Sources: Christodoulou mulls 2010 challenge to Lance

By Max Pizarro | December 16th, 2009 - 5:49am

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Sources: Christodoulou mulls 2010 challenge to Lance

Zenon Christodoulou

BRIDGEWATER - Businessman and Democratic Party fundraiser Zenon Christodoulou is considering a 2010 challenge to U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) in the 7th District, according to party sources.

"He would be a high quality candidate," said Peg Schaffer, chair of the Somerset County Democratic Organization. "He is a businesman and family man with a deep understanding of economics and trade and a personal committment to people and economic fairness."

"I think he would be a great candidate, to be honest with you," affirmed Manville Democrat Joe Lukac, a former borough party chair. "He's a very honest person with a lot of integrity. At this point, Leonard Lance doesn't have anything to say in his defence. He promised us $1 million in aid and delivered $150,000 to Manville this year. He's got a lot more to prove.

"The way I look at it, Zenon's a go-getter," Lukac added. "He's the type - like Angelo Corradino was when he was mayor of Manvillle - who if he can't get what he wants at the state level, he'll get on a train or plane and go to Washington D.C. to get it. Zenon's the type who wouild make a point of fighting."

Contacted by PolitickerNJ.com, the 45-year old Christodolou issued a brief statement, saying only that he wants to do "whatever he can to help the country."

Without commenting directly on a question regarding his interest in the 7th District Congressional seat, the self-described conservative Democrat said, "I am fundamentally concerned with restoring America's greatness in the world.

"In my lifetime, America has been the leader of the free world, my family and I have personally felt that profoundly and I want to do whatever I can to help this country maintain its rightful place as a protector of freedom and opportunity."

Democrats in attendance at a Monday night fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) at Nanina's in the Park buzzed with talk of Christodoulou, a former member of The Group, a collection of party members who raised money for the 2008 presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Born in Springfield to a leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, the late Christopher Christodoulou, the vice chairman of the Somerset County Democratic Committee runs a family business based in Garwood, owns a restaurant, and teaches business at William Paterson University while completing his PhD thesis in the same discipline at Pace University.

"Zenon's entry into the race would give us an excellent chance next year," said Schaffer, who wants to confer with the chairs of the other counties contributing to the 7th District (Hunterdon, Union, and Middlesex).

So far, Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr is not ruling out a run, and Schaffer has not yet spoken to Union County Party Chair Charlotte DeFilippo. But while stopping short of endorsing her vice chair, Schaffer said she would not rule out a Democratic Primary next year to find the best challenger to Lance.

Heralding him as a rising star in the party who has proven his mettle as an amiable and effective party fundraiser, Democratic Party insiders worry about Christodolou's prospects of facing the moderate first-term incument at this point in time, in an economic downturn as President Barack Obama's poll numbers dive.

But for the resident of Branchburg - where R's outnumber D's 3-1 in traditionally Republican Somerset County, where Lance beat challenger Linda Stender last year by eight points even as Barack Obama narrowly won Somerset - party members also wonder if there will ever truly be favorable political terrain.

The jolt of energy they received from Obama last year turned into a flatline situation here in November, as Gov.-elect Chris Christie and his GOP allies clobbered Democrats in nearly every down ballot contest.

While alert to the absence of women in New Jersey's Congressional delegation (the 7th was from 1981-1983 the territory of Republican U.S. Rep. Marge Roukema of Ridgewood before redistricting), Karen Carroll, chair of the Bound Brook Democratic Committee, told PolitickerNJ.com she believes Christodoulou would be a good candidate.

"He's very intelligent and very active in the party - and fundraising is an important component of this," said Carroll, who herself ran for Congress in 1994 as a challenger to then-U.S. Rep. Bob Franks, losing 39-60%, she said, in part because her campaign ran out of cash.

Over the course of the past three decades in the 7th District, the two Democrats who came closest to defeating Republican incumbents were two Fanwood women: fomer Mayor Maryanne Connelly (who in 2000 lost to then-U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson 46-52%), and Stender, who in her first challenge in 2006 lost to Ferguson 48-49%.

Tags:

Can someone provide this guy with the White House address?

Submitted by ThomasNJShore on December 16, 2009 - 9:56am.

Sounds like he should be writing a concerned letter to President Obama first.

"In my lifetime, America has been the leader of the free world, my family and I have personally felt that profoundly and I want to do whatever I can to help this country maintain its rightful place as a protector of freedom and opportunity."

A male Kate Whitman

Submitted by bitaryo on December 16, 2009 - 10:32am.

Doesn't seemed to have had a real job.

Prediction

Submitted by The Centrist on December 16, 2009 - 10:59am.

Lance will face a token primary opponent, win by a 2-to-1 margin or more, and then will beat ANY Democratic challenger -- be it Christodoulou or someone else -- by at least 55-45, perhaps even 60-40%.

Lance wins...

Submitted by DemocratDiaz on December 16, 2009 - 2:14pm.

Im a Democrat, and even I know Lance is going to kick ass in 2010.

check your facts bitaryo

Submitted by XVandur on December 16, 2009 - 2:32pm.

Christodoulou is a business owner and a teacher - he creates jobs and educates the work force. He'd make a great candidate.

huge fundraising potential

Submitted by njredblue on December 16, 2009 - 3:50pm.

let's all take a deep breath and remember one of the biggest, if not the biggest reason why elections are often won and candidates are often encouraged to run - the ability to raise big money. and as a member of "The Group" zenon starts off with probably the most compelling fundraising base any candidate could even imagine in NJ. That's big. gigantic. and it will make a signifigant difference here. Intelligent+ savy candidate + huge fundraising potential = winner. fyi -corzine didnt have the first part of the equation so that's why money couldnt save him.

sure, it worked for Linda Stender....

Submitted by maxidoodler on December 16, 2009 - 5:25pm.

NJRedBlue,

Stender raised more than $2.2 million; national Dems threw in another $2 million. groups like Planned Parenthood, ActBlue, MoveOn and Em's List probably sprinkled in another $1 million.

do you really think Zenon is going to do better than that?

oh yeah, Obama was on the top of the ballot and GOP was in poopy-can.

Zenon may be a fine candidate for Congress but he and any other Democrat running against Lance will be in a far, far less advantageous position than Linda Stender in 2008.

2006

Submitted by FlorioFanClub on December 16, 2009 - 6:11pm.

If this was 2006 this guy would be a shoo-in. 2010 is a whole different animal.

Len Lance can also raise lots of money, and is popular in his district.

christiegonewild.blogspot.com

but but ZENON is a member of "the group"

Submitted by bluebird on December 16, 2009 - 7:08pm.

"the group" that was written about on politickernj.com

Zenon, are you deficient?

Submitted by TwentyBears on December 17, 2009 - 11:04am.

You seriously want to run in the 7th CD in 2010?

Lance is going to f--- you up.

Stimulating dialogue

Submitted by XVandur on December 18, 2009 - 10:18am.

It’s a shame that good citizens like Christodoulou who want to serve their communities have to put up with idiots like TwentyBears who say from behind a keyboard what they’d never have the sand to say in person.

Let’s step away from fundraising and popularity contests for a second and talk about integrity: there are a lot of people who aren’t too happy with Lance in CD 7, especially those who are sick of him taking credit for things like the Green Brook Flood Control Project and other projects funded with stimulus money that he voted against.

proof Mr. XVandur...

Submitted by maxidoodler on December 18, 2009 - 3:20pm.

show the group one quote where Lance takes credit for Green Brook or any other project funded with stimulus $$

cuz I went to his website and couldn't find one.

Nothing but a Front Runner.

Submitted by Realtor rick on December 19, 2009 - 8:09pm.

He is nothing but a front runner! In 2007 he donated to Clinton, Biden and Warner in their Presidential bids. I can't trust anybody who doles out donations to everybody who might have a chance to win. Principles matter and it seems he has very few. Please stay out of Somerset County Politics. Personal Money cannot buy you a seat there!

Proof for you

Submitted by XVandur on December 20, 2009 - 4:55pm.

All of this was right on his website. If the money was so vital as he says, why vote against it? And since he did vote against it, why lobby so hard to spend it? (Check out the last paragraph in the first article.) Yeah, hard work and determination had a lot to do with it, but so did $13 million dollars he apparently considered too politically risky to vote for - but not too risky to spend - and he doesn't even credit it in his quote!

Press Release on Lance's website: - 04/28/09

WASHINGTON – Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ-07) today announced that the Green Brook Flood Control project will receive $13 million from the federal economic stimulus package – which is the final amount of federal funds needed to finish the Bound Brook portion of the project.

“This is outstanding news for Bound Brook,” said Lance.

Congressman Lance has been a strong advocate for the community of Bound Brook since coming to Congress in January.

And last month, Lance repeatedly urged top Army Corps of Engineer officials to direct stimulus funds for Bound Brook because the project was completely “shovel-ready.”

“This entire Green Brook Flood Control project moved forward because of the hard work and determination of dedicated residents, community, business, governmental leaders and members of the Green Brook Flood Control Commission who never gave up,” said Lance.

...AND THANKS TO THE STIMULUS MONEY HE DIDN'T VOTE FOR!

----------------------------------------------------

From the Princeton Packet - February 24, 2009 Despite voting against President Barack Obama’s $787 billion federal stimulus package along with every other Republican in the House of Representatives, Rep. Leonard Lance said he intends to aggressively pursue funds from the stimulus plan for his home district. ----------------------------------------------------from the COURIER NEWS - APRIL 8, 2009
Rep. Leonard Lance has written President Barack Obama asking that the federal government release $13 million for the Green Brook Flood Control Project.Mayor Carey Pilato said he supports Lance's efforts to obtain the money."I fully appreciate Congressman Lance's tenacity in pushing for the funding," Pilato said. "The project is vital to protecting the residents of Bound Brook," Lance wrote.----------------------------------------------------From the Courier News - February 17, 2009
Officials tour Green Brook Flood Control Project sites, hope for more federal money

Officials are hoping more federal money will soon be flowing to the Green Brook Flood Control Project.
Under the terms of the stimulus plan signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, infrastructure projects that are "shovel-ready" could be the first to be funded with economic recovery money.

That's the hope of Rep. Leonard Lance, R-Clinton Township...

Reality

Submitted by ancient on December 21, 2009 - 1:57am.

The reality of this announcement is that Christodoulou's political consultants have advised him to announce early to try to discourage potential primary opponents. He's also floating the idea to see how the party responds.

Reality: he is a money man, plain and simple. Isn't his style of politics, as Realtor rick mentions above, really what's wrong with politics today? His lackeys on this site try to portray him as an everyman, but in reality he has simply tried to buy his way into the party's political scene. Besides using (exploiting) his ethnic base to raise money for John Kerry, Warner, Hillary Clinton, and Jon Corzine, all in an attempt to further his own political career through patronage, what has he accomplished? In reality, not much, other than promoting himself.

The possible candidacy - as anyone with even a little knowledge of Democratic politics in Somerset County would know - would be welcome news to Peg Schaffer. Her vice-chair always tries to take the limelight from her in his constant self-promotion and is always stepping on her toes. Natural, since he told people earlier in the year that he felt he was getting screwed by the county party for merely having to settle for being the vice chair. Having him out of her hair will be a welcome bit of news.

The possible candidacy is by a self-promoter who uses money and fundraising, rather than real accomplishments of any kind, to further his personal political ambitions. It will not translate well in the district because most voters there would see it for what it is...Lance would crush him. My advice to other potential candidates is don't give up thinking about a primary challenge. You owe it to yourself and your party.

that's not what you said XVander...

Submitted by maxidoodler on December 21, 2009 - 8:15pm.

you said Lance "claimed credit" for projects funded by the stimulus. your examples show nothing that resembles claiming credit.

I see advocacy for the Green Brook project -- which is good policy and smart politics.

and where are the "other projects" Lance allegedly claimed credit for? there aren't any.

Anyway, you are wrong -- Lance did vote for a stimulus that included $36 billion for highway infrastructure and $24 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including the Green Brook project. look it up: vote #45, 1/28/09.

so not only are you a rank partisan but one that doesn't do his/her homework

Vote 45 failed.

Submitted by XVandur on December 24, 2009 - 12:35pm.

1/28/09 Vote 46: H R 1: Making Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year Ending 2009
Leonard Lance: No

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