Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Jon Bon Jovi as Jersey's Elder Statesman
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The NY Times reports on Mr. New Jersey's ties with the political elite. With it being common practice for high-ranking politicians to attend his concerts, it's seems it's a two way street, with Bon Jovi also showing his support at their functions.
He calls her “Mrs. C.” And she calls on him to add a little celebrity gloss to her presidential campaign.
Jon Bon Jovi and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been friends for more than a decade, uniting for state dinners at the White House and campaign fund-raisers in the Hamptons.
If it seems strange that a rocker who sings paeans of working-class New Jersey is so friendly with a senator and former first lady who chose a Celine Dion song for the theme of her presidential campaign, consider a few items on Mr. Bon Jovi’s social calendar in the last few months.
Hampton's dinners with Clinton aren't the only political plans he's had, he recently caught up with Al Gore in London and has been invited personally to see Barack Obama speak in Manhattan. All of these things and more have earned him the unofficial title these as "the Garden State’s elder statesman." Though he leans to the left, both Republicans and Democrats attach themselves to him -- even former governor Christie Whitman, who took his advice on the building of a Camden sports arena, had this to say about him:
“He basically says, ‘Hey, here’s where I’m from, like it or not,’ ” said Ms. Whitman, a Republican who later became administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bush. “And that’s refreshing for the state of New Jersey because we don’t have a lot of that.”
The Bono de Jerz leaves his beliefs at home for the most part, not speaking about the current administration or the war in Iraq. He focuses more on at-home problems like poverty, so much so that many speculated he would be running for governor himself (while Bon Jovi lives in Manhattan now, he keeps an estate in Middletown, NJ). It seems he's content just being a voter, however, and when asked who he'd endorse in 2008 he said he hadn't decided, but that he “My deepest hope was that he [Al Gore] was going to put his hat back in the ring. I’ve been waiting for that for eight years.”
Tagged
al gore
barack obama
bon jovi
bush
celine dion
clinton
Democrats
Environmental Protection
environmental protection agency
garden state
hillary clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
house
iraq
jon bon jovi
london
manhattan
Music
new jersey
nj
ny times
obama
Politics
president bush
presidential campaign
republican
republicans
The NY
the ny times
White House
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Judge temporarily halts overnight construction at NYC’s Chinatown jail
The order comes after Chinatown residents sued the city over noise, health concerns and years of planned after-hours construction.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 7:08 p.m. ET
Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools
A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
Pressure grows on Mamdani to reform admissions to NYC specialized high schools
A former top-school official will join councilmembers and other prominent educators at an event focused on specialized high schools.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Police search for man in Central Park sexual assault
By
Charles Lane
Rockefeller Center's 2026 Christmas tree is a 76-foot spruce from Upstate New York
By
Giulia Heyward
‘A killer cop lives here’: Brooklyn arrests raise questions about limits of free speech
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .