Bennett happy with quiet post-Senate life

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Enjoying his current career as an attorney, lobbyist and political operative, former Republican Senate President John O. Bennett said that he has no desire to return to elected office.

“I’m not done. I’m involved. But I’m done with elected office, other than party positions, basically,” said Bennett, who served an eventful four days as acting governor in 2002 and is in Minnesota this week as an alternate delegate.

Bennett remains active in the Monmouth County Republican Party, and is the county’s state committeeman. He said he believes that the new Republican county chairman, former Sheriff Joseph Oxley, has the ability to bring competing factions together.

Some controversy arose over Oxley’s recent ascension to the position, however. He’s a law partner in the powerful Democratic law firm Scarinci & Hollenbeck, which also counts Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero as one of its members. But the law firm already had ties to Monmouth County Republicans, with partner Matt Giacobe as the county’s labor counsel (he’s since announced that he will not seek reappointment to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest).

Bennett, however, sees some advantages to the Scarnaci & Hollenbeck association.

“They do a lot of work for the counties in Monmouth. Scarinci and Hollenbeck really haven’t sent money down for the county Democratic Party, they’ve actually been helpful to the county Republican Party, and I feel that relationship is going to continue,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to do anything that will undermine or hurt their partner.”

Bennett also admits that it felt good to watch State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Red Bank) take down Democrat Ellen Karcher last year, four years after she defeated Bennett. But while Bennett sees Beck as a rising star in the party, he doesn’t want to see her as lieutenant governor.

“Frankly, personally and probably somewhat selfishly, I’d like to see her stay in the senate. I think that having that youth and enthusiasm there is great,” he said. “The whole position of lieutenant governor to me to me – it remains to be seen -- is undefined and has no duties. And yet the senate is where things happen,” he said.