Leonard Lance

A GOP candidate for the Assembly in the 23rd District, Hunterdon County Freeholder Matthew Holt this week announced endorsements from former state Sen. Bill Schluter, former Hunterdon County Clerk Dottie Tirpok, and former Warren County Clerk Terry Lee. 

"I know the Trenton scene and what it takes to be an effective Legislator,” Schluter, who served as senator of the district for 13 years, wrote in a letter to Hunterdon/Warren County Republican Committee members.

“Matt will not let partisan gridlock prevent him from seeking responsible bipartisan solutions for the public good.  He is not flamboyant -- he works quietly and efficiently with constituents including farmers, environmentalists, and citizen advocacy groups. He will perform his Legislative duties in a fair and responsible manner while protecting the interest of the 23rd district, earning both your respect, as well as the respect of his fellow legislators."

Hunterson County Freeholder Erik Peterson wants the State Assembly seat of Mike Doherty or Marcia Karrow, one of whom will go to the State Senate.

Hunterdon County Freeholder Erik Peterson has entered the race for the Assembly in the 23rd District.

"I want to bring Republican principles of fiscal; conservatism, limited government and open, honest government that is accountable to the people of New Jersey to the Legislature," Peterson, an attorney and political protege of U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), said in a letter to party members.

Peterson’s entry means there are now at least three GOP contenders in the race created by former state Sen. Lance's victory last year and the movement directly beneath him of two lawmakers eager to move up in his absence.

Hunterdon County Freeholder Matthew Holt this week released the names of elected officials endorsing him for the Assembly in the 23rd District. 

"From the very first announcement of my intent to run to represent the 23rd Legislative District last November, the outpouring of support has been overwhelming,” said Holt, who originally contemplated a run for the state senate seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

“Since following the advice of my campaign committee, and seeking the anticipated Assembly seat, the support base has grown, and continues to grow daily,” added the Republican candidate.  “Having spent the past 15 years serving at every level, from school board, to councilmember, mayor, and freeholder, coupled with my ownership of a small business in the county, I bring with me a strong understanding of the needs of our district.”

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Twp.)

Assemblyman Michael Doerty (R-Washington Twp.) announced two Hunterdon County endorsements for his 23rd District state senate run, that of High Bridge Mayor Mark Desire and Tewksbury Municipal Chair Shaun Van Doren.

  "Mike Doherty is the best candidate for State Senate in the 23rd Legislative District,” said Desire. “He clearly has more experience than anyone else in the race, and, more importantly, he shares my conservative values. As our Assemblyman, Mike has always been there to help High Bridge when we need his assistance. He has my wholehearted endorsement for State Senate."

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) last November on Election Night.

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) today announced that he has been appointed to the House Financial Services Committee.
 
“This assignment will allow me to work immediately as a member of the House Committee that will directly address the historic financial crisis facing our country,” said Lance in a release.  “I am extremely honored and pleased to be a new member of the House Financial Services Committee, and I look forward to using my experience to advocate for fiscal responsibility in Washington and deliver economic relief and reform to New Jersey’s working families and their counterparts across the country.”

Bill Palatucci, Chris Christie's former law partner, managed campaigns for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Tom Kean.

Democrats seem determined to tie former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie to President Bush if he becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, but Christie’s allies say that it was the ex-Prosecutor’s friend and top strategist, William Palatucci, who avidly championed Bush when he began running for President in the late 1990’s.

Christie, who was Palatucci’s law partner, raised money for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign as part of a bigger effort coordinated by Palatucci, a veteran Republican operative who ran campaigns for Ronald Reagan, Thomas Kean and George H.W. Bush.

“It’s hard to imagine the Democrats not using every opportunity possible to highlight the fact that Chris Christie was part of an effort that raised significant money for George W. Bush, one of the most unpopular politicians in a generation” said Ben Dworkin, director of the David Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “He’s had an outstanding career as U.S. Attorney. But the connection is different from the one the Democrats tried to use against U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance.”

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), the Democratic candidate for Congress against Lance, ran repeated TV ads of Lance’s face interposed with that of Bush.  Lance won by nine percentage points.

“But Christie’s different than Lance because Lance didn’t become an assemblyman and senator because George Bush picked him,” said Dworkin. “Christie became U.S. Attorney because George Bush did.”

The main strand of the Bush-Christie connection hinges on what for Palatucci was a fortuitous encounter with the younger Bush as the then-Texas governor geared up for his 2000 presidential campaign.

At that point, Palatucci’s relationship with the Bushes was already long and recurring, and it was in his role as the New Jersey chief of the presidential campaigns of Bush’s father that he developed a relationship with the younger Bush.

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) today laid down another barrage of local endorsements for his state senate run in the 23rd District, where he hopes to succeed newly sworn-in U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

Doherty’s trying to defeat Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan Twp.), whose home base of Hunterdon is the bigger of the two counties sharing the 23rd District. 

To that end, he burnished the support of three Warren County mayors: Michael Lavery of Hacketstown, Douglas Steinhardt of Lopatcong, and Samir Elbassiouny of Washington Township. Each gave Doherty an unequivocal thumbs up.

Getty Images Photo

Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to seek re-election to a second term in 2009.

Look for former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie to file papers this month as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor.   The former federal prosecutor is expected to become the establishment GOP candidate in a primary against former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan, the leader of the conservative wing of the New Jersey GOP.   Two other candidates, Assemblyman Richard Merkt and Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine, are also mulling gubernatorial bids.

Incumbent Jon Corzine is expected to seek a second term as Governor, and is likely to run unopposed in the Democratic primary.  Not since Brendan Byrne faced nine rivals, including two Congressmen and a member of his own cabinet, in 1977 has a sitting Governor faced serious opposition for the nomination of his or her own party.  Corizne has struggled to win the approval of voters, but he's a Democrat in a very blue state, and he is expected to spend a huge amount of money to get re-elected.  It will be hard for any Republican to beat him.

If budget issues or e-mails make it impossible for Corzine to continue his race, look for a spirited Democratic primary with Senate President (and former Governor) Richard Codey as the front runner.

New Jerseyans will elect a Lieutenant Governor for the first time in 2009.  The new state law requires the winners of the major party gubernatorial primaries to pick a running mate, much like vice presidential candidates are designated after a presidential nominee is picked.

U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance (R-Flemington)

RARITAN TWP. – Pledging to make his home county proud in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) told the crowd here that tomorrow is his last day as a state senator. 

“I will resign at noon under Amendment 20,” he told the group of Raritan Township officials and friends on the occasion of the town’s reorganization this evening.  “I will be sworn in (to Congress) on Tuesday.”  

Lance called the coming Congress the “most historic since the New Deal,” and noted how once on the floor he will have to almost immediately consider the merits of a one trillion dollar second stimulus package.   

State Sen. Kip Bateman (R-Somerset) poses with Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Twp.).

RARITAN TWP. – As he stood in a crowd of Hunterdon County politicians, state Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R-Somerset) quickly became the object of attention for one of them, who happens at the moment to be in the middle of a political war.  

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) wanted help from Bateman in the form of an endorsement. 

He and Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Flemington), his   rival for the 23rd District state senate seat vacated by U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), have both been aggressively seeking endorsements, and no one has yet seen Bateman pick a side. Now Doherty towered over him. 

Here was Bateman’s chance.