Leonard Lance

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac confirmed that he had two summertime meetings with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) about the possibility of challenging freshman U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) in 2010, but told the DCCC late last month he won't run.

"I was flattered to be considered but i have the job I've always loved and I'm only halfway through my first term," said McCormac. "I made a commitment to the people of Woodbridge."

A former state treasurer, McCormac said he had one meeting with the DCCC in Woodbridge in early June. Later the same month he went to Washington, D.C. for more talks.

"I told them sometime in the last month I wouldn't be a candidate for consideration," McCormac said.

Gov. Jon Corzine, right, with Somerset County Democratic Party Chair Peg Schaffer and Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Franklin Township), left.

SOMERVILLE - When President Barack Obama choppered into Holmdel and stood at a podium with Gov. Jon Corzine as flashbulbs popped, the event went down as a high profile rescue effort by the president of a governor for whom much of the Democratic Party was hitting the panic button.

Today, in a seeming effort to shake off the candidate in distress designation and himself come to the oratorical aid of a president whose own favorables have dipped since his appearance at the PNC Arts Center earlier this summer, Corzine sounded a note of defiant allegiance to Obama.

"Our president is under attack," Corzine told a crowd of 75-100 rain-spattered troops at the opening of the Somerset County Democratic Party headquarters on Division Street. "We need to send him a signal that we're with him. We're not going backwards, we're going forward."

While the governor is running nine points behind GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, the Christie campaign had a week and a half of negative headlines, which may have tightened the race.

"Everything is moving in the right direction," Corzine roared. "Let's keep it going. Things are moving in the right direction, right?"

Staffers working for a legislator who resigns or dies in office keep their jobs until a successor is elected and seated.  While there are no formal rules dictating how legislative offices should operate in the event of a vacancy, in recent years the Senate President and Assembly Speaker have authorized district offices to remain open and staff to continue to be paid.  Those staffs are supervised by the Senate Secretary or the Assembly Clerk, although there is relatively little oversight in those situations.

The staff of former Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean) remains intact, even though Van Pelt resigned last week after being arrested on federal corruption charges.  And while Speaker Joseph Roberts has effectively suspended two legislators facing criminal charges without pay, Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy) and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) continue to have district offices and staffs who report to them.

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan issued an op-ed blast to supporters this morning entitled "The Hollow Men," rebuking campaign operative allies of GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, State Party Chairman Jay Webber, pro-cap and trade Republican congressmen, and the state party in general for what Lonegan cites as an abandonment of conservative principles.

"Since the Primary Election, loyal Republicans have been baffled by the behavior of the GOP establishment in New Jersey," writes Lonegan in his most pointed criticism of his party since losing the nomination to Christie on June 2nd. "First, operatives in the campaign of our nominee for Governor, Chris Christie, monkeyed around with the social issues page on his website, gaining the attention of the media before resolving what they caused.

"Then, at the meeting of the Republican State Committee – the men and women elected from each county to formulate and advance the party’s principles – the party leadership blocked a move to formally adopt the platform of the national Republican Party, as well as blocking a resolution condemning Governor Corzine’s tax hikes.  At least one major newspaper, the Star-Ledger, linked the leadership’s refusal to adopt our Party’s platform to the fact it contains Pro-Life and Pro-Traditional Marriage planks."

The legendary sports journalist, Jimmy Cannon of the now defunct New York Journal-American said of Howard Cosell: “His real name is Howard Cohen, he wears a toupee, and he claims to tell it like it is.”

Of Leonard Lance, it may similarly be said:  He voted as a state Senator to reappoint Deborah Poritz as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he voted as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the Democrat cap-and-trade proposal on greenhouse gases, and he claims to be a mainstream Republican.

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Conservative strategist Rick Shaftan says potential candidates have emerged to take on three Republicans who voted for cap and trade

Cape May County Republican Chairman David Von Savage said today that he does not agree with U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo's (R-Vineland) vote on cap-and-trade, but that conservative political consultant Rick Shaftan is “taking advantage of a highly volatile situation” by helping candidates take up primary challenges against three Republican congressmen who voted for cap-and-trade legislation on Friday.  

“I think Rick Shaftan is reckless," said Von Savage. I understand Rick is a vendor, and therefore looking for willing accomplices to advance his financial endgame.”  

Von Savage, whose county is entirely represented by LoBiondo, said that he does not agree with the his congressman's vote.  Instead, he favors tax incentives for alternative energy development and over  “punitive levels of taxation” to wean the United States off foreign fossil fuels.  

“While there are issues regarding the Congressman’s vote with conservatives in the party, I think it’s irresponsible for Shaftan to be sticking his nose down this way,” he said.  “Respectfully, what he ought to do is consider relocating to the south and utilizing his approach to campaigning south of the Mason-Dixon Line.”

Sources say that three Republican Congressmen who backed Christopher Christie over Steven Lonegan in the 2009 gubernatorial primary may be challenged for the GOP nomination when they run for re-election next year.  Conservative activists are seeking candidates to run against Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor), Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), and Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

Look for a possible upset in northwestern New Jersey: sources say that State Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) is trailing Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) in the race for the GOP State Senate nomination in District 23, according to Karrow's internal polling.  This would be a stunning comeback for Doherty, who won just 42% against Karrow in a January special election convention after Leonard Lance resigned to take his seat in Congress.

Keep an eye on District 23, where Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) is challenging State Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan).  Karrow beat Doherty rather easily in a January special election convention after Leonard Lance left the Senate to take a seat in Congress.  But Doherty has traditionally been a strong vote getter in GOP primaries in this Hunterdon-Warren district.  Karrow has more money, the line in Hunterdon (there is no line in Warren) and the advantages of incumbency, but Doherty has an exceptionally strong base among conservatives and could benefit from a strong turnout among supporters of GOP gubernatorial candidate Steven Lonegan. 

The winner of the primary will run in a November special election to complete the remaining 26 months of Lance’s term.

In the State Assembly primary, Assemblyman John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown), who won a special election convention to replace Karrow, and Hunterdon County Freeholder Erik Peterson are running together.  They face Edward Smith, who is Doherty’s Chief of Staff.

State Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) has raised twice as much as her GOP primary opponent, Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) in the race for State Senate in the 23rd district.  The two will face off on June 2 for the second time this year in a special election for the seat of Leonard Lance, who resigned in after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Karrow has raised $99,136 and has $67,048 cash on hand.  Doherty has raised $49,318 and has $33,023 remaining in his war chest.