In LD 23: pro-life and pro-gun versus pro-gun and anti-partial birth abortions

CLINTON - Battling state Sen. Marcia Karrow's (R-Raritan Twp.) earlier week endorsement by the National Rifle Association (NRA), challenger Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) did a Sunday morning church blast touting his backing by New Jersey Right to Life.

"We went to every conservative church we know and put up flyers reminding people that Mike Doherty is a strong pro-life leader," said the Assemblyman.

Rejected by the joint Warren and Hunterdon county party organizations at a special convention earlier this year, Doherty has surfaced on the trail as a dogged campaigner in his quest to wrestle the 23rd District senate seat away from incumbent Karrow.

A left-right combination mail piece and robocall branding Doherty on Memorial Day weekend as a white flag apologist on the Iraq War question sent the retired Army captain and West Point grad. into overdrive with a counter robocall issued by his wife objecting to "party bosses and Karrow attacking our patriotic family."

Sitting in McDonald's Sunday afternoon for a few minutes after banging on doors in Glen Gardner, Doherty grimly considered the war of robocalls.

"I told my guys to stop ours finally," he said. "I really think the days of robocalls have come to an end. People are telling me they're getting a dozen a day. It's abusing folks."  

Already a feisty GOP standout on the Senate Budget Committee who went on the attack after assessing state aid numbers for Jersey City when numerous city administrators make six digit salaries and a reognized authority on the Highlands Act issue, Karrow told the Express-Times in a story issued today that her senate race is "about substance over symbolism."

Her soundbites have a way of setting Doherty's teeth on edge.

 "People want you to stand up," said Doherty, a movement conservative aligned with Steve Lonegan's renegade gubernatorial campaign. "Substance is standing up.

"We'll see what the people decide," Doherty added. "I've beaten Marica - I've been the high vote-getter - in all of our contests. I feel confident."

Panned by archrival party insiders over here as more intent on campaigning than governing, Doherty now in dogged door-to-door mode in the closing hours of this contest has penetrated the worry zone of establishment Republicans who had dismissed him as a has-been after the convention, and who now rally around Karrow's re-election with renewed effort.