TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has nominated Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, a Morris County Republican and one of the most conservative lawmakers in New Jersey, to be a judge on the state Superior Court. Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said today the nomination had been approved, but that it would not be official until Thursday. "The governor feels he’s qualified...
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has nominated Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, a Morris County Republican and one of the most conservative lawmakers in New Jersey, to be a judge on the state Superior Court.
Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said today the nomination had been approved, but that it would not be official until Thursday.
"The governor feels he’s qualified and will be a great judge for the Superior Court," Roberts said.
Carroll has a long history with the Republican Party that dates back to President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign in 1972. He’s known as a staunch conservative, but has also pushed for medical-marijuana legislation and tax incentives for electric cars.
Carroll said Christie personally extended the offer last week, but that he’s not "counting his chickens," until the Senate approves the nomination.
"I’m not unhappy with what I’m doing," Carroll said of his legislative work. "(But) the pinnacle, the highest form of public service, is to be a judge."
Both Christie and Carroll are from Morris County, and both ran for the same Assembly seat in 1995. Carroll defeated Christie in the Republican primary and was elected to the seate that November. Last year, he was one of the last Republican holdouts on Christie’s budget. (He has opposed 13 out of 14 budgets, according to a campaign website.)
Carroll said he didn’t think the budget negotiations factored into his nomination.
"I’ve known the governor for 30 years," Carroll said. "He knows my strengths and my weaknesses, and I’m very proud he’s nominated me to be a judge. This has not the slightest bit to do with the budget."
He added that Christie’s new budget proposal "is the least bad I’ve seen since I came into office."
Carroll opposes abortion funding, supports gun rights and is a member of the Federalist Society. He said he’d been vetted thoroughly over the course of the last weeks. Part of the process, he said, was filling out a long questionnaire.
"One person described it as the cleanest they’d ever seen since they were born," Carroll said.
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