Mika Brzezinski
Born	Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski (1967-05-02) May 2, 1967 (age 45) New York, New York
Ethnicity	Polish and Czech
Education	Williams College, 1989
Occupation	Television journalist
Notable credit(s)	Morning Joe
Title	Co-host: Morning Joe
Religion	Roman Catholicism[citation needed]
Spouse	James Patrick Hoffer (October 23, 1993)
Children	2 Children
Relatives	Zbigniew Brzezinski (Father) Emilie Benešová Brzezinski (Mother)

Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski ( /ˈmiːkə brəˈʒɪnski/; born May 2, 1967)^[1] is an American television host and journalist. Brzezinski is co-host of MSNBC's weekday morning program Morning Joe, where she provides regular commentary and reads the news headlines for the program. Brzezinski was previously a CBS News anchor and correspondent.

On December 8, 2008, Brzezinski and Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough began hosting a two-hour late-morning radio show on WABC (770 AM) in New York City.^[2][3][4] As of April 26, 2010, the radio show was replaced by Mark Simone.^[5]

Early life[link]

Brzezinski was born in New York City, the daughter of foreign policy expert and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and sculptor Emilie Anna Benešová, a grandniece of Czechoslovakia's former president Edvard Beneš. Her father was then teaching at Columbia University, but the family moved to McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., in late 1976, when Zbigniew was named National Security Advisor by newly elected President Jimmy Carter.

Brzezinski attended The Madeira School during her high-school years. She graduated in 1989 from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she majored in English, after transferring from Georgetown University as a junior.

Career[link]

Brzezinski began her journalism career as an assistant at ABC's World News This Morning in 1990. A year later, she moved to Tribune-owned Fox affiliate WTIC-TV/WTIC-DT in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she progressed from assignment and features editor to general assignments reporter. In 1992, she joined CBS affiliate WFSB-TV/WFSB-DT in Hartford and quickly progressed through the ranks to become its weekday morning anchor in 1995. In 1997, she left that role to join the CBS network news, where she served as a correspondent and as anchor for the overnight Up to the Minute news program.

In 2000, Brzezinski began a short hiatus from CBS, during which she worked for rival MSNBC on the weekday afternoon show, Home Page, with co-anchors Gina Gaston and Ashleigh Banfield. She returned to CBS as a correspondent in September 2001, a move which thrust her into the limelight as a principal "Ground Zero" reporter for the September 11, 2001 attacks. Brzezinski was broadcasting live from the scene when the South Tower collapsed. (Coincidentally, her former MSNBC co-anchor, Ashleigh Banfield, was reporting from Ground Zero for MSNBC.)

In her last position at CBS, Brzezinski served as a CBS News correspondent, substitute anchor, and segment anchor for breaking news segments and routine updates. During this period she became a frequent contributor to CBS Sunday Morning and "60 Minutes."

Brzezinski returned to MSNBC on January 26, 2007, doing the evening "Up To The Minute" news updates. Since then she has anchored primetime newsbreaks during the week, filling in on MSNBC Live weekdays and on the weekends. She also filed reports for NBC Nightly News and appeared as a news anchor on Weekend Today.

Since the program's inception, Brzezinski has appeared as co-host and news reader on MSNBC's morning program, Morning Joe,^[6] alongside Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist. Her father is a frequent guest. On Morning Joe, Brzezinski pointed out that she is a Democrat and her co-host, Joe Scarborough is a Republican.^[7]

Protesting trivial journalism[link]

On June 26, 2007, near the beginning of Morning Joe, Brzezinski refused to read a report about Paris Hilton's release from jail. One hour later during another news break segment, her producer Andy Jones again pushed the story as the lead, ranking it over Indiana's Republican Senator Richard Lugar's break with President Bush on the Iraq war, which Brzezinski considered more important. After several sarcastic remarks from host Joe Scarborough, she attempted to light the story's script on fire on the air, but was physically prevented from doing so by co-host Willie Geist. She then tore up the script, and one hour later, got up and ran another copy of the script through a paper shredder retrieved from Dan Abrams's office.^[8] The incident was quickly popularized on the Internet, and in the days that followed, Brzezinski received large quantities of fan mail supporting her on-air protest as a commentary on the tension between "hard news" and "entertainment news".^[9][10] Similarly, on July 7, 2010, she spent significant airtime objecting to pressure to report on Lindsay Lohan and Levi Johnston, eventually having Geist or Pat Buchanan report the stories with the caption "News You Can't Use".

In January 2011, she spent time on-air mentioning that it was not newsworthy to report on Sarah Palin's reaction to President Obama's speech about the Tucson shooting.^[11]

[edit] All Things at Once

Brzezinski authored a book, All Things at Once, which was published by Weinstein Books in January 2010. The publisher describes it as "a candid and inspiring motivational book that will help women of all ages confront the unique professional and personal challenges they face in the key moments of their lives."^[12]

Personal life[link]

Since 1993, Brzezinski has been married to TV news reporter James Hoffer, now of WABC-TV.^[13] They met when both worked at WTIC-TV. They have two daughters.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mika Brzezinski

• Morning Mika, Mika Brzezinski's personal website
• Mika Brzezinski on Twitter
• Morning Joe on MSNBC
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Mika Brzezinski on Charlie Rose
• Mika Brzezinski at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Mika Brzezinski in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Mika Brzezinski at the Notable Names Database

Mika may refer to:

• Mika (singer) (born 1983), British singer-songwriter
• FC MIKA, Armenian football team
  • Mika Stadium

Male given name (primarily used in Finland)[link]

• Mika Aaltonen (born 1965), Finnish football player
• Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet
• Mika Chunuonsee (born 1989), Welsh-Thai football player
• Michael "Mika" Simões Domingues (born 1991), Portuguese goalkeeper
• Michaël "Mika" Goossens (born 1973), Belgian football player
• Mika Häkkinen (born 1968), former Finnish Formula One driver and double World Champion, former DTM racer as well
• Mika Halvari (born 1970), Finnish shot putter
• Mika Hannula (born 1979), Swedish ice hockey player
• Mika Helin (born 1978), Finnish football player
• Mika Horiuchi (born 1986), Japanese-American musician
• Mika Immonen (born 1972), Finnish pool player
• Mika Kallio (born 1982), Finnish motorcycle racer
• Mika "Gas" Karppinen (born 1971), Finnish drummer
• Mika Kaurismäki (born 1955), Finnish film director
• Mika Koivuniemi (born 1967), Finnish ten-pin bowler
• Mika Kojonkoski (born 1963), Finnish ski jumper and politician
• Mika Kuusisto (born 1967), Finnish cross-country skier
• Mika Lahtinen (born 1985), Finnish football player
• Mika Laitinen (born 1973), Finnish ski jumper
• Mika Luttinen (born 1971), Finnish musician
• Mika Muranen (born 1971), Finnish prisoner
• Mika Myllylä (born 1969), Finnish cross-country skier
• Mika Niskanen (born 1973), Finnish ice hockey player
• Mika Noronen (born 1979), Finnish ice hockey player
• Mika Nurmela (born 1971), Finnish football player
• Mika-Matti Paatelainen (born 1967), Finnish football manager, better known as Mixu Paatelainen
• Mika Peltonen (born 1965), Finnish military officer
• Mika Pohjola (born 1971), Finnish jazz pianist
• Mika Ronkainen (born 1970), Finnish film director
• Mika Salo (born 1966), Finnish auto racer
• Mika Singh (born 1977), Indian singer
• Mika Špiljak (1916–2007), Yugoslav politician
• Mika Strömberg (born 1970), Finnish ice hockey player
• Mika Tauriainen (born 1975), Finnish rock singer
• Mika Vainio, member of the Finnish electronic duo Pan sonic
• Mika Vasara (born 1983), Finnish shot putter
• Mika Väyrynen (born 1981), Finnish football player
• Mika Vukona, (born 1982), Fijian-born New Zealand basketball player
• Mika Waltari (1908–1979), Finnish author

Female given name (primarily used in Japan)[link]

• Mika Akino (born 1973), the Japanese wrestler AKINO
• Mika Arisaka, Japanese-American singer
• Mika Boorem (born 1987), American actress
• Mika Brzezinski (born 1967), American Television Journalist, co-host of Morning Joe
• Mika Doi (born 1956), Japanese voice actress
• Mika Handa, singer with the band Mika Bomb
• Mika Kamita (born 1982), Japanese singer
• Mika Kanai (born 1964), Japanese voice actress
• Mika Kato, namesake singer of the Sadistic Mika Band
• Mika Kawamura, Japanese manga artist
• Mika Kikuchi (born 1983), Japanese actress
• Mika Miyazato (born 1989), Japanese golfer
• Mika Nakashima (born 1983), Japanese singer
• Mika Newton (born 1986), Ukrainian singer
• Mika Tan (born 1977), American adult actress
• Mika Todd (born 1984), American jazz singer and former Hello! Project member
• Mika Yamauchi, volleyball player

As a surname[link]

• Brad Mika (born 1981), New Zealand rugby union player
• Setefano Mika (born 1985), Samoan middle distance runner

Fictional characters[link]

• Mika Ahonen, a character from the anime/manga Strike Witches
• R. Mika, fictional character from the Street Fighter video game series
• Mika Kujiin, one of the main characters in the Kanamemo anime/manga
• Mika Nogizaka, a character from the light novel and anime Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu

Other uses[link]

• Mika Alas, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia
• Sadistic Mika Band, Japanese hard rock band
• Mika Bomb, Japanese pop-punk band
• Mika Miko, American punk-noise band
• Mika VM, open-source Java VM for embedded use
• Mika, Masovian Voivodeship (east-central Poland)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Chris Christie
55th Governor of New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office January 19, 2010
Lieutenant	Kim Guadagno
Preceded by	Jon Corzine
United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey
In office January 17, 2002 – December 1, 2008[1]
Nominated by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Robert Cleary
Succeeded by	Ralph Marra (Acting)
Member of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office January 1, 1995 – January 1, 1998
Personal details
Born	Christopher James Christie (1962-09-06) September 6, 1962 (age 49) Newark, New Jersey
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Pat Foster
Children	Andrew (b. 1993) Sarah (b. 1996) Patrick (b. 2000) Bridget (b. 2003)
Residence	Mendham
Alma mater	University of Delaware Seton Hall University
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Christopher James "Chris" Christie (born September 6, 1962) is the 55th and current Governor of New Jersey. Upon his election to the governorship in November 2009, Christie became the first Republican to win a statewide election in New Jersey in 12 years. Christie, an attorney, previously served as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and as a Morris County, New Jersey Freeholder. In 2011, he considered entering the race for the Republican Presidential nomination but ultimately decided not to run.

Early life, education, and family[link]

Chris Christie was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Sondra A. (née Grasso) and Wilbur James "Bill" Christie, a certified public accountant.^[2][3][4] Christie is of Scottish, Irish, and Sicilian descent.^[5][6][7][8] He was raised in Livingston, graduating from Livingston High School.^[9] Christie graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1984 and Seton Hall University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1987. Christie was admitted to the Bar of the State of New Jersey and the Bar of the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, in December 1987. After being elected the Governor of New Jersey, he was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey, and Monmouth University in 2010.^{[10] [11]}

In 1986, Christie married Mary Pat Foster, a fellow student at the University of Delaware. After marriage they shared a one-room apartment in Summit, New Jersey. Mary Pat Christie pursued a career in investment banking, eventually working at the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald. She left the firm in 2001 following the September 11 attacks, only recently returning to work part-time.^[3] They have four children: Andrew (born 1993), Sarah (born 1996), Patrick (born 2000), and Bridget (born 2003).^[12] Christie and his family reside in Mendham Township.^[13][14]

Early career[link]

Lawyer[link]

In 1987, Christie joined the law firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci of Cranford, New Jersey. In 1993, he was named a partner in the firm. Christie specialized in securities law, appellate practice, election law, and government affairs. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association and was a member of the Election Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Morris County Freeholder[link]

Christie, at the time a resident of Mendham, was in 1994 elected as a Republican to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders, with Christie and a running mate having defeated incumbent freeholders in the party primary. After that election, the defeated incumbents filed defamation lawsuits against Christie based on statements made during the primary campaign. Christie had incorrectly stated that the incumbents were under investigation for violating certain local laws. The lawsuit was settled out of court.^[15]

As freeholder, Christie required the county government to obtain three quotes from qualified firms for all contracts. He led a successful effort to bar county officials from accepting gifts from people and firms doing business with the county. He voted to raise the county's open space tax for land preservation; however, county taxes on the whole were decreased by 6.6% during his tenure. He successfully pushed for the dismissal of an architect hired to design a new jail, saying that the architect was costing taxpayers too much money. The architect then sued Christie for defamation over remarks he made about the dismissal.^[16]

In 1995, Christie announced a bid for a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly; he and attorney Rick Merkt ran as a ticket against incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Bucco and attorney Michael Patrick Carroll in the Republican primary. Bucco and Carroll, the establishment candidates, defeated the up-and-comers by a wide margin. After this loss, Christie's bid for re-nomination to the freeholder board was unlikely, as unhappy Republicans recruited John J. Murphy to run against Christie in 1997. Murphy defeated Christie in the primary.^[17] Murphy, who had falsely accused Christie of having the county pay his legal bills in the architect's lawsuit, was sued by Christie after the election. They settled out of court; nevertheless, Christie's career in Morris County politics was over by 1998.

Lobbyist[link]

In 1998 Christie registered as a lobbyist for the firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci, alongside fellow partner and later, gubernatorial campaign fundraiser Bill Palatucci. Between 1999 and 2001, Christie and Palatucci lobbied on behalf of, among others, GPU Energy for deregulation of New Jersey's electric and gas industry; the Securities Industry Association to block the inclusion of securities fraud under the state's Consumer Fraud Act; Hackensack University Medical Center for state grants, and the University of Phoenix for a New Jersey higher education license.^[18]

United States Attorney[link]

Christie served as the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey from January 17, 2002, to December 1, 2008. His office included 137 attorneys, with offices in Newark, Trenton and Camden. Christie also served as one of the 17 U.S. Attorneys on Attorney General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales' advisory committee.

Appointment[link]

On December 7, 2001, Christie was nominated to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 2001, and sworn into office on January 17, 2002.

Controversy surrounded his appointment; some members of the New Jersey Bar professed disappointment at Christie's lack of criminal law experience and his history as a top fundraiser for George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.^[19] The extent of the role played by Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, also became an issue after Christie's law partner, William Palatucci, a Republican political consultant and Bush supporter, boasted that he had selected a United States attorney by forwarding Christie's résumé to Rove.^[20]

Christie has stated that his distant familial connection to Genovese crime family leader Tino Fiumara never came up during his Federal Bureau of Investigation background check for his position as a U.S. Attorney; he told The New York Times in 2009 that he had assumed that investigators were aware of the connection.^[21] During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Christie recused himself from his office's investigation, indictment, and prosecution of Fiumara for aiding the flight of a fugitive.^[21] A 2011 commentary on MarketWatch identified Fiumara as Christie's aunt's husband's late brother and said Christie has dismissed the relationship as a "private matter".^[22]

Achievements[link]

Christie in 2004 as the United States Attorney for New Jersey.

Despite the initial misgivings over his degree of experience, Christie received praise for his history of convictions for public corruption. During his tenure, Christie's office won convictions or guilty pleas from 130 public officials, both Republican and Democratic, on the state, county and local levels without losing a single case.^[23] The most notable of these convictions included those of Hudson County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski in 2002 on bribery charges,^[24] Essex County Executive James W. Treffinger in 2003 on corruption charges,^[25] former New Jersey Senate President John A. Lynch, Jr. in 2006 on charges of mail fraud and tax evasion,^[26] State Senator and former Newark mayor Sharpe James in 2008 on fraud charges,^[27] and State Senator Wayne R. Bryant in 2008 on charges of bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud.^[28]

Claims of misuse of deferred prosecution agreements[link]

Christie has been accused of using his office's role in crafting deferred prosecution agreements to award lucrative federal monitoring positions in no-bid contracts to friends, supporters, and allies.^[29] Questions first arose after Christie awarded a multimillion-dollar no-bid contract to David Kelley, another former U.S. Attorney, who had investigated Christie's brother, Todd Christie, in a 2005 fraud case involving traders at the Wall Street firm, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg.^[30][31] Kelley had declined to prosecute Todd Christie, who had been ranked fourth in the investigation—initiating a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint among twenty traders who earned the largest profits for their company at the expense of their customers. The top three were indicted, as were eleven other traders.^[32]

Christie was similarly criticized for his 2007 recommendation of the appointment of The Ashcroft Group, a consulting firm owned by Christie's former superior, the former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, as a monitor in a court settlement against Zimmer Holdings, an Indiana medical supplies company. The no-bid contract was worth between $28 million and $52 million.^[33][34] Christie defended the decision, saying that Ashcroft’s prominence and legal acumen made him a natural choice. Christie declined to intercede when Zimmer's company lawyers protested the Group’s plans to charge a rate of $1.5 million to $2.9 million per month for the monitoring.^[29][35] Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee began holding hearings on the matter, the Justice Department re-wrote the rules regarding the appointment of court monitors.^[36]

Christie also faced criticism over the terms of a $311-million fraud settlement with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Christie’s office deferred criminal prosecution of the pharmaceutical company in a deal that required it to dedicate $5 million for a business ethics chair at Seton Hall University School of Law, Christie's alma mater.^[37][38] The U.S. Justice Department subsequently set guidelines forbidding such requirements as components of out-of-court corporate crime settlements.^[39]

In June 2009, Christie was called before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its consideration of new regulations on deferred prosecution agreements. In his testimony, he defended his decisions to award no-bid, high-paying federal monitoring contracts to law firms that his critics say constitute a conflict of interest. Christie left the meeting after two and a half hours of questioning, against the requests of the Committee's chairman, stating that he had to attend to pressing business in New Jersey.^[29][40]

Claims of partisan attacks[link]

Christie at a town hall meeting in Union City, New Jersey February 9, 2011.

Christie has been criticized for subpoenaing Senator Robert Menendez during his contested 2006 campaign, just two months before the election.^[41][42] Christie's aides have insisted that they initiated the action in response to an article that appeared in The Record, which reported that in 1994, when Menendez was a U.S. Representative, he had leased his former home to a social service agency that he had helped obtain federal financing.^[41] The non-profit group paid Menendez more than $300,000 over nine years to rent the building. Menendez claims to have cleared the arrangement with the Congressional ethics office, a step that had also been reported previously by New Jersey newspapers.^[41] According to Menendez, just prior to signing the rental lease, he cleared it by phone with a lawyer on the staff of the United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Following the subpoena, the lawyer, who no longer works with the Committee, came forward to say that while she doesn’t recall the conversation, it probably happened—and that if she were advising Menendez now, she would tell him—as she apparently did then—that there was nothing improper about the arrangement.^[43] As of August 2009, nothing has come from the investigation.^[41]

Cell phone monitoring and alleged entrapment[link]

In 2005, Christie prosecuted the Hemant Lakhani terrorism case, in which the defendant claimed that he had been entrapped. In that case, Christie's office relied on an informant who had been dismissed by the FBI as unreliable for fabricating claims of terrorist activity. For more than a year, the informant, working with the U.S. attorney's office, solicited Lakhani for access to arms. Lakhani was unable to obtain anything until an undercover agent contacted him and supplied him with a fake missile. In an interview with the public radio program This American Life,^[44] Christie brushed off suggestions that Lakhani was entrapped by law enforcement, defending the Lakhani prosecution.

In April 2009, the ACLU publicized records showing that Christie had obtained court orders authorizing warrantless cellphone tracking of people in 79 instances. Christie responded that the practice was legal and court approved. An ACLU attorney stated that federal law does not address cell phone or GPS use in surveillance and added that the ACLU believes a law requiring warrants for such use is needed.^[45]

Governor of New Jersey[link]

Christie filed as a candidate for the office of Governor on January 8, 2009.^[46] In the primary on June 2, Christie won the Republican nomination with 55% of the vote, defeating conservative opponents Steve Lonegan and Rick Merkt.^[47] He then chose Kimberly Guadagno, Monmouth County sheriff, to complete his campaign ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor. On November 3, Christie defeated Corzine by a margin of 48.5% to 44.9%, with 5.8% of the vote going to independent candidate Chris Daggett.^[48]

Christie took office as Governor of New Jersey on January 19, 2010. He chose not to move his family into "Drumthwacket", the official governor's mansion, and instead resides in a private Mendham, New Jersey, residence.

On February 9, 2010, he signed Executive Order No. 12, which placed a 90-day freeze on the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and established the Housing Opportunity Task Force to examine the State's affordable housing laws, constitutional obligations, and the effectiveness of the current framework.^[49]

On February 11, 2010, Christie signed Executive Order No. 14, which declared a "state of fiscal emergency exists in the State of New Jersey" due to the projected $2.2 billion budget deficit for the current fiscal year (FY 2010).^[50] In a speech before a special joint session of the New Jersey Legislature on the same day, Christie addressed the budget deficit and revealed a list of fiscal solutions to close the gap. Christie also suspended funding for the Department of the Public Advocate and called for its elimination.^[51] Some Democrats criticized Christie for not first consulting them on his budget cuts and for circumventing the Legislature's role in the budget process.^[52] In late June 2011, Christie utilized New Jersey's line item veto to eliminate nearly $1 billion from the proposed budget, signing it into law just hours prior to the July 1, 2011, beginning of the state's fiscal year.^[53]

On August 25, 2010, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services announced $400 million in federal Race to the Top education grants to New Jersey would not be funded due to a clerical error in the state's application made by an unidentified mid-level state official. Christie responded by saying the Obama administration bureaucracy had overstepped its authority and that the error lay in an administration failure to communicate with the New Jersey government.^[54] However, information later came to light that the issue had already been raised with Christie's Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, and in response Christie had asked for Schundler's resignation; Schundler initially agreed to resign, but the following morning asked to be fired instead, citing his need to claim unemployment benefits. Schundler maintains that he told Christie the truth and that Christie is misstating what actually occurred.^[55] The New Jersey Education Association rebuked Christie by suggesting that his rejection of a compromise worked out by Schundler with the teachers' union on May 27 was to blame.

During his second year in office, Christie signed into law a payroll tax cut that is projected to save workers $190 million in taxes. Effective for calendar year 2012, the tax cut approved by Christie authorizes the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development to calculate a new payroll deduction rate to finance the Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) fund. As a result, most workers will see their TDI income tax reduced from $148 to $61 per year, for a savings of $87 per worker. The changes took effect on January 1, 2012.^[56] The authorizing legislation was sponsored by Senator Shirley Turner of Lawrenceville.

On January 23, 2012, Christie filed the first nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court of an openly gay man, Bruce Harris, and an Asian American, Phillip Kwon. ^[57] Kwon's nomination was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first gubernatorial nominee for the Supreme Court in modern times to fail to be approved. ^[58] Two months later, the Senate Judiciary rejected the nomination of Bruce Harris, purportedly on grounds that he lacked courtroom experience. ^[59] The partisan impasse over Christie's appointments to fill the vacancies on the New Jersey Supreme Court continues.

On February 17, 2012, he vetoed a bill that would have legalized same sex marriage in New Jersey. He stated his belief that such a change requires a constitutional amendment and asked the legislature to provide for a referendum on the issue. He also called for creation of an ombudsman to ensure compliance with the state's existing civil union law.^[60]

Continuing the tradition of earlier New Jersey governors since the 1980s, Christie traveled to Israel in April 2012.^[61][62] Media reported his itinerary as including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tiberius, and the Golan Heights.^[63][64] The official title given to the trip was "Jersey to Jerusalem Trade Mission: Economic Growth, Diplomacy, Observance".^[65] The visit to Israel was Christie's first official overseas trip since taking office.^[66] During the visit, which included meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, Christie commented that "[Jerusalem] has never been better or freer than under Israeli control."^[67][68] From Israel Christie continued with his family to Jordan, as guests of King Abdullah II.^[69]

Consideration of presidential run in 2012 election[link]

Christie was the subject of ongoing speculation that he would attempt a run for President of the United States in 2012 by competing in the Republican primaries. He consistently denied any interest in launching a presidential bid. In September 2011, a number of press stories cited unnamed sources indicating Christie was reconsidering his decision to stay out of the race. An Associated Press story dated September 30 indicated a decision on whether he would run for president in 2012 would be made "soon".^[70] In a late September speech at the Reagan Library, he had again said he was not a candidate for president, but the speech also coincided with his "reconsideration" of the negative decision. One commentator at that time reviewed reported support from David H. and Charles G. Koch, Kenneth Langone, and others for Christie's potential candidacy.^[22] Retired GE CEO Jack Welch went on Charlie Rose to articulate his and others' support for a candidacy,^[71] and Langone went on the interview show October 4.^[72]

On October 4, 2011, Christie acknowledged he had in fact reconsidered his decision but then, again, declined to run.^[73] It was "for real this time", as one report put it. "Now is not my time," Christie said.^[74] "New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me," Christie added in the one-hour Trenton press conference held to announce the decision.^[75]

On October 11, 2011, Christie endorsed Mitt Romney for President of the United States.^[76]

References[link]

External links[link]

	New Jersey portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chris Christie

• Office of the Governor official state site
• Governor Christie on Twitter
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Profile at Notable Names Database
• Chris Christie Speech at the Reagan Library: Full Text, National Review, September 27, 2011

v t e Governors of New Jersey Livingston Paterson Howell Bloomfield Ogden W.S. Pennington M. Dickerson Williamson Vroom Southard Seeley Vroom P. Dickerson W. Pennington Haines Stratton Haines G. Fort Price Newell Olden Parker Ward Randolph Parker Bedle McClellan Ludlow Abbett Green Abbett Werts Griggs Voorhees Murphy Stokes J. Fort Wilson Fielder Edge Edwards Silzer Moore Larson Moore Hoffman Moore Edison Edge Driscoll Meyner Hughes Cahill Byrne Kean Florio Whitman DiFrancesco McGreevey Codey Corzine Christie Book:Governors of New Jersey

v t e Current elected statewide political officials of New Jersey U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D) Robert Menendez (D) State government Chris Christie (R), Governor Kim Guadagno (R), Lieutenant Governor Senate Stephen M. Sweeney (D), President Nia Gill (D), President pro tempore Loretta Weinberg (D), Majority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R), Minority Leader General Assembly Sheila Y. Oliver (D), Speaker Jerry Green (D), Speaker pro tempore Louis Greenwald (D), Majority Leader vacant, Minority Leader Supreme Court (appointed) Stuart Rabner, Chief Justice Virginia Long Jaynee LaVecchia Barry T. Albin Helen E. Hoens Anne M. Patterson (vacancy) AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

Joe Scarborough
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st district
In office January 3, 1995 – September 5, 2001
Preceded by	Earl Hutto
Succeeded by	Jeff Miller
Personal details
Born	Charles Joseph Scarborough (1963-04-09) April 9, 1963 (age 49) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Melanie Hinton (div.) Susan Waren
Alma mater	University of Alabama, University of Florida Levin College of Law
Profession	Attorney, currently television host
Religion	Baptist

Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough ( /ˈskɑrbɔroʊ/; born April 9, 1963) is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican from the 1st district of Florida. He has been named to the TIME 100 as one of the most influential people in the world. ^[1]

Early life, education and early legal career[link]

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he was born to George F. Scarborough, a businessman, with two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote an eulogy op-ed online.^[2]

Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida (although he is not a Catholic). He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990.^[3] During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills,^[4] and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991,^[3] and practiced law in Pensacola.^[5]

Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid 1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin.^[6] "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin."^[7] Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.^[8]

Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.^[5]

Political career[link]

Congress[link]

Joe Scarborough's official Congressional portrait

In 1994, Scarborough won a tough Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democrat Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election, he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, (the son of well respected former Pensacola mayor Vince Whibbs), with 61 percent of the vote. This win wasn't considered an upset since the 1st has always been a rather conservative district; it hasn't supported a Democrat for president since 1960 and, while Democrats continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be very conservative even by Southern Democratic standards. It had been considered very likely that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.

Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate.

Like most freshmen Republicans elected during the 1994 Republican takeover of the House led by Newt Gingrich, Scarborough was regarded as a reliable conservative. He was a part of a small group of Republican congressmen the National Journal said possessed a surprising amount of power given their youth and lack of experience in Congress. He received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union.^[9] He signed the Contract with America. Scarborough served on the Armed Services, Judiciary, Government Reform, and Education committees. In 1998, he was named Chairman of the Civil Service Committee.

Scarborough was one of a group of about 40 freshmen Republican legislators who dubbed themselves the "New Federalists" after the Federalist Papers. Scarborough was elected Political Director of the incoming legislators. The New Federalists called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to "privatize, localize, consolidate, [or] eliminate"^[10] the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development, but were largely unsuccessful in their goals. Gingrich tapped Scarborough to head a Republican task force on education, and Scarborough declared, "Our goal is to get as much money, power and authority out of Washington and get as much money, power and authority into the classroom as possible."^[5]

Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress including legislation (H.R.2436, Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999) that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.^[11][12]

Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition^[10] and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient"^[13] by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995,"^[14] which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996,"^[15] which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes (including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson).^[5]

[US Congressman Joe Scarborough] heard about Lori Berenson on an NPR broadcast. He went to Peru and spent a day at her second trial. He watched the prosecutors and the judges working together, heard the evidence and decided that she had done nothing that would have convicted her in a U.S. court. Even a repentant terrorist, who was to have been the strongest witness, said Berenson was not a member of MRTA and gave no help at all. Scarborough thought the court had to conclude she was not a terrorist leader.^[16]

While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business; the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the "Taxpayer's Hero Award" from the Citizens Against Government Waste; and the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association.

Committee memberships[link]

• 104th Congress^[17] --Committee on Government Reform and Oversight --Committee on National Security (formerly Committee on Armed Services)
• 105th Congress^[18]--Committee on National Security—Committee on Government Reform and Oversight--Committee on Education and the Workforce
• 106th Congress^[19]-- Committee on Armed Services--Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary
• 107th Congress^[20]--Committee on Government Reform-- Committee on the Judiciary

Electoral history[link]

Resignation and controversy[link]

Scarborough announced his intent to resign to spend more time with his children five months into his fourth term in Congress. "The realization has come home to me that they're at a critical stage of their lives and I would rather be judged at the end of my life as a father than as a congressman," Scarborough said.^[22] A special election was held to replace him.

On July 20, 2001, one of Scarborough's aides died after hitting her head on a desk when she fainted while alone in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Florida, office.^[23] According to Scarborough, soon after her death, allegations "spread all over the Internet" that he had been involved,^[23][24] although there was no evidence of foul play. In 2003, he joked about the incident with Don Imus on Imus's radio program.^[25] In 2004, it was the subject of a public spat between Scarborough and filmmaker Michael Moore.^[26]

Post-Congressional politics[link]

After leaving Congress, he joined the law firm of prominent Florida attorney Fred Levin. He practiced law with the firm Beggs and Lane,^[27] the oldest firm in Florida. He was appointed to the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce in 2002.^[28]

In August 2005, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been asked to consider a challenge to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris for the Republican nomination to challenge Senator Bill Nelson's reelection bid. However, he announced later that month that he was renewing his contract with NBC.^[29]

In July 2006, former aides to Harris's 2006 Senate campaign claimed that Harris had called potential Scarborough supporters and raised the death of an aide in his home district office as a means to prevent his entry into the race.^[30] Scarborough, who had never intended to enter the race, initially considered suing Harris but decided to let the incident pass. He later told Nelson that drawing Harris as an opponent in the race made Nelson "the luckiest man in Washington."^[31]

In early 2009, Scarborough confirmed reports that he had been approached by Florida Republicans who wanted him to run for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Mel Martinez. Scarborough said he was not likely to run as he believes he can have more influence over public policy as the host of Morning Joe, than he would as a U.S. Senator. However, he has not ruled out a political career in the future.^[32]

In October 2010, Scarborough called former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich "cartoonish" and said that Gingrich engages in "hate speech."^[33]

Media career[link]

Joe Scarborough

Scarborough is the host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, which features interviews with top newsmakers and politicians and analysis of the day’s biggest stories. Previously, he hosted Scarborough Country, a primetime news show. He and Mika Brzezinski also briefly hosted a syndicated talk radio show called the Joe Scarborough Show on ABC Radio Network.

While still serving in Congress, Scarborough founded the free weekly Pensacola-area newspaper The Florida Sun in 1999. The paper later merged in 2001 and is now known as the "Independent News."^[34]

In April 2003, he embarked upon a television career with the launch of Scarborough Country on MSNBC, until he began hosting Morning Joe full-time.

Scarborough briefly hosted a three-hour radio show in 2005. The show aired in a competitive time slot (10am–1pm US ET) and struggled to gain affiliates; those few that did carry the show usually carried it in the noon–3pm US ET slot or in late nights instead. After a few months, Scarborough left the show to focus his time on other priorities. (After being vacant for over a year, the slot was filled by Dennis Miller's radio show in 2007.)

[edit] Morning Joe

In May, 2007, Scarborough became one of the rotating hosts auditioning for the slot vacated by Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. Scarborough, with his morning show, won the slot permanently in July 2007. According to Nielsen Ratings, Morning Joe consistently beats CNN and Headline News in total viewers. Morning Joe has beaten CNN in total viewers every month since April 2011 and for 9 consecutive quarters. Morning Joe has also beaten Headline News in total viewers for 27 straight months. This is the first time in MSNBC history that its morning show has consistently out-rated both CNN and Headline News.^[35] Scarborough also is a regular guest on NBC news programs, MSNBC news programs, and has appeared on Meet the Press numerous times. In April 2012, Scarborough guest hosted Meet the Press.^[36]

On November 10, 2008, Scarborough made headlines when he said the 'f' word live on his show. In discussing Barack Obama's transition team, Scarborough contrasted the reputation of Clinton-era staffers with Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel by saying "These were decent steady men who don't go around flipping people off or screaming 'fuck you' at the top of their lungs." The comment was not bleeped out, and while Scarborough's guests and cohosts reacted with amusement, he continued with his point, apparently oblivious to what he had said, until co-host Mika Brzezinski broke in and informed him of his mistake. Scarborough apologized, saying that he thought he had only "said the letter, not the word" and commented that "my wife's going to kill me."^[37] Morning Joe has subsequently been broadcast with a 7-second broadcast delay.^[38]

MSNBC suspended Scarborough without pay for two days on November 19, 2010, for violating NBC News' policy against making contributions to political candidates without prior notification and approval, two weeks after NBC suspended then MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for the same offense. Scarborough had donated $4,000 to Republican candidates in Florida.^[39]

Radio[link]

On December 8, 2008, Scarborough and Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski began hosting a two-hour late-morning radio show on WABC (770 AM) in New York City, replacing 12-year veteran host John Gambling.^[40][41][42] As of April 26, 2010, the radio show has been put on "hiatus" to redevelop its format into a new three hour show.^[43] Many, including Don Imus, have speculated that the show has actually been canceled by Citadel Media. It has been noted that the schedule of WABC would not allow for the program to be expanded an additional hour.

Books[link]

In his book The Last Best Hope, released on June 9, 2009, Scarborough outlines a plan to help guide conservatives back to a political majority after their defeats in the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 Presidential election.

He is also the author of Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day: the Real Deal on how Politicians, Bureaucrats, and other Washington Barbarians are Bankrupting America (New York : HarperCollins, 2004).

Personal life[link]

In 1986, Scarborough married Melanie Hinton. They had two sons, Joey and Andrew,^[44] and divorced in 1999. His younger child was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. While interviewing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in June 2005, Scarborough expressed concerns about the possibility that one of his sons may have suffered vaccine damage, perhaps attributable to the sharp increase during the 1980s in the amount of thimerosal injected into infants: "My son, born in 1991, has a slight form of autism called Asperger's. When I was practicing law and also when I was in Congress, parents would constantly come to me and they would bring me videotapes of their children, and they were all around the age of my son or younger. So, something happened in 1989."^[45]

In October 2001, Scarborough married Susan Waren, a former aide to Florida Governor Jeb Bush and a former congressional committee staffer. He currently rents a home in Washington, D.C.

Scarborough's love for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team and head coach, Nick Saban is well known to his viewers. He often talks about the Crimson Tide and will show video clips of Alabama games on his television show. His show has even been broadcast from the University's campus in Tuscaloosa on numerous occasions. On his January 10, 2012, telecast on MSNBC, the show's opening began with the playing of the famous Lynyrd Skynyrd song 'Sweet Home Alabama', as well as highlights of Alabama's 21-0 victory in the national title game over Louisiana State University from the previous evening.

Scarborough is an avid soccer fan. As mentioned on ESPN's "Off The Ball" podcast, Scarborough details his dedication to Liverpool FC, a soccer team that competes in the English Premier League.

References[link]