Bill Martini

Confessions of a Republican Operative: How to Rig an Election, written by Allen Raymond, to be released by Simon and Schuster on January 8, will take some shots at New Jersey political figures.  Raymond started out in politics as the campaign manager for Bill Martini's successful 1994 bid to unseat Democratic Congressman Herbert Klein, and then served as Martini's Chief of Staff.  (Martini is now a Federal Judge; Sharpe James' trial has been assigned to him.)  Raymond was also, briefly, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, and worked for Dick Zimmer's campaign for Congress.

When then-Essex County Executive James Treffinger was indicted in 2002, there were allegations that his U.S. Senate campaign made dirty tricks calls on Super Bowl Sunday seeking support for Diane Allen, his primary rival.  Raymond was the consultant referred to in the Treffinger indictment, sources told PolitickerNJ.com.

The United States of America v. Sharpe James has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge William Martini, who is no stranger to politics.  Before his appointment to the federal bench, Martini served as a Clifton Councilman, Passaic County Freeholder, and from 1995 to 1997, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Martini defeated Democrat Herbert Klein to win the eighth district congressional seat in the 1994 GOP landslide, but narrowly lost his bid for re-election in 1996 to Democrat Bill Pascrell, Jr.  Assignments of federal court trials are done randomly.