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.”

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.

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.

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.   

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.

New Jersey’s two new congressmen-elect – state Sens. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) and Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) -- will appear on On the Record this weekend with host Michael Aron, airing Sunday at 9a.m. and 11a.m., and Monday at 6:30a.m. on NJN. 

On Reporters Roundtable, Aron will host Star-Ledger columnist Mark DiOnno; WBGO-WHYY Radio reporter Mary Fuchs; Gannett’s Michael Symons and the Bergen Record’s John Reitmeyer.  They’ll discuss the Republican state budget lawsuit, the pension deferral bill and Bob Mulcahy. The show airs tonight at 7:00 and repeats on Sunday at 10a.m.

In the 23rd Legislative District, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Flemington) has won the support of the Hunterdon County Republican Executive Committee to move up to the state senate seat of outgoing Congressman-elect Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

The 18-member committee chose to back Karrow over Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) and Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt "overwhelmingly," according to Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl.

The decision is not particularly surprising, as Karrow has been expected to win organizational support from her native county. But it reinforces a geographical advantage Karrow has over Doherty and Holt in a contest where Republican committee members from Hunterdon and the less populous Warren County will decide who gets to fill in for Lance until next January. As it has more residents, Hunterdon County has roughly 40 vote advantage over Warren County.

Although not all members will vote strictly along geographical lines, Kuhl said that the executive committee's support will probably have some influence.

"It has an influence, but I think what is also very important is [Karrow] had 14 Hunterdon mayors and eight Warren County mayors endorse her," said Kuhl.

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Warren County Freeholder Director John DiMaio today formally endorsed Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty (R-Washington Township) for the 23rd District state senate seat U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance is vacating to go to Congress.

"I have worked side-by-side with Mike as a member of the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders. He has a strong work ethic and he has always taken the correct stand on difficult issues,” said DiMaio in a statement.

“Mike is a true friend of families and taxpayers as evidenced by his record as a Freeholder and Assemblyman. Mike Doherty is one of the most focused individuals that I have worked with in my 28 years of elected service,” the freeholder director added. “When the little guy needs a hand, Mike is always ready to help out. Mike has earned my respect and he will be a great asset to all of us in the 23rd District as our next Senator."