Kim Guadagno

Kim Guadagno (pronounced gwah-DAH-nyoh; born April 13, 1959)^[1] is the first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, having won the 2009 election as the running mate of Governor Chris Christie.^[2] She is also concurrently the Secretary of State of New Jersey.

Early life

Born as Kimberly McFadden^[3] in Waterloo, Iowa.^[4][5] she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ursinus College in 1980 She was awarded her degree in law in 1983 from the American University's Washington College of Law.

Career

Kim Guadagno is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the District of New Jersey. She was also Assistant New Jersey Attorney General. Serving as deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney's office's corruption unit from 1994-98, Guadagno was responsible for the corruption prosecutions of former Essex County Executive Thomas D'Alessio (a Democrat) and of Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell (a Republican).^[6] In1994, in a case involving an executive of lottery contractor GTECH Corporation, the U.S. Attorney's Office was criticized by the judge overseeing the case for the disclosure of grand jury testimony in a sentencing report; the issue was never referred for further ethical or legal investigation.^[7] The lottery executive went to jail.

She served as deputy director from 1998 to 2001 in the Division of Criminal Justice, where she supervised prosecutions of a $40 million financial fraud and of David L. Smith, creator of the "Melissa" computer worm.^[6] She taught legal research and writing at Rutgers School of Law—Newark from 2003 until Nov. 2009 and in 2005 she was elected to Monmouth Beach's governing body as one of its three Walsh Act commissioners.^[6]

Elected the 75th sheriff of Monmouth County in 2007, succeeding Joseph Oxley, she became the first woman to serve in the post. As sheriff, she was responsible for managing a staff of nearly 700 and a $65 million budget that included operation of a 1,328-bed maximum security prison. The department was one of 11 accepted nationwide into the federal program established under Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g) which allowed corrections officers to check the immigration status of prisoners before they were released.^[6]

On July 20, 2009, Republican gubernatorial nominee Christopher J. "Chris" Christie announced that Guadagno was his choice as running mate, in the first New Jersey election to include voting for a lieutenant governor. Guadagno was said to have been selected over a number of other Republican women, including State Senator Diane Allen and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan.^[8] Guadagno was not a well known political figure statewide in October of 2009. According Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Poll, Guadagno's name recognition in New Jersey was low with only 15% of voters reporting that they were aware of her. Out of the of New Jersey voters that knew of Guadagno, 4% reported having a "very favorable" or "somewhat favorable" opinion while 3% reported that they had a "very unfavorable" or "somewhat unfavorable" opinion of the prospective Lieutenant Governor .^[9] Christie and Guadagno defeated Jon Corzine and Loretta Weinberg on November 3, 2009.^[10]

Christie announced that as lieutenant governor, Guadagno would also serve as New Jersey's Secretary of State, along with overseeing economic development efforts and the streamlining of government regulations. She was sworn in on January 19, 2010.

Most recently, Guadagno gave the commencement speech to the 2011 graduating class at her alma mater, Ursinus College. In addition to being a very successful member of the Ursinus family, she also proved to be a fairly comedic one. She wore a pink cap to give the graduates one more reason to remember the speech and she pointed out the differences between Ursinus in 1980 and Ursinus today; then, there were no co-ed dorms and they still employed the "one foot must be on the ground" rule.

Issues and positions

Guadagno supports a pro-choice position on abortion, but would like to see fewer women choose the option. However, Christie expressed a pro-life stance on abortion during the primary campaign.^[7]

Personal life

Guadagno moved to New Jersey in 1991 and has been a resident of Monmouth Beach since marrying husband Michael Guadagno in 1991. Her husband is a New Jersey Superior Court judge assigned to the Vicinage of Monmouth^[11] having been appointed in 2005 by then-Governor Richard Codey. The Guadagnos have three children.^[6]

Arts Funding Controversy

In the Spring of 2011, Lt. Governor Guadagno questioned $300,000 in state arts funding during an official legislative hearing. Guadagno also serves as New Jersey's Secretary of State. In her testimony but without specific details, she asked for greater power over State arts expenditures, despite the fact that as Secretary of State her office signs off on all major arts expenditures--including the $300,000. (Her testimony implied that her office had not approved the funding.) An official state investigation ended in December 2011 with no finding of wrongdoing. Two officials involved in the funding hired attorneys at their own expense.^{[12] [13]}

Notes

Sources

• AP: Biography of GOP Lt. Gov candidate Kim Guadagno
• AP: Christie picks Monmouth sheriff as running mate

External links