Lieutenant governor gets resignation letter from husband
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s lieutenant governor has received a letter of resignation — from her husband.
Kim Guadagno’s husband, Michael, is an appeals court judge. To collect his pension, he’s required by law to notify Kim Guadagno in her dual role as secretary of state that he’ll reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 this month.
In the letter, Michael Guadagno wrote that with her term ending in January 2018 and his income “substantially reduced,” it may be an “excellent opportunity for you to consider a career change to a more lucrative position.”
He wrote that they could discuss it “over dinner.”
Kim Guadagno is running in the GOP primary to succeed Republican Gov. Chris Christie, and her husband’s letter seems to take a shot at the state’s current chief executive.
“While we are on the subject, I take this opportunity to remind you that you receive no pension for your work as Lieutenant Governor or Secretary of State, even though, to date, you have served as acting Governor for more than five hundred days,” he wrote. That refers to times when Christie was out of state, including when he ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and served as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Kim Guadagno said in a phone interview that her husband took her by surprise with the letter.
“It came into the office cold,” she said. “Nobody was more surprised than me that it was coming.”
Michael Guadagno’s retirement also means he can campaign for his wife. He was unable to do so in 2009 and 2013 because he was a judge.
Iceland’s president says he would not ban pineapple pizza
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s president’s strong views on pizza have caused an international stir.
Gudni Th. Johannesson disclosed his opposition to pineapple on pizza to Icelandic high school students last week. Icelandic media reported that he said he’d ban the fruity topping if he could.
It proved Johannesson’s most controversial statement since he took up the largely ceremonial post last year.
Amid a social-media storm, Johannesson released a statement on Facebook stressing that he does not have the power to ban pizza toppings and is “glad that I do not hold such power.”
The former history professor says he “would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don’t like. I would not want to live in such a country.”
For pizza, however, “I recommend seafood.”
Associated Press
