The Star-Ledger is reporting that Lee Solomon, a Superior Court Judge and former Assemblyman, will be the new president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Gov. Christopher Christie is expected to name Solomon to the post tomorrow.
Solomon will be nominated to fill the seat of Democrat Frederick Butler, a former Executive Director of the Assembly Democratic office. Butler is on holdover status; Gov. Jon Corzine named his energy advisor, Kenneth Esser, to replace Butler during the lame duck session, but the nomination was not included as part of Corzine’s accord with Christie last month. The current BPU president, Democrat Jeanne Fox, will remain as a Commissioner.
Solomon, 54, served as a Camden County Freeholder before his election to the State Assembly in 1991. He lost a race for Congress to Rob Andrews in 1994, and lost his seat in 1995 (by 1,618 votes) to Democrat Louis Greenwald. He went on to serve as Camden County Prosecutor and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and head of the South Jersey office under Christie.
By picking Solomon, Christie passed over two Republican BPU Commissioners, former Assemblywoman Elizabeth Randall and former State Sen. Nicholas Asselta.
