James J. Devine

James J. Devine (born October 11, 1961), is an American Democratic Party political consultant, philosopher and journalist.

Devine authors a periodic column entitled, 'Voice of the People' that is published in NJTODAY.NET, New Jersey's oldest weekly newspaper.

Biography

James Devine was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the last of four children of the former Josephine Loretta Allen and James J. Devine, a journalist and business development executive. Devine's father died on Christmas Day, 1965. He is remembered by his alma mater, St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth with the annual presentation of the "Spirit of St. Patrick's Award."^[1]

From 1981 to 1985, Devine attended Kean University, where he was a reporter and managing editor of The Independent, the student-run weekly campus newspaper; as well as an elected representative in the student government and member of the Student Organization Finance Board. He worked on a series of political campaigns throughout his time in college and while he served as chief of staff to then-Assemblyman William E. Flynn.

Devine was press secretary for Richard Kimball, the 1986 Democratic US Senate nominee in Arizona, and he served as political director for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee from 1992 thru 1993.

He married the former Dawn M. Petracca on June 18, 1988 and together, they had two sons, James Joseph Devine (b. March 22, 1992) and Thomas James Devine (b. December 16, 1996). They separated in 1999 and divorced after lengthy litigation in 2003.^[2] Devine has lived with Lisa McCormick since July 2011.

In 1997, Devine purchased a group of publications that included New Jersey's oldest weekly newspaper, The News Record. He expanded the newspapers' circulation and relocated the place of publication to Elizabeth, the county seat, where the Daily Journal had gone out of business in 1992. During the mid-1980s, Devine worked as a Journal reporter, an occupation that employed his father for many years.^[1]

Devine is a progressive Democrat who opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2002, supports universal health insurance and advocates the expansion of free public education. Also a dedicated advocate of political reform, Devine has accused some politicians within his own party of robbing taxpayers and supporting corrupt practices.^[3] Devine supported Chris Christie for Governor in 2009, saying Jon Corzine's tenure was an utter failure.^[4] He has since become a severe critic of the popular Republican who raised net property taxes over 20 percent, diminished workers' collective bargaining rights, lost $400 million in federal education funding and scaled back the Earned Income Tax Credit by 25 percent during his first year in office—essentially increasing taxes on the poorest workers in the state.

On Friday, July 19, 2013, Devine was temporarily detained and issued a summons on charges of shoplifting $22 worth of merchandise from ShopRite, but he said that it was a mistake for which he expected to be vindicated.^[5]“I placed everything on the conveyor belt and the cashier failed to charge me for the stuff inside the bag even though she gave me a discount for the reusable bags,” he told a website that was provided a copy of the receipt showing ten cents off for reusable bags.

Political career

In 1980, Devine volunteered on the unsuccessful mayoral campaign of Raymond Lesniak, who challenged Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor Thomas G. Dunn, Jr. Later that year, he was employed by the Democratic National Committee on behalf of the re-election campaign of President Jimmy Carter.

Devine was a paid campaign staffer or consultant for Lesniak (1981 Assembly, 1991 Senate), Barbara McConnell (1981 gubernatorial), Frank Lautenberg (1982 US Senate), Bob Janiszewski (1983 Assembly re-election, 1985 County Executive), William E. Flynn (1983, 1985, 1987 and 2005), Jim Hedden (1984 Congress), Oren Teicher (Congress 1986), Richard Kimball (1986 US Senate), Lou Cabassa (1988 Mayor), Cecil Banks (Congress 1996), James Kennedy (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 Mayor), Dan Reiman (2002, 2006 Mayor), among others.

He worked as a community organizer and fundraiser for the New Jersey Environmental Federation in 1988-89, then managed operations in northern New Jersey during the 1990 US Census. In 1991, Devine waged a spirited challenge to then-Elizabeth Mayor Thomas G. Dunn for the Democratic Assembly nomination.

As political director for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee in 1992-93, Devine was credited with helping Bill Clinton become the first of his party's presidential nominees to win the state's electoral votes since 1964. He also contributed to the capture of five Assembly seats while Gov. Jim Florio came within 30,000 votes of winning re-election in 1993, just two years after polls showed him with 18 percent approval ratings.

In 1994, Devine established Devine Advertising Associates and three years later, he purchased New Jersey's oldest weekly newspaper and created Devine Media Enterprises, Inc.

Devine united a group of Democratic Party elected officials to challenge the establishment in Union County's 2010 primary election and scored successes in Elizabeth and Linden. The Democrats for Change candidate for sheriff, Charles Mitchell, came 1,369 votes away from unseating 33-year incumbent Ralph Froehlich.^[6]

Devine worked on the upset victory of under-funded political newcomer Wilda Diaz, who stopped Joseph Vas' bid for a sixth term as the Mayor of Perth Amboy on May 13, 2008.^[7] In 2009, he helped Joe Menza defeat the powerful Union County political machine to win election as mayor, in what was called 'the Hillside humiliation' by the politickernj.com website.^[8]

His roots as a political operative in Union County began in 1980, during Raymond Lesniak's ill-fated primary election challenge to Elizabeth Mayor Thomas G. Dunn. They subsequently founded the Elizabeth Democratic Association and Devine helped Lesniak capture the nomination for a third term in the state assembly after he was denied organization support in 1981. A photograph appeared in the New York Times showing Devine submitting Lesniak's 1981 petitions at the Secretary of State's office in Trenton.

Devine is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy, a public-private partnership sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior to preserve the environment, promote economic development and create the finest urban waterfront recreation and educational national park system in the world.^[9]

Youth

Perhaps to compensate for the loss of his father, a big part of his childhood was dedicated to Scouting. Devine belonged to Cub Scout Pack 316 at Madison-Monroe School #16, where he earned ranks of Bobcat, Wolf, Bear and Webelos. He was also awarded the "Arrow of Light" the highest honor in Cub Scouting.^[10]

Devine joined Boy Scout Troop 8, based at Trinity Episcopal Church in Elizabeth, where he worked his way along the 'Eagle Trail' quickly. Within his first year as a scout, Devine had earned more than 20 merit badges. He was employed on the camp staff at Winnebago Scout Reservation in 1977 and 1979. Devine distinguished himself in Scouting by earning an array of awards, including each successive rank from 'Scout' to 'Eagle' plus honors as Troop Scribe, Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. He was among the first recipients of the World Conservation Award.^[10]

As an adult, Devine served as Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 28, under longtime Scoutmaster Thomas Cashman, at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Elizabeth.^[10]

Another early influence in his life was Devine's study of martial arts. As a sixth grade student, he began learning Karate and Judo at Jerome Mackey's Elizabeth dojo. As years passed, Master Kenny Chin converted that Broad Street location to a Wu Shu Kung Fu studio, and Devine's practice adapted with the times.^[11]

Positions and policies

Devine is an ardent environmentalist who supports measures to control pollution and clean up toxic contamination. He was instrumental in the development of New Jersey's landmark Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (ECRA) as an aide in the state Legislature. He would eliminate all related criminal provisions and allow state and local government to regulate marijuana sales like those of alcohol.

Devine proposed making unearned income subject to Social Security taxes and eliminating the cap on those contributions to ensure a stable, permanent retirement system.

According to Devine, "Public policy ought to guarantee education that is free and of high quality from the age of three to a college degree."

With respect to fiscal and monetary policy, Devine has strongly rejected Republican Ronald Reagan's supply-side, trickle-down economics and embraced Keynesian economics.

In his 1991 campaign for New Jersey General Assembly, Devine was endorsed by the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women, the New Jersey Education Association, the National Rifle Association, and various other environmental and progressive organizations.

Devine has since been critical of the Christie administration and Republican politicians on a national level (www.njtoday.net). He is consulting with numerous clients as principle of Devine Advertising Associates (www.devineadvertising.com).

References