Kate Whitman

FLEMINGTON – Despite the bustle of mothers lined up at the entrance to Robert Hunter Elementary School, the path marked by a "vote" arrow sits untraveled.

Inside the polling area, a gymnasium, the space sits completely empty, except for an election worker irritated by our presence. "Turnout is low," he said before showing PolitickerNJ.com the exit.

This doesn't trouble Amanda Woloshen , spokeswoman for 7th District Congressional candidate Leonard Lance. "Turnout is as expected, moderate to low," she says, "but we're in a very good position."

This is Lance country.

Congressional candidate Kate Whitman is joined by her mother, former Gov. Christie Whitman, at a dinner in Scotch Plains
SCOTCH PLAINS - A familiar face joined 7th District Congressional candidate Kate Whitman as she trailed through diners along US-22 today, her mother former Gov. Christie Whitman.

"I thought I was done with this," the former governor said jokingly. Her public presence, only the second time in this campaign, lent a familiar face to voters who seemed to be caught off guard that today was Primary Day.

"I didn't even know she was running for anything," Cindy Soloway of Scotch Plains told PolitickerNJ.com, "What is she running for?"

When one diner asked Whitman who else was running, Whitman raised her right hand and swiftly rattled off the names of her 6 opponents, "Its me, Leonard Lance, Kelly Hatfield…" she continued, counting her finger tips.

Seventh district Congressional candidate Kate Whitman touted a last minute endorsement from Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout today.

That’s Whitman’s first endorsement from Republican rival Leonard Lance’s native Hunterdon County. Lance supported Trout’s unsuccessful opponent, George Muller, in a close primary for sheriff last year.

Clockwise from lower left: Leonard Lance, AD Amar, Martin Marks, Darren Young, Kelly Hatfield, Thomas Roughneen, Kate Whitman. 

MOUNTAINSIDE - The seven Republican candidates for Congress in the 7th District debated at Town Hall here on Thursday night in a one-hour forum moderated by Fred Rossi of the Westfield Leader and Scotch Plains Fanwood Times.

As expected, most of the criticism flew in the direction of state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), who in turn directed his ire at the $10 trillion national debt.

Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen of Watchung attacked Lance’s environmental advocacy, while Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks and businesswoman Kate Whitman of Peapack-Gladstone blasted him for not being a more effective fighter in state government for property tax relief.

MOUNTAINSIDE - Martin Marks, mayor of Scotch Plains for the past nine years and a candidate for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, spent mush of the evening targeting presumed front-runner state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).

"I am unafraid to stand up to members of my own party when they don't act, when they should have," he said.

But when Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen and busineswoman Kate Whitman went after Marks on taxes, the mayor chastised both of them.

MOUNTAINSIDE - Kelly Hatfield gets the crowd in Town Hall here toFormer Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield clap for the "great Republican farm team we have," while Martin Marks takes verbal slaps at Kate Whitman and Thomas Roughneen and praises Hatfield.

"You two are the probably the youngest people on this dais," Marks tells Whitman and Roughneen, seated to his right and left.

"Why don’t you walk a mile in our shoes?" he asks, referring them to local elected officials.

MOUTAINSIDE - With her mother sitting next to her husband in the front row, Kate Whitman notes that her opponents have attacked her for her last name, but insists that she has run the most substantive, issues-driven campaign.

And she throws a verbal punch at the elected officials in the race.

"I’m the only one to release a six-point plan," says Whitman, daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman. "Every person on this dais - given the chance - voted for tax increases."

Now they have signed a no-new-taxes pledge but "Who can believe them?" the 31-year old candidate wonders.

MOUTAINSIDE - Newspaper editor Fred Rossi asks Kate Whitman toKate Whitman grade George W. Bush as a commander-in-chief.

"The important thing is not how we got there but what we would do now that we’re there," she says.

Likening herself to the Speaker of the House, Whitman says, "I don’t think I or Nancy Pelosi" should second guess the decision by generals in the field.

Then Sen. Leonard Lance takes a question about whether we are winning the war on terror.

Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks"Yes," he says. "We have not had another attack since 9/11. But we have to be vigilant."

He blasts the president of Iran and urges alertness in the face of aggression by Iran. He gives a shout-out to Sen. John McCain and his "magnificent" service in the Vietnam War.

Now it’s Martin Marks’s turn to talk about the Middle East.

"This will continue to be an unstable region," he says. "I don’t think it’s been made more problematic by our presence there."

Democrat Linda Stender continues to outpace the field of seven Republicans in the seventh congressional district.
Stender raised $135,000 between April 1st and May 14th, and has approximately $900,000 on hand. 

The next best fundraiser in the district is Kate Whitman, who wasn’t too far behind Stender during the same period.  She raised $102,000, bringing her total raised to $547,989.  As of May 14th, Whitman had $205,384.81 on hand. 

Conservative, constitutional approach vs. liberal views