DICK ZIMMER

WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer wouldn’t have missed today’s hearing for the world.

“It’s the best show in town. I would have paid money to see it,” said Zimmer, who served three terms in the House in the 1990s and was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1996 and 2008.  After losing to incumbent Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) in November, he returned to his work as a lobbyist at a Washington, DC firm. 

New Jersey Republicans are likely to nominate a pro-life candidate for Governor today - only the sixth abortion opponent to win a statewide GOP primary since the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.  Pro-Choice Republicans have won fourteen statewide Republican primaries.

Gov. Jon Corzine's consideration of a Republican running mate, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Joan Verplanck, is an idea that has worked for two other Democratic Governors in recent years.  In Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius picked Republicans to run with her in 2002 (John Moore, a former Kansas Chamber of Commerce Chairman and Cessna executive) and 2006 (Mark Parkinson, a former legislator and GOP State Chairman who became Governor when Sebelius resigned in April.)  Brian Schweitzer, the Democratic Governor of Montana, picked Republican State Sen. John Bohlinger as his running mate in 2004; they were re-elected last year. 

The death of Jack Kemp leaves six living former unsuccessful major party nominees for Vice President: Sargent Shriver (1972), Bob Dole (1976), Geraldine Ferraro (1984), Joe Lieberman (2000), John Edwards (2004) and Sarah Palin (2008).  There are also five living former Vice Presidents.  Of the six, three -- Dole, Lieberman and Edwards -- carried New Jersey.

In New Jersey, there are eleven living former unsuccessful major party candidates for United States Senator: Warren Wilentz (1966), David Norcross (1976), Jeff Bell (1978), Mary Mochary (1984), Peter Dawkins (1988), Christine Todd Whitman (1990), Chuck Haytaian (1994), Dick Zimmer (1996 and 2008), Bob Franks (2000), Douglas Forrester (2002) and Tom Kean, Jr. (2006).

New Jersey also has five living unsuccessful major party candidates for Governor: Raymond Bateman (1977), Peter Shapiro (1985), Jim Courter (1989), Bret Schundler (2001), and Douglas Forrester (2005).  Two other losing gubernatorial candidates, Jim Florio (1981 and 1993) and James E. McGreevey (1997) were subsequently elected Governor.

Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre has expressed some interest in running for Congress next year against Democrat Rush Holt.

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre is considering a bid for Congress against Democrat Rush Holt in 2010 and spent some time on last week's Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington making some early fundraising connections.  Holt is a heavy favorite to win a seventh term, but in a hypothetical situation where President Barack Obama's approval ratings during his midterm election were in decline, New Jersey 12 is the type of district that could be on the bubble of competitiveness.

Holt, 60, was elected to Congress in 1998 in a 51%-48% upset victory that took advantage of incumbent Michael Pappas' weaknesses.  He defied pundits two years later by holding the seat against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, winning by just 651 votes.  Boosted by some adjustments to his district after the 2000 Census, Holt won 61% against former N.J. Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries in 2002, 59% against GOP activist Bill Spadea in 2004, 65% against former Helmetta Councilman Joseph Sinagra in 2006, and 62% against Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman in 2008.

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who began his fifth term in the U.S. Senate in January 2008, has beaten fifteen Democrats, five Republicans and 20 Independents on his path to becoming the longest serving Senator in New Jersey history.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) is not on the ballot this year, giving Republicans hope that they can pickup two Assembly seats in the 1st district.

The best shot for the Republicans to pick up a State Assembly seat is in the first district, where incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will need to defend their seats without the benefit of State Sen. Jeff Van Drew at the top of the ticket.  They won in 2007 as the popular Van Drew was ousting GOP incumbent Nicholas Asselta by twelve points.  Albano, swept into office as Van Drew's running mate in 2005, won comfortably; Milam beat Republican Michael Donohue by 2,020 votes.  This is the first time in history that Cape May County is represented by all Democratic legislators.

Milam won't be helped by his admission that he parked in a handicapped spot last October.  The freshman Assemblyman initially sought a trial, alleging that the spot was not clearly marked.  This is not the most egregious offense for a New Jersey legislator in recent years, but it could make a decent mailer and cable TV ad.  Donohue is reportedly interested in running again.

District 1 may be among the most politically competitive in the state, although it has clearly trended Democratic over the last three years.  George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry by 4,792 votes, and Barack Obama beat John McCain by 5,095.  Jon Corzine beat Doug Forrester by 2,984 in the 2005 gubernatorial race, and Tom Kean, Jr. defeated Robert Menendez for U.S. Senate in 2006 by 3,439.  All three of those races were about 53%-47%.

Getty Images Photo

Bill Bradley (above) and Frank Lautenberg are the only incumbent Democrats to win re-election in New Jersey in the last thirty years.

As he prepares to launch his bid for a second term, Governor Jon Corzine will seek to become the first Democrat not named Frank Lautenberg to win re-election in New Jersey since Bill Bradley just narrowly defeated Christine Todd Whitman in a U.S. Senate race nineteen years ago. 

Lautenberg's victory over Republican Dick Zimmer last year ended a fourteen-year drought for Democratic incumbents winning re-election.  The last time was in 1994, when Lautenberg beat Republican Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian, the Assembly Speaker.   During the subsequent fourteen years, no Democratic statewide officeholder was re-elected to a second term.

Republicans are looking to end twelve-year drought; they haven't won statewide since Whitman was re-elected Governor in 1997.  Since that election, Republican statewide candidates have been victorious  in 49 other states, as well as in Puerto Rico and Guam.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s (R-Montville) call for Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson to resign will not likely be answered in the affirmative, but whether Wilson will serve another two-year term is uncertain.

After Wilson’s term expires in June, tradition dictates that the Republican gubernatorial nominee gets to pick the next chairman. That choice will be ratified by the 42-member Republican State Committee, which will likely accede to the nominee’s pick.

“We have a tradition in the Republican Party that the successful gubernatorial nominee is the one who gets to decide who his or her state chair will be,” said Wilson, who said he did not want to respond to Pennacchio’s press release. “I expect that not to be any different. If there’s a nominee who wants to ask me if I’m interested in staying, that will be a discussion between that nominee and I.”

However, multiple Republican sources say that Wilson has never intended to seek another term as state chairman. In fact, there was talk of him stepping down before the primary, although he said today that he will serve until at least June.

Wilson, for his part, said that his decision in June will depend on “who that nominee is and what kind of vision they have going forward.”

"I will defer completely to the nominee, and if that person wants someone different that’s what they’re entitled to. If they want me to stick around for some period of time, we’ll have a discussion about that.”

Frank Lautenberg won re-election to his fifth term in the U.S. Senate by a 56%-42% margin over Republican Dick Zimmer, a former Congressman

In the twelve states where Democratic U.S. Senators were seeking re-election in 2008, New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg had the second closest race.  Lautenberg beat former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer by a solid 56%-42% margin; the only Democratic Senator in a closer race was Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who won 52%-46%.  Barack Obama won New Jersey 57%-42%, while John McCain carried Louisiana by a 59%-40% margin.