Anne Estabrook

Joseph Pennacchio won the Somerset County Republican convention last month in a race where he was essentially unopposed.  Andy Unanue, in the race a few days and still vacationing in Vail, declined to compete, and Murray Sabrin was ineligible because he refused to sign a pledge required by the party to support the organization slate.  Now Pennacchio is in danger of losing the Somerset endorsement as GOP County Chairman Dale Florio maneuvers behind the scenes to add Dick Zimmer to the line.  Sources close to Florio say that he has discussed either a do-over vote based on the new field of candidates -- Zimmer represented part of Somerset County in Congress from 1991 to 1997 --  or simply creating a limited open primary, where Pennacchio and Zimmer – but not Sabrin – would run on the organization line.

MIDDLETOWN - Turbulence in the Republican Party caused state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) to more than once consider running for U.S. Senate in this current primary cycle.

He had a number of openings.

Citing health concerns, millionaire Anne Evans Estabrook last month dropped out of the Republican primary, sending the GOP scrambling to find a replacement. The party first recruited millionaire businessman Andy Unanue, while simultaneously trying to recruit millionaire businessman John Crowley.

The Republican U.S. Senate primary appears to have settled down a bit -- at least for now – with a decision by Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. that he won’t run statewide this year.  The deadline for replacing candidates on the ballot is tomorrow, and with Kean and John Crowley saying no over the last four days, the GOP field appears to be exactly where it was two weeks ago: Goya Foods millionaire Andy Unanue, State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, and Murray Sabrin, the leader of Ron Paul’s New Jersey campaign.  This has the makings of a competitive primary: Unanue has organization lines in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Hudson, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean, while Pennacchio has the lines in Bergen, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic, Salem and Somerset (and the support of GOP County Chairmen in Morris and Warren, which have open primaries).  Sabrin has the organization endorsement in Gloucester County.

Over the course of the next week, brand new U.S. Senate candidate Andy Unanue will have a chance to cement his status as the Republican favorite to take on incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg in a marathon series of eight conventions.

Between tomorrow and next Wednesday, there are Republican county conventions coming up in Monmouth, Mercer, Ocean, Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem, Middlesex and Somerset. County committees will decide between Unanue, a businessman who's an heir to the Goya Foods fortune and the heir apparent to the campaign of former candidate Anne Estabrook, and his two Republican competitors: state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and Ramapo College finance professor Murray Sabrin.

The person who each committee picks will be awarded a coveted spot on the party line, which typically provides a boost to the candidate whose name occupies it.

But Pennacchio, not to be counted out, is focusing on winning the line in traditionally Democratic counties where he believes he can appeal to a working-class "Reagan Democrat base" in the general election - specifically Mercer and Middlesex. He already has the line in Bergen County, although that may change if Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz meets with his executive committee and opts to give the line to Unanue, a personal friend who he recruited. He's also got the line in Hunterdon, Passaic and Union counties.

As Goya Foods heir Andy Unanue starts his first ever race for elected office, he’ll have an experienced team waiting for him.

Once he gets back from Colorado.

Unanue is on a vacation with his extended family in Vail, and he won’t be returning to New Jersey in time to attend the Republican conventions scheduled for this week in Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Middlesex and Salem Counties. He planned the trip a year ago, he said, and even a Senate candidacy isn’t enough to make him shirk the familial responsibility.

Instead, he’ll send surrogates to the conventions, and will address screening committees in conference calls. He plans to return to his homes in New Jersey and New York City early next month.

“I’m not a politician. I don’t really worry about how hard it’s going to be,” Unanue said when asked if not being able to attend the conventions will hurt his chances. “I’m worried about winning the primary and the election. I’m in the process of aligning myself with what I would consider the best and most talented staff.”

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.”

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.

One endorsement that U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Pennacchio is missing: his running mate, Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce.  DeCroce seems intent on staying out of the Senate race, even though Pennacchio was his running mate in District 26 contests in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.  DeCroce’s wife, Roxbury Township Clerk Betty Lou DeCroce, served on Anne Evans Estabrook’s exploratory committee.  DeCroce has not really shied away from endorsing in primaries before: in recent years, he has backed candidates for Governor, the Legislature, Freeholder and Councilman in GOP primaries. 

The buzz among Republican insiders over the last two days is that party leaders seem genuinely excited by the prospects of millionaire businessman Andy Unanue entering the race for United States Senator.  The former Chief Operating Officer of Goya Foods, one of the largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, makes an interesting candidate: a self-funder who his 44 years younger than the incumbent and can compete for Latino votes.

With just twenty days to go before the April 7 filing deadline, a group of New Jersey Republican leaders are actively searching for another United States Senate candidate to challenge State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin in the June GOP primary.  The race changed considerably two weeks ago when millionaire Anne Evans Estabrook abruptly quit the Senate race after suffering a minor stroke, and with the public disclosure yesterday of Pennacchio’s 1991 nationalist manifesto that has some party leaders in a panic.

Sources say that several GOP leaders approached State Sen. Diane Allen to run; Allen has been recovering from pneumonia and has reportedly declined.