TRENTON – Senator Gerry Cardinale (R-39) strenuously appealed to his colleagues today to give more consideration to the nomination of Michael E. Hubner to be a Superior Court Judge.

“What’s the rush?” Cardinale wanted to know.

“We have not had the particular time, I got materials over the weekend, and when I feel things are being rushed, that makes me think the expectation for is to be a rubber stamp,” said the veteran Bergen Republican.

“Yes, he’s a Republican, that doesn’t bother me one bit, if he were a Democrat it wouldn’t bother me, but what we do here today determines very sensitive decisions made by that judge,” Cardinale said.

Senator Nick Scutari, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pushed back.

But Cardinale was adamant.

“There is too much risk,” he said.

“If we didn’t believe this judge upheld the highest standards, we wouldn’t have voted on him [in committee],” Scutari said.

The nomination went forward by a vote of 39-1.