State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is a possible candidate for Congress against John Adler in 2010

If Republicans can't beat John Adler in 2010, chances are they never will.  If Adler wins a second term, watch for mapmakers to take take some heavily Republican Ocean County towns out of his district when new congressional districts are drawn for the 2012 elections.  Adler scored a 52%-48% victory last week over Republican Christopher Myers for the seat of retiring twelve term U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton -- a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1882.

Republican insiders say that Myers isn't likely to get a second shot at the seat, and that the favorite candidate could be former major league baseball pitcher Al Leiter.  Leiter, a Toms River native who has said he wants to run for office someday, has turned down several offers to seek U.S. Senate and House seats in recent years.  Other possible Adler opponents include: State Sen. Diane Allen (who must first heal wounds in a very fractured Burlington County Republican organization); State Sen. Phil Haines; Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego; Assemblyman Brian Rumpf; and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who lost the '08 GOP primary to Myers.

Frank Lautenberg becomes the first U.S. Senator from New Jersey to win a fifth term, but didn't set any records for winning percentages.  His 56% against former U.S. Rep. Richard Zimmer was his career best, but he didn't approach the 60% mark that Bill Bradley, Clifford Case and Harrison Williams had achieved back in a time when the state was more politically competitive.  Still, the 84-year-old Democrat is secure for the next six years, and did not have to sweat much after pushing back a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews.

The 3rd district congressional race between Democrat John Adler and Republican Christopher Myers is a statistical dead heat, according to a Zogby International poll conducted by The Press of Atlantic City and The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.  More than 16% of the voters poll remain undecided, with each candidate at 39%.   Adler, a State Senator from Camden County, and Myers, the Mayor of Medford, are seeking the seat of Republican Jim Saxton, who is retiring after 24 years in the House.  Republicans have held this seat since 1884.

Third district voters are also split on races for President and U.S. Senate: Barack Obama, 45%, John McCain, 44%; and Dick Zimmer, 45%, Frank Lautenberg 44%.

Democrats and Republicans seem to agree that 84-year-old U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg did just fine in his debate this week with Republican Dick Zimmer.  The George Allen/James Stockdale kind of moment Republicans were hoping for never happened; pundits from both sides say that Lautenberg won it on his own merits.  Zimmer complained that this was the first Senate campaign in years that didn't include a debate on New York and Philadelphia network affiliate television (this debate was on NJ101.5 radio, and Saturday's on New Jersey Public Television) -- a move that got him in a ton of trouble with NJ101.5's The Jersey Guys.

With Louis Greenwald out of the race for State Senator if John Adler wins his race for Congress, one possible candidate is South Jersey AFL-CIO President Donald Norcross, the brother of South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross.  Donald Norcross was widely expected to go to Congress this year before incumbent Rob Andrews decided to reclaim the seat he gave up to challenge Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. 

Rob Andrews Goes AWOL

Andrews refuses to actively campaign
while Glading breaks voter milestone

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 1st District, broke a key milestone in his campaign for Congress this week. Glading has met more than 25,000 targeted Democrats, independents, and uncommitted Republican voters since August 1.

In contrast, his opponent, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, an 18-year incumbent and member of the Washington elite, has held no known public campaign events, has not launched a campaign website, and has not made any effort to engage the voters.

When Andrews squirmed back into the race in September, his campaign manager claimed that Rob would take no votes for granted and would campaign vigorously. But, reminiscent of his wife’s non-existent, phantom campaign in the primary and summer months, Rob Andrews has done exactly the opposite.

To top it all off, Andrews has failed to appear at an astounding 40 percent of his agreed-to public appearances, including the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce candidates’ forum and a digital town hall debate at Sterling High School.

“One has to ask the question: does Rob Andrews really want to be re-elected?” Glading inquired. “When he lost his Senate primary to Frank Lautenberg, he spent the next several months telling anyone who would ask that he wouldn’t return to Congress.”

“Rob Andrews even told an NJN reporter that he believed the best man for the job of representing the 1st District was now someone other than him,” Glading continued. “And on that point, we are in total agreement.”

“Then Rob slid back into the race at the last minute, affirmed by voice vote in a closed-door session,” Glading added. “Since then, he has not campaigned and he has refused to appear at several scheduled forums and events.”

“Is Rob Andrews simply tired of being our congressman?” Glading asked. “It certainly seems so. Since 1997 he has done nothing but use his congressional seat to run for higher office, and it looks like this year his total lack of concern for his constituents has reached epidemic proportions.”

“By contrast, I have spent the past 10 months meeting voters and listening to their concerns,” Glading concluded. “If Rob Andrews’ real wish is to return to private life, the voters of the 1st District and me are happy to oblige him this November 4th.”

It’s not exactly a surprise, but the incumbent Congressmen in safe districts who have statewide aspirations tend to have the largest war chests.

Take, for instance, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch).  His Republican opponent, former Judge Robert McLeod, didn’t even raise the $5,000 that would require him to fill out a report with the Federal Election Commission.  But Pallone is raising and spending money anyway, raking in $302,139 last quarter for a total of $2.18 million this election cycle.  He has $3.36 million on hand – the largest war chest in Congress – and spent $304,000 this quarter.

That money is not being spent against McLeod.  The expenditures listed in the FEC report includes a $189,015 cable television ad buy.  The commercial, which began on Tuesday, is playing all over the state north of Interstate 195, in places well beyond Pallone’s district.

Rob Andrews:
“Exceedingly Poor”

Two more failed bills brings
Andrews’ record to 1 out of 538 since ‘93

BARRINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, a nine-term incumbent who has spent 18 years as a member of the Washington elite, has sunk even further down the rankings in terms of his legislative ability and influence in Congress.

According to Govtrack.us, Rep. Rob Andrews’ “congressional batting average” now stands at a miserable .002. Since 1993, Andrews has authored 538 different bills, with only one of them being enacted into law. His abysmal legislative record has earned Andrews a rating of “exceedingly poor,” the lowest ranking for any member of Congress.

As a result of Andrews’ legislative ineptitude, his congressional “power ranking” also fell to an historic low. According to Congress.org, Andrews is now the second to lowest ranked Democrat from the Class of 1990. In fact, the only representative who is considered less influential than Rob Andrews is William Jefferson of Louisiana, who is currently under federal indictment.

“Rob’s congressional record is an embarrassment to South Jersey,” charged Dale Glading, Andrews’ opponent in November’s election. “His nonexistent legislative record has made Rob Andrews the laughingstock of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

“However, South Jerseyans aren’t laughing,” Glading added. “Because of Rob’s lack of influence in Congress, our district receives only 61 cents for every tax dollar we send to Washington. That ranks us dead last in the entire United States.”

“When freshman congressmen are more respected by their peers than a nine-term incumbent, it's time to make a change,” Glading continued. “Rob Andrews has failed to effectively represent South Jersey, and now we’re paying the price for his ineptitude.”

“Maybe Rob would have done a better job if he hadn’t repeatedly used his congressional seat to run for higher office,” concluded Glading. “But his insatiable political ego got the best of him, and he’s had it on autopilot ever since he first ran for governor in 1997.”

One name that probably won't receive much consideration for United States Attorney, if Barack Obama wins the presidency:  Walter Timpone, a politically connected ex-federal prosecutor who has coveted the job for years.  Timpone gave the maximum $4,600 to Rob Andrews' campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination earlier this year, and his contributions in the presidential race went to Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, not Obama.  Timpone spent eleven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and was named by a panel of Judges to monitor elections in Passaic County.  He currently represents Laborers International Union of America (LIUNA), which backed Andrews against Lautenberg in the Senate primary.