Doria

Democrats elected an urban Hudson County lawmaker to serve as the General Assembly's new speaker yesterday, rebuffing the Newark lawmaker who had served as the party's leader for the last two years, when Republicans held control of the lower chamber. The Democrats selected Joseph V. Doria Jr., 43, to the post, arguably the most powerful job in state government after the governor. Minority Leader Willie B. Brown, who had maintained that he was the rightful heir to the job, withdrew from the fray when it became clear that he lacked the support of his colleagues.

Two New Jersey assemblymen, three mayors, and rabbis hailing from Brooklyn to the Shore were among dozens of people arrested yesterday as part of a federal investigation into international money laundering and homegrown political corruption. Forty-four people were arrested. Also, a member of Gov. Corzine's cabinet, Joseph V. Doria Jr., whose house and office were raided, resigned, although he was not charged. Prosecutors said the investigation, reaching through layer upon layer of government, revealed a "pervasive" culture of corruption.

The Democratic Party establishment in South Jersey called last night for the resignation of Joseph V. Doria as the Democratic leader in the State Assembly. The extraordinary push for Doria's ouster came during a meeting of about 150 of the party's elected officials and chairmen in the seven-county Southern New Jersey region. The move came amid a widening geographical war between the party leadership in North Jersey and South Jersey. The feud erupted over this year's U.S. Senate primary and escalated with a dispute over leadership positions in the state legislature.

Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey moved yesterday to oust his party's leader in the newly Democratic-controlled state Assembly, but he was openly defied by numerous Democrats who argued that their leadership fight was none of his business. Taking the unusual step of appearing at their private caucus, McGreevey persuaded a bare majority of Assembly Democrats to vote to postpone their selection of a speaker so he could have more time to lobby for his choice. The 23-21 decision was a sharp rebuke to Joseph V. Doria (D., Hudson)

After a nasty feud that raised questions among some fellow Democrats about his credibility and his tactics, Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey has succeeded in imposing his choice for speaker on the newly elected New Jersey Assembly. Albio Sires, a one-term assemblyman and former Republican from Hudson County, was assured the position Friday after support among Assembly Democrats for their longtime leader, Joseph V. Doria of Hudson County, collapsed in the face of pressure from the governor-elect.

The Democrats officially took control of the Statehouse yesterday as Joseph V. Doria Jr. was sworn in as speaker of the 204th General Assembly and John A. Lynch took the gavel as Senate president. Eight new Assembly members - all but one of them Democrats - were sworn in along with 72 returning members in a ceremony attended by 1,600 relatives and supporters at the Trenton War Memorial. Formerly held 41-39 by Republicans, the lower house now is controlled 44-36 by Democrats.

Democratic leaders in the General Assembly yesterday proposed a state budget that would dramatically reduce layoffs of state workers and protect employees from Gov. Florio's demand for contract concessions. The plan offered by Assembly Speaker Joseph V. Doria Jr. of Hudson County clearly undercut the governor's attempt to get the upper hand with state unions. It came as the state entered its final week before its annual June 30 deadline to adopt a budget. The Doria proposal also would restore $65 million in aid to the state's colleges and provide more money for social services and the New Jersey Network.

At a recent fund-raising event in Newark, New Jersey's Democratic elite sipped cocktails and waited patiently for a chance to shake hands with President Clinton. But one Democrat had little time for small talk. Joseph V. Doria, the party's leader in the state Assembly, got right to the point with Clinton, asking him to come back and raise still more money - only this time to help give Democrats a fighting chance for success in this year's legislative elections. Clinton, who was in town to raise more than $2 million for U.S. Sen. Robert G. Torricelli's reelection campaign - in 2002 - was receptive to the idea.

Gov. Florio and the legislature's Democratic leaders agreed yesterday on a plan to revamp Florio's controversial school-finance law to provide more money for municipal tax relief and somewhat less for education. The deal would skim $360 million from the $1.1 billion increase in school aid mandated under Florio's original law for the next school year. This money would then be distributed to towns, which would be required to use the money to lower taxes this year. State Senate President John A. Lynch (D., Middlesex)

Six employees of the New Jersey Legislature submitted this week to interviews with a prosecutor examining allegations that state workers engaged in political work on state time, Assembly Speaker Joseph V. Doria Jr. said yesterday. The fact that state Deputy Attorney General Robert Levy, supervisor of the corruption unit, went ahead and questioned the employees on Tuesday suggests that the legislature's leaders - initially at least - do not plan to mount any effort to block their aides from assisting the state inquiry.

Once again, federal agents paraded handcuffed New Jersey politicians outside the FBI office in Newark. Three mayors and two Assembly members were among those arrested yesterday, and officials searched the home and state capital office of Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph V. Doria Jr. By the afternoon, Doria had resigned. And with the day's events, the issue of corruption - which is vastly overshadowed in polls by taxes and the economy - was thrust in the faces of voters who are being asked to elect a governor on Nov. 3. The pick is among Democratic Gov. Corzine, who immediately denounced the allegedly corrupt behavior; Republican former U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie, on whose watch the political-corruption part of this investigation began; and independent Chris Daggett, who says both major parties are so corrupt that they are unable to solve the state's problems.

Two New Jersey assemblymen, three mayors, and rabbis hailing from Brooklyn to the Shore were among dozens of people arrested yesterday as part of a federal investigation into international money laundering and homegrown political corruption. Forty-four people were arrested. Also, a member of Gov. Corzine's cabinet, Joseph V. Doria Jr., whose house and office were raided, resigned, although he was not charged. Prosecutors said the investigation, reaching through layer upon layer of government, revealed a "pervasive" culture of corruption.

Scattered like marbles on a wax-shined dance floor, passengers aboard the 29,000-ton luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria panicked and prayed, some of them screaming "Titanic!" and "iceberg!" The SS Stockholm, a smaller passenger liner, had rammed and cracked open the Andrea Doria in open ocean 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, Mass., at 11:10 p.m., July 25, 1956. At the time, passengers didn't know what had caused the thunderous noise and fireworks-like explosions that would sink the vessel.

For a year, all seven South Jersey Democrats in the Assembly boycotted the Democratic caucus because they believed they had been passed over for plum committee assignments and leadership positions. They complained that caucus chairman Joseph V. Doria, from northern Hudson County, doled out most positions to his North Jersey brethren. Led by Assemblyman Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden), they formed their own caucus and met separately in a Statehouse annex room - but little was accomplished because they did not have the backing of the other 28 Assembly Democrats.

After a nasty feud that raised questions among some fellow Democrats about his credibility and his tactics, Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey has succeeded in imposing his choice for speaker on the newly elected New Jersey Assembly. Albio Sires, a one-term assemblyman and former Republican from Hudson County, was assured the position Friday after support among Assembly Democrats for their longtime leader, Joseph V. Doria of Hudson County, collapsed in the face of pressure from the governor-elect.

Support for Joseph V. Doria's bid to become the Assembly speaker was in near total collapse yesterday as Assembly Democrats succumbed to unrelenting pressure from Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey to accept his choice for the powerful position. McGreevey and his political team were demanding that Democratic Assembly members not only sign pledges in support of his candidate but also openly declare their preference at what is normally a secret vote. In a further attempt to lock in their supporters - and to force Doria's withdrawal - McGreevey was trying to get his committed Assembly members to Trenton today to announce their support for Albio Sires as the next speaker.

Reluctant to cross the incoming governor, key Democrats across New Jersey fell in line yesterday behind Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey's move to select the next Assembly speaker. The critical defections from Assemblyman Joseph V. Doria of Hudson County yesterday were Newark Mayor Sharpe James, the Democratic power in Essex County, and State Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, the party leader in Union County. McGreevey, mired in a bitter intra-party feud, yesterday pushed Democratic legislators for written pledges in support of his plan to replace Doria as the party's Assembly leader and name Albio Sires (D., Hudson)

Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey, who got himself entangled in a bitter political feud that threatens to undermine his new administration, scrambled yesterday to find a face-saving way out. In the week since the Democrat's landslide election, the battle over which member of his party will become speaker of the Assembly has exploded into a full-blown political crisis for McGreevey. At a time when he hoped to be preparing for his first weeks in office, McGreevey instead was again consumed by the battle as he and his team lobbied Assembly Democrats and key party figures to support his compromise choice: Assemblyman Albio Sires (D., Hudson)

Assemblyman Joseph J. Roberts Jr., the Camden County Democrat who could be in line to be Assembly majority leader after an intra-party struggle with Hudson County's Joseph V. Doria, is no stranger to political battles. A longtime ally and a business partner of South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross 3d, Roberts, 49, also challenged Doria when they vied to be Assembly minority leader after the 1997 election. Upon losing, Roberts was stripped of his seat on the influential Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Gov.-elect James E. McGreevey moved yesterday to oust his party's leader in the newly Democratic-controlled state Assembly, but he was openly defied by numerous Democrats who argued that their leadership fight was none of his business. Taking the unusual step of appearing at their private caucus, McGreevey persuaded a bare majority of Assembly Democrats to vote to postpone their selection of a speaker so he could have more time to lobby for his choice. The 23-21 decision was a sharp rebuke to Joseph V. Doria (D., Hudson)