Whether he is convicted of a crime remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Bryant's long, colorful and often controversial Statehouse career has come to an end.
"This is a regrettable day," said Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D., Camden), who has known Bryant since both were elected to the Camden County freeholder board 30 years ago. "During his 25-year legislative career, Wayne Bryant championed welfare reform, state scholarships for high-achieving high school students, and urban renewal measures. Today's news threatens to overshadow all of those worthy achievements."
It caps a bad year for Bryant, who lost his only son, 37-year-old Wayne Jr., to hernia complications last April. In September, amid the probe leading to yesterday's charges, he gave up the powerful chairmanship of the Senate budget committee. And just a few weeks ago, as investigators closed in, he announced he would not seek reelection later this year.
He is leaving behind a political life he was, quite literally, born into.
Bryant was raised in the historically black town of Lawnside, Camden County, where he still lives with his wife, PATCO assistant general manager Cheryl Spicer, and where reminders of the Bryant family's influence are everywhere.
Bryant's grandfather Horace Bryant was the first black calendar clerk for the state Assembly. His uncle Horace Bryant Jr. was New Jersey's first black state cabinet minister. His father, Isaac, an IRS supervisor, was president of the Lawnside school board. His older brother, Isaac, has just retired as deputy commissioner of the State Department of Education. And his younger brother, Mark, still serves as Lawnside's mayor.
"Public service is deeply rooted in him," said longtime friend Melvin "Randy" Primas Jr., until recently the state-appointed CEO of Camden.
