Gov.-elect Chris Christie is to begin introducing his cabinet today by announcing Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as the state's next attorney general, according to an official familiar with Christie's decision. Christie is scheduled to introduce Dow during a noon news conference at the Statehouse. Along with Dow, Christie has also selected three top assistants for the next AG. And he will be announcing that Dow's office in Trenton is to have a structure similar to the setup of the U.S. Attorney's Office that Christie ran for more than six years.
The incoming governor has kept his personnel deliberations incredibly quiet in stark contrast to some past transitions when most of the key appointees had been reported well before their official announcements. Christie's plans were laid out on the condition of anonymity because no one involved in the process was authorized to discuss the appointments before the formal announcements.
The other officials scheduled to be introduced today are: Phillip Kwon, now a deputy chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office, who will be named first assistant AG; Marc Ferzan, another deputy chief of the criminal division, being tapped to serve as executive assistant AG; and First Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray, who is to serve as counsel to the AG.
A former ranking federal prosecutor, Dow worked with Christie in the U.S. Attorney's Office. By introducing Dow before any other cabinet member, Christie is underscoring his own background in law enforcement and the emphasis he plans to place on it during his term. Those familiar with the decision-making process also say the nomination of Dow, a registered Democrat, is meant to send the clear signal that Christie, a Republican, cares little for partisan labels, but rather gravitates toward effectiveness.
