March 5, 2008 - 9:04am
News

Estabrook was the Republican the Democrats feared most

Anne Estabrook’s departure from the United States Senate race takes a potentially strong general election candidate out of the running for a party that hasn’t won a Senate contest since 1972.  Her withdrawal means Republicans lose a candidate who was prepared to self-fund a campaign to oust the four-term incumbent, Frank Lautenberg.  Estabrook was experiencing some of the obstacles that normally go to first time candidates -- not entirely unlike Lautenberg’s 1982 campaign against Millicent Fenwick – but Republicans expected that by November, she would emerge as a fierce competitor against the 84-year-old incumbent.  In time, the skills that made Estabrook successful in business and philanthropy would likely have extended to her political career.  Her outsider status and her money made her the candidate Democrats feared most in a general election.

Wally Edge can be reached via email at politicsnj@aol.com.