THE LATEST FROM NJ

In the latest on the McGreevy case, a New Jersey college professor has contacted the governor's office to say he'd had an affair with Golan Cipel, who claims to be the "straight" victim of McGreevy's unwanted advances.

The Trenton Times reports McGreevy still refuses to resign:

If McGreevey leaves office after Sept. 3, Codey will take over as acting governor, under the state constitution. New Jersey power brokers who are adamantly opposed to a Codey-run government have been trying for the past several days to enlist enough support to push McGreevey out early to force the special election.

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Some county leaders, labor groups and regional power brokers, such as George Norcross of Camden County and John Lynch of Middlesex County, have maneuvered behind the scenes to get McGreevey out now by trying to rally the party around Corzine as its nominee in a possible special election. Norcross and Lynch are longtime foes of Codey, Democrats said, adding that the two believe they would wield no influence in his administration.

"Codey would shut these guys out," said one Democratic insider.

I thought this was the most interesting part:

Democrats say they have received calls from McGreevey's chief of staff, Jamie Fox, who said that the governor would only be forced out "over my cold dead body."

The administration is threatening to strike back at the power brokers who are pressuring McGreevey to depart now with an executive order imposing strict regulations on government contracts.

"The past few days have demonstrated that the county bosses, the warlords, are out of control," said one administration official. He said the executive order to ban the "pay-to-play" system, using government contracts to reward and induce campaign contributions, is being drafted.

"We are considering it as a parting gesture, one nobody will pay the political price of undoing," the McGreevey aide said. "We are now free to do a lot of things we couldn't do before."

The State Investment Council is expected to adopt stringent conflict-of-interest rules today. Last month, the council's meeting was canceled in a move widely perceived as an attempt by the governor's office to block the rules from being put in place.

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