>> Major funding for Reporters Roundtable is provided by RWJ Barnabas health, let's be healthy together.

Rowan University, educating New Jersey leaders, partnering with New Jersey businesses, transforming New Jersey's future.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey business magazine.

A magazine of the New Jersey business and industry Association, reporting to executive and legislative leaders in all 21 counties of the Garden State since 1954.

And by Politico's New Jersey playbook, online at politic o.com.

♪ David: New year, new legislature.

What is in store for 2024?

Hi everybody, it is Reporters Roundtable.

Our first panel of 2024 includes the senior writer and projects editor for NJ Spotlight note.

Charles is the political columnist for the record, USA today network.

Brent is politics reporter for NJ advanced media.

We will hear from the panel in a few minutes but we begin with the end of a 50 year career in public service.

Former assemblyman, Senate President, and Governor to Cody's half-century career came to an end this week.

We could not let him escape without an exit interview.

Governor Cody joins us now.

Good to see you.

>> Thank you very much.

Been a long time.

David: So 50 years, half a century.

You started when you were 27 years old.

Does it feel like it has been that long?

>> No, because I enjoyed almost all of it.

It has been a hell of a trip.

A lot of ups and downs.

That is life.

But I'm glad I did it and I have a lot of people to thank who helped me.

And also a lot of people out there who I am glad for.

A good example is I did a lot of work on autistic group homes.

I would run into a family who wanted to thank me.

I always ask them, could I hug their child?

That made me feel good and I know it made them feel good.

I wanted them to know that somebody cares about you and your child.

David: Have you been looking back at all, or you got better things to do?

>> Yeah, I have a lot better things to do.

I own two funeral homes, an insurance company.

I took a year off coaching basketball.

David: That is right, you were quite a popular and successful coach.

Have you taken any time to look back on your 50 years at all?

>> Yeah, and I would not have done anything different.

I stood up to the bosses.

I have no regrets there whatsoever.

David: You actually served two terms as governor, once when Christie Whitman left to go to the EPA, then after the McGreevy scandal.

You were a pretty popular governor for that period.

Why didn't you make a run again?

>> It could be when McGreevy left, but I don't have any regrets.

You have to understand and appreciate who was there back then.

John Corzine, who has a few more shekels than I have.

He could sell the campaign for millions of dollars.

David: We see that with the current governor.

I interrupted you, sorry.

>> That's right.

I had no resources and I have no regrets.

I saw him yesterday.

I have no animosity towards him whatsoever.

I think he was a very decent guy.

He always tried to do what was right.

David: While you were governor, you famously threatened to take out that radio guy after he said some stupid things about your wife.

That guy needed a smack.

You ever talk to him after that?

>> Yeah, I did.

[LAUGHTER] At a Rutgers basketball game at halftime.

He was speaking to his son.

I said to him, what's your name?

He says Lucky.

You weren't Lucky when it came to a father.

[LAUGHTER] When I threatened to take him out, the radio guy, shock jock, that was a big issue.

David: Oh yeah.

>> I couldn't go anywhere without people bringing that up to me.

David: I was going to say, you got a lot of good marks for that because I think you showed you are a human being.

You were like, politics aside, if I see you in the street -- >> Yes.

What happened was, the backdrop is my wife went public with her struggles on postpartum depression.

And he went on the radio saying someone has to tell that woman to go in the kitchen and bake cookies, she is a cuckoo clock.

I was appalled.

I said so.

He had no problem saying that.

He had really gotten me going.

I have no regrets about that whatsoever.

There was a reporter at a radio station.

Radio stations are very tiny.

I did not tell her to come.

She just showed up.

She reported on it the next day.

I got a call from Mayor Bloomberg from Europe, congratulating me on the way I handled it.

David: I think everyone was kind of unanimous as far as you handled that.

You served as a Senate President I think eight years.

Long term in the Senate.

Who was your favorite governor, or the governor that you had the easiest time working with?

And who was your least favorite, or the governor you had the hardest time working with?

You are out of their now -- out of there now, so it doesn't matter.

>> The two governors I admire the most, Tom Kane and Brandenburg.

They were fabulous.

Absolutely fabulous.

The Kane family, when I was in my early 20's, I worked at a funeral home, trying to make a buck, driving for limousine owners.

On rare occasions I would show up for the game fans.

[INDISCERNIBLE] Few years later, we are riding to Trenton with her son.

Both had one vote, but he had many shekels in his pocket.

[LAUGHTER] David: Who was the least favorite, or who did you have a real hard time working with?

>> Sheesh.

That is easy.

David: Is it Christie?

>> Oh god, yes.

Listen, we all know he was a bully.

It is what it is.

I was very sad to see what he did and how he used that power.

[INDISCERNIBLE] David: Let me ask you a couple political questions now.

You endorsed Tammy Murphy, yeah?

>> Yes.

David: A little early, no?

>> Eh, early, late, whatever.

I did it.

I have been in politics a long time.

We never had a United States Senator who is a female.

Obviously it is about time.

I can talk about who I think without question was one of the best candidates, male, female or whatever to come along in a very long time.

She appeals to all demographics.

David: She should run for governor, you think?

>> Absolutely, but left i -- absolutely, positively.

I will say this, I think it is appealing to a lot of people who go to Washington as United States senators or congresspeople, and they're able to come home in your own bed.

David: There is a new group of lawmakers here.

In the 30 seconds or so that I have left here, are you optimistic about this new batch of lawmakers?

>> Yes.

I am really looking forward to seeing them have success.

God bless you and thank you ever so much for your friendship.

Even the press.

David: Well, thanks for that one buddy.

[LAUGHTER] Leaving big shoes to fill.

Governor Dick Codey, thanks for coming on with us.

>> Thank you.

Bye.

David: Panel, good to see you all.

Happy New Year.

Dick Codey, Brent, you had a nice piece on him last week.

What was your take away?

>> He is a one-of-a-kind type person.

If you have to pick who you might think will be the quintessential New Jersey politician, it's hard find a better candidate.

He served at multiple levels of government.

He is soft-spoken but quick with a one-liner.

Obviously has tons of good stories.

I wish he told me the lucky story.

He is an original.

He is one-of-a-kind.

David: He mastered that shake where they pull you in.

He was the Jersey-ist of our governors, no?

>> Absolutely.

Listening to him then and also talking about the possibility of running after the McGreevy scandal, it almost makes you nostalgic for the type of governor that is so in mashed in the state that their sole ambition is to manage the state commit to be the state's governor and to be the state's number one Mayor.

Harkening back to Dick Hughes or Tom Kane, someone that did not look like he was on his way to somewhere else, he would have -- I personally think he should have run then.

He had high name recognition.

He was very popular.

Jon Corzine would have to spend a lot of money catching up to him.

I think he could have won that race.

Steve Carnegie argued that because he did not run, he kind of opened the air to Chris Christie.

David: What is the legacy?

>> For me, I'm not sure how well remembered it is, but it was his going undercover in a state secret trick Hospital -- state psychiatric hospital.

What state legislature would do that?

Finding all sorts of stuff that should not happen.

It was a large percentage of the staff had criminal records.

I thought that was amazing.

I did want to show you this.

Let's see if you can see it.

My son at one point came into contact with him.

You have one too?

Yeah, it is signed on the back.

I always call him acting governor, because he will always be governor.

David: That is a good one.

State of the state.

Final thoughts on the speech?

Was it a hit or a miss?

Charles: It was OK.

I would not say it was a miss.

I got the sense that he was trying not to create too much electricity.

It lacked big vision other than maybe turning the Route one corridor into an AI tech hub, which to me had echoes of the Kane era plan to turn the same area into the Silicon Valley of the East.

That never materialized.

I got a sense he was receding a bit from the spotlight, not to dominate I guess.

David: I guess an opposite field single to right.

Noticeably absent, stuff about New Jersey transit or offshore wind, but yes on affordable housing reform and 16-year-old voters.

What did you take away?

Brent: Yeah, and he has said he expects bigger things to come out of the state budget address next month, so maybe that is what we are waiting for.

It was one of those speeches when I was considering how to write the top of the story, it was like a lot of things you could throw in there, but there was not a major quote to put in the headline.

It was there.

One thing that was notable, he seems to have gotten better as a speaker in the last six years.

A Republican lawmaker came up to me at the end and said he's gotten better at speaking.

In terms of vision, yeah, it was kind of down the middle.

There was not anything grand last year.

He said he would reform liquor licenses and you got very little of that by the end of the year.

Now his wife is running for U.S. Senate.

Maybe the spotlight is on her.

David: Colleen, we will leave it to you to explain what an AI moonshot means.

Coleen: Oh my gosh.

I agree with Charlie when we talk about these grand divisions.

This is something that seems mostly would not be driven by the government.

The government could make some -- David: Incentivize.

Colleen: Right.

It is not something they will go all out for.

My question is, has the governor not watched all the sci-fi movies I have seen?

I'm not sure what the public's feeling is about AI.

David: Colleen, let me stay with you.

Do legislature, new members.

What is on the agenda for 2024?

Brent: Colleen: I think that affordable housing bill will be front and center, one of the first things that gets taken up.

It got very far in the lame-duck, even though it was only introduced right before Christmas.

I think it was a smart move not to push forward with it.

It is a 70 page document.

It is a pretty complicated process.

It certainly would take affordable housing out of the hands of the courts, which I think would make just about everybody happy, including municipalities that would not have to automatically spend money on lawyers.

It will be a complicated process and something that I think needs some time to be considered.

David: Leadership is basically the same.

Are the Democrats going to try to be bolder after a strong November?

Charles: I think it is probably stay the course.

I think they invested heavily in this whole pocketbook/affordability theme, and steering away from progressive issues.

Not entirely, though.

I think you will see things like Senator Andrew Zwicker's bill move ahead.

I think there was a lot of compromise done in the last session.

I think that would go a long way to pushing back at some of the extremism that dominated the last cycle.

In general I think it is going to be rebates, affordability, you know, play to the middle, keep it calm.

I think that worked for them and it is going to be the mantra.

David: Brent, you also wrote about what was left undone from that last session.

What do we have to look forward to in 2024?

Brent: there was talk about revamping the open Public records act, getting Murphy laws to do more on liquor licenses although the Senate President does not look like he is open to that.

There is the transportation trust fund that is going to expire.

I have to do something on that.

There is no shortage of things.

I think I called it a lame lame-duck.

A few things happened.

It was not like the years when Chris Christie tried to get a book deal.

It was not one of those type of things.

There were pay raises, so that was the biggest thing to come out of it.

This could be an interesting year.

David: It is going to be a big year.

I know we have a presidential race, but also we have this U.S. Senate race.

Just over four months from primary day.

Who is your front runner?

Charles: Institutional front runner is Tammy Murphy.

If you add up all the potential lines from Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, that is a big mound for Andy Kim and the others to climb.

I do feel there is this smoldering resentment about the process.

I think it is more widespread than we realize, but it is very hard to, A, measure, and B, to mobilize.

I would not count them out right now, but I would say she is the odds on favorite, whether the people like it or not, whether it is democratic or not.

That is just the way it is.

David: Charlie makes a good point about that undercurrent of resentment, really of the system, but Tammy Murphy through that system.

She had a bit of a rough start also.

Is she starting to get her sea legs?

She is certainly raising a lot of money.

Colleen: She is.

We have not seen the reports yet because they don't have to be filed until the end of the month.

She has raised more than Andy Kim.

She raised about $3.2 million.

They have about the same amount, so she has been spending more in a shorter period of time.

They both have about $2.7 million that they are starting the year off with.

I think Charlie is absolutely right, I would not count Andy Kim out either.

I wonder if Patricia getting into the race, she is in later than other folks, but if she does not have a lane, I'm not sure if it is to win, but to take votes away from Tammy.

If someone is looking for the first woman senator from New Jersey.

David: Interesting point.

I want to get to Chris Christie ending his campaign, only because I want to play has hot mic -- play his hot mic moment.

>> She is going to get smoked.

You and I both know it.

>> She is still 20 points behind Trump in New Hampshire.

He's still going to carry on.

>> Yes.

I talked to -- DeSantis called me, petrified.

>> We covered both Christie terms.

He has never been close to a hot mic moment.

Was this accidental or not so much?

Charles: I don't know for sure, but I agree with you.

He is the master choreographer of the town hall.

Every detail was carefully planned.

I have a tough time believing that this was just a spontaneous thing.

The more I listen to it, the more I think of -- it seems like the guy who is in the room reading cue cards right behind Christie's head.

David: Brent, can we, should we encourage him to jump into the Senate race?

He could probably make noise there, no?

Brent: all I know is he once said he would rather die than be a senator.

Chris Christie as a U.S.

Senator undercuts his talents, which is to be the person in the room you are galvanized towards.

So I don't see Chris Christie U.S.

Senator has a thing, I don't think -- as a thing, I don't think he sees it as a thing.

I don't think Chris Christie will ever be gone from the public discourse.

That is just not how he operates.

It is funny, whenever you would go to a Chris Christie event, you would come away with six things you could write about.

I was thinking about during his speech, what would be the lead quote?

Everything he is a could have been the lead quote.

That is what Christie does well.

For any of the criticisms anyone has about him.

I don't see him fading away.

David: He was a man of many gifts for us anyway.

Time for our Only in Jersey moments, headlines that are quintessentially Jersey.

Colleen, what you got?

Colleen: Tuesday we had a state of emergency that had been declared in advance for 5:00.

The state of the state speech was supposed to start at 3:30.

We were in the studio and were waiting and waiting.

The governor came out, not that any governor is ever right on time, but he was it seemed about 20 minutes late for Governor Murphy.

Then he spent about five minutes shaking hands and telling us about the state of emergency, so by the time he finished his speech, as I guess any governor is entitled to, soaking in all the applause, it was just a few minutes before that state of emergency was set to start that he was finally letting the entire legislature, all of their family and guests out to now confront this major storm.

David: As he was soaking it all in, the outside was getting soaked, yes.

Brent, you got one?

Brent: we will stay on the weather theme.

My daughter is almost three years old and has never really seen snow before, because we have not had much snow in recent years.

We opened up the curtain to our back door the other day and she walked out and was like, snow, snow!

I hate snow because I hate shoveling, but it is fun to see little kids get excited.

Look a happy she is.

>> Snow, snow, snow!

Brent: she's going to be a star.

My wife is about to give birth to our second child, so I wish Lindsay the best of luck.

I love her.

David: You are an awesome dude.

Mine comes from Newark, where the city Council this week lowered the voting age for school board elections to 16, with an eye towards expanding that to voting for mayor, U.S.

Senator and even President.

Our story on this drew hoots and hollers for some that say 16-year-olds have no business voting because, what do they know?

Also they don't pay taxes and they don't even know who their congressman is, said one gadfly at the meeting.

First of all, literacy tests and poll taxes went out with the good old days.

Since when did not knowing who your member of Congress is ever disqualify any adult from having the right to vote?

[LAUGHTER] And that is roundtable this week.

Colleen, Charles, Brent, good to see you all.

Thanks also to Dick Codey for joining us.

Follow us on X and get full episodes when you scan the QR code on your screen.

For all of the crew here in downtown Newark, thanks for watching.

We will see you next week.

>> Major funding for Reporters Roundtable with David Cruz is provided by RWJ Barnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

Rowan University, navigating New Jersey leaders, partnering with New Jersey businesses, transforming New Jersey's future.

Promotional support supported by New Jersey business magazine.

A magazine of the New Jersey business and industry Association, reporting to executive and legislative leaders within all counties of the garden state since 1954.

And by Politico's New Jersey playbook.

Online at Politico.com.

♪