Jeff Chiesa is currently serving as a U.S. senator for New Jersey, temporarily filling the seat left vacant by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. He told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he doesn’t know what his next step will be, but he won’t return to his position of attorney general.
Gov. Chris Christie appointed Chiesa as senator, but Chiesa said he never tried to influence his actions in Washington. He described their relationship as close, saying they “talk all the time,” and said he’s disappointed that the governor has had to answer for his votes, particularly his support of immigration reform.
“I explained to him why I was doing it. He understood,” Chiesa said of Christie. “It wasn’t a conversation that was like, ‘oh I’m glad you did it or I’m not glad you did it.’ Whatever people’s criticisms are should be directed at me, not at him.”
Chiesa said he voted for the reforms because he believed they were necessary. “We needed to make the situation better than it is. We have better border security with the Senate proposal, we have a better situation for a pathway to citizenship, which is a long path. And I thought doing nothing didn’t make any sense,” he explained.
Chiesa called talk that his votes are toward the right of the political spectrum because the governor’s national ambitions need him to get support from the Republican base “silly.” He said Christie never asked him to act in a certain way. “He’s never asked me to do anything other than exercise my best judgement,” he said.
One of the items Chiesa rejected was the HUD budget which was exceeding previously decided upon limits. He said the country has a spending problem and that was the reason for his vote. “We can’t spend money we don’t have. Would I like to have New Jersey be the beneficiary of lots of infrastructure money that we do need to spend here? Yeah. But we do have to spend it within our limits,” he explained.
Chiesa said his experience as a senator has been different than his previous professional experiences, but he’s confident in the work he’s doing. “I’m comfortable with it because I’ve tried to be as thoughtful and as knowledgeable as I can before I’ve made any of my decisions,” he said.
The new senator added that he’s received a warm welcome from both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate. “That’s made the transition easy for me, where I’m recognized as a full member of the Senate and I’m not treated any differently than anybody else,” Chiesa said.
He admitted that his experience is different than the elected officials, especially since he’s not seeking the position in the next election. “I think anybody would want to vote what they believe anyway, but I … watch the forces that impact other people’s votes down there. And that’s the reality of being in elected office and having to answer to the voters every six years in the Senate,” he said. “I’m saying it as a general matter. You see people have to raise money. They’ll make a vote and all of a sudden there’s an interest group that’s spending lots of money in their state. Not any specific instance, but that’s generally what you watch down there.”
Chiesa supported a measure that would provide FEMA funding to houses of worship, which could affect the rebuilding of the Ocean Grove boardwalk. FEMA denied the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association’s request for funding. That group is a religious organization.
“My point in that debate is that people should be treated the same. So we had communities that were wiped out. Well let’s help everybody get back on their feet,” Chiesa said. “I think we should be doing this in a way that doesn’t discriminate against anybody. So we should make sure that these places have the chance to rebuild and to have the same opportunities that other entities have in this rebuilding process. We’re trying to get New Jersey back to where it was, and it seems to me that that’s the best way to do it.”
Chiesa said he won’t return to being attorney general for the state after his stint as senator ends. He said he’s proud of the work John Hoffman is doing in the position and praised Christie for his appointment.
When asked what’s next for him, Chiesa said, “I know that I have to have a job, but I honestly haven’t had any time to think about what’s gonna be next. I’m so focused and trying to learn about my job now that that’s really what I’m focusing on.”