOP candidate alongside a popular Christie in 2013 might also represent Republicans’ best chance at an unlikely win.

If there is a special election this year, it seems likely that Booker will be on the ballot, one way or the other. Even if Christie doesn’t appoint him, he’s already begun laying the groundwork for a Senate bid and would be an obvious choice for Democrats to nominate for the special election.

There is also the question of what a 2013 Senate election would do to Christie’s own odds. If Booker is running for the Senate this fall, he will fire up a Democratic base that Christie’s opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono (D), could try to tap into herself.

In short, there are many variables at play.

This much is clear: Whoever wins the Senate seat this year (if there is an election) will have to turn around and immediately run for election again in 2014.

With Christie considered a strong favorite for reelection, it was looking to be a quiet year in New Jersey politics, at least in statewide races. But not now.

Updated at 3:26 p.m. with more details on New Jersey special election law

GALLERY: Notable deaths of 2013

A: It's not as cut-and-dried as it may seem. Murky special election provisions cloud the picture.


Q: Eric Garner's son arrested with stolen Citibike, cops say

Eric Garner’s son was arrested in Manhattan Tuesday night in possession of a stolen Citibike — and his mother immediately grounded him, the Daily News has learned.

Emery Snipes, 16, rode the bike against traffic on 8th Ave., then entered the Corporal John A. Seravalli Playground at Hudson and Horatio Streets on Tuesday at about 7 p.m., police said.

Snipes, whose dad was killed last year after a cop put him in a chokehold, was issued a traffic summons. Police also gave Snipes a summons for being in the park, which was named for a Greenwich Village soldier killed in Vietnam, after dusk.

Police said they asked Snipes, who lives in Chelsea, for the receipt issued when a Citibike is rented. He did not have one, police said, so an officer called Citibike’s offices and learned, based on the bike’s serial number, that it had been stolen.

The suspect’s mother, Esaw Garner, defended her son.

“My son is not a thief,” she said. “He just happened to be with his friends. He did not know that the Citibike had been taken.”

A judge gave Snipes one day of community service and told him the case would be dismissed if he stayed out of trouble for six months, Garner said.

Even though Garner believes her son didn't steal the bike, he is still in hot water with her, she added.

“He didn’t know that he couldn’t be in the park after dark,” she said. “But right now, he’s not going out at all. He’s definitely grounded.

“I’m even taking his cellphone until I think he’s earned the right to have it back,” she said.

Eric Garner was killed on Staten Island in July 2014 in a struggle with police.

The city’s medical examiner ruled that the chokehold Officer Daniel Pantaleo put on Garner led to his death, but a grand jury decided not to indict the officer. The U. S. Justice Department has not yet decided if Pantaleo will face federal civil rights charges.

Police had approached Garner because they said he was selling loose cigarettes on Bay St.

A:

assistant: Eric Garner’s son was arrested in Manhattan Tuesday night in possession of a stolen Citibike, the Daily News has learned.