Bridget Anne Kelly, a former aide to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie whose conviction in the Bridgegate scandal was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, is running for office.
Kelly announced during a television appearance Monday that she is seeking the Republican nomination for Bergen County clerk.
Kelly became well known for her role Bridgegate, when several local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed over three days in September 2013. The lane closures in Fort Lee were an act of political retribution against the town’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who refused to endorse Christie, a Republican, for reelection.
It was Kelly who sent the now infamous email, “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” that triggered the lane closures.
“I did have a life before Bridgegate and the life before Bridgegate included 20 years of public service in state government,” Kelly said in an interview with POLITICO. “The people who tried to destroy me didn't destroy my love for public service.”
Bridgegate: Kelly has always maintained she was unaware the lane closures were part of a broader political revenge scheme. Rather, she has said, she believed they were part of a legitimate traffic study — one she said Christie had personally approved.
Christie has also denied knowing about the scheme.
Bill Baroni, who was Christie’s deputy executive director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Kelly, who was Christie’s deputy chief of staff, were convicted in 2016 for their roles in the plot.
They worked with a third conspirator — David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official who pleaded guilty and testified against them — to orchestrate the scheme.The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last year overturned the convictions of Kelly and Baroni. The court ruled unanimously that neither defrauded the government of its “property” by closing off the access lanes.
The court agreed to hear the appeal after Baroni had already reported to federal prison, and as Kelly was preparing to do so.
Kelly acknowledged to POLITICO that the “elephant in the room” during her campaign for county clerk will be Bridgegate, but said her goal is to get past that.
“I don't want this campaign to be about Bridgegate. I don't want it to be about Chris Christie. I don't want it to be about the past seven years,” she said. “I want to talk about the efficiencies of the [county clerk’s] office, what needs to be improved and what has to be improved.”
But in an earlier interview on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York,“ Kelly said Bridgegate “is not something I’m afraid to talk about. I testified for four or five days in a federal trial. I wasn’t afraid of the U.S. attorney’s office. I’m not afraid of this.”
Bergen County race: Kelly said she spoke with her four children — whom she says have been “through hell and back” — before deciding to run for office. All four, she said, were supportive of her decision.
Kelly said she was approached by Bergen County Republican Chair Jack Zisa who asked her to run for county clerk. Bergen County, where the Bridgegate incident happened, is New Jersey’s largest county with more than 930,000 residents. It is dominated by Democrats, but Kelly said she thinks she can recapture this position for her party.
If she wins the GOP nomination, she would face incumbent Democrat John Hogan, who has served as county clerk for the past decade.
“I think it's time for some change, and I believe that I can be a source of energizing Republicans,” she said.
County clerks are charged with a variety of tasks, including recording, filing and maintaining many public records, among other things. They also help run elections.
What’s next: Kelly said her goal is to win over each voter individually through her campaigning.
“I love to talk to people,” she said. “And I'm happy to address and convince them of whatever it may be, to show them who I am.”