Andy Unanue

State Sen./U.S. Senate candidate Joe Pennacchio decided to forego attacking Andy Unanue today, instead peppering the candidate with a series of policy questions.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) put out a press release today that was sharply critical of new Republican Senate candidate Andy Unanue, singling out his ownership of a New York City nightclub and a family/business dispute that cost him his job as Chief Operating Officer at Goya Foods.

State Sen. Diane Allen won't run for U.S. SenateDespite calls from party leaders urging her to run, Republican state Sen. Diane Allen will not make a bid for U.S. Senate.

Allen, who’s been sick with pneumonia for two months, said that she’s not well enough to forge ahead with a statewide campaign.

“If I were 100% well and on my game I might have stepped in the day that Anne (Estabrook) stepped out, because I had been a strong supporter of hers, but there’s really no use in speculating,” she said. “I’m still sick and it’s going to be a long while before I’m back in shape.”

Murray Sabrin’s reference to new rival Andy Unanue as “a slick playboy nightclub owner from New York City” sounds a little like the classic stump speech George Smathers reportedly delivered during his 1950 Democratic primary challenge against incumbent U.S. Senator Claude Pepper: "Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, habitually practiced celibacy."

United States Senate candidate Murray Sabrin hasn’t wasted any time in going after his new rival, Andy Unanue.

Less than 24 hours after Unanue decided to enter the Senate race, Sabrin put out a press release calling him a “playboy nightclub owner” and criticizing members of the Republican leadership for recruiting him.

Sabrin also challenged Unanue to a debate sometime this week.

The candidate the GOP establishment wanted -- Andy Unanue, a 40-year-old self-funding conservative millionaire Latino from Bergen County – began informing party leaders on Easter Sunday that he would enter the U.S. Senate race.  That gives those party leaders who were actively seeking an alternative to State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) and Ron Paul campaign leader Murray Sabrin a viable choice in the race to challenge Frank Lautenberg. 

Millionaire businessman Andy Unanue says he will seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2008.

“Over the past several days, Republicans across the state have urged me to run for the United States Senate. They believe that New Jersey and our nation are in crisis and need strong leadership to get things back on track. The good people of the Garden State can no longer afford to live here and are leaving in droves, in no small part because their interests have not been well represented in Washington,” Unanue wrote in a letter to GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson. “Because I share these concerns and care deeply about the future of our state and our country, I have decided to become a candidate to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate.”

Millionaire businessman Andy Unanue, the former Chief Operating Officer of Goya Foods, is informing GOP leaders of his decision to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Unanue will square off in the GOP primary against State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Ron Paul NJ campaign leader Murray Sabrin for the right to challenge four-term Democratic incumbent Frank Lautenberg.

Several Republican leaders across the state are anxiously awaiting Goya Food heir Andy Unanue’s decision on whether or not to enter the U.S. Senate race.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio may have won the county line for U.S. Senate in Bergen by a landslide earlier this month over hometown candidate Murray Sabrin, but if Unanue decides to run, things could change.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz has been courting Unanue for some time. Unanue, who’s friends with Ortiz, is said to be interested, and plans to mull the prospect over the weekend and make a decision by Monday. He currently splits his time between his home in Alpine and an apartment on Manhattan’s Central Park West.

"Pronounced 'you-NAN-away'" -- The Record's Herb Jackson, explaining how to say the name of Andy Unanue, the Goya Foods heir who is now mulling a bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in New Jersey. -The Record, 03/21/08