Anne Estabrook

U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Pennacchio has been endorsed by four key Atlantic County GOP leaders: Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina; former State Sen. Sonny McCullough, the Mayor of Egg Harbor Township; and Folsom Mayor Thomas Ballistreri. 

State Sen. Kip Bateman might enter the U.S. Senate race
State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset) began making calls late yesterday to express some interest in the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, and has spoken with several GOP County Chairmen about entering the race to challenge incumbent Frank Lautenberg.

Bateman, 50, is the son of former Senate President Raymond Bateman, the 1977 GOP candidate for Governor, and is a law partner of former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco. He spent fourteen years representing Somerset County in the State Assembly before winning a State Senate seat last November.

Mike Huckabee won't become the second ex-Arkansas Governors mansion resident to run for northeast Senate seat: Getty Images Photo
Mike Huckabee’s New Jersey campaign director says he likes the idea of the former presidential candidate moving to New Jersey to run for U.S. Senate against Frank Lautenberg, but said he’s not going to ask.

"From a pure mechanics perspective, I could make the call, but he would laugh me off the phone," said Peter Kane of Huckabee, who ended his bid for the presidency Tuesday after losing in Texas and Ohio to Sen. John McCain.

This morning, the Republican Party awoke to the news that onetime GOP frontrunner Anne Evans Estabrook had suspended her run for the U.S. Senate because of health reasons.

While asserting that the party needs someone, in his words, of "greater stature" than State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) to defeat Lautenberg, Kane reluctantly said the jobless Huckabee won’t be the one. It was one thing for a blatant political opportunist like Hillary Clinton to transplant from Arkansas to New York to run for the U.S. Senate, but it’s not Huckabee’s style, Kane said.

GOP insiders say it appears unlikely that another candidate will emerge in the race for United States Senator in enough time to stop Joe Pennacchio’s enormous momentum, although some Republicans have spent the morning mulling other potential candidates.  Pennacchio has already won organization lines in Union and Hunterdon counties, and this morning the Burlington GOP County Chairman – a supporter of Anne Evans Estabrook – said he was now likely to back the Morris County State Senator.  Pennacchio also has endorsements from Republican County Chairmen in Morris and Warren counties.

There was some buzz this morning about Kate Whitman entering the race for United States Senator -- the contrast between a 30-year-old mother of twin boys and an 84-year-old incumbent would have been remarkable – but Whitman seems to have no interest in any race but the one for Congress in the seventh district.  But Whitman does see the merit of another Senate candidate, and she suggested – probably with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek – that maybe Leonard Lance should run statewide.

Former baseball player Al Leiter says he won't enter the U.S. Senate race
One name floated in Republican to run for U.S. Senate now that Anne Evans Estabrook has dropped out is former baseball star Al Leiter, a New Jersey native.

But Estabrook’s withdrawal was news to Leiter, who lives in Florida, and her decision won’t change his mind about running.

“I was approached by some folks in Washington in regard to the third district for Mr. Saxton, and as I told them, I was intrigued with the process but I’m not ready,” he said. “I’m interested in many ways and different levels.”

"It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I announce my withdrawal from the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

On Monday morning, at approximately 7:45 a.m., I noticed in the mirror that the left side of my face was drooping slightly and that I was losing control of my left arm.

Some of you may know these are the early symptoms of a possible stroke.  I was driven to the emergency room at Monmouth Medical Center by one of my staff and after several hours of testing, the doctors confirmed that I had suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or mini-stroke.

It was a tough fight leading up to today, but Estabrook’s two now-former primary opponents have laid down their arms to wish her a speedy recovery.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said State Sen. Joe Pennacchio, who was Estabrook’s chief rival for the nomination, upon hearing about Estabrook’s mini-stroke. “I wish her a speedy recovery, she’s in my prayers, and whatever I can do to extend myself in any way shape or form. Whatever is necessary to do I’d be happy to help.”

Anne Evans Estabrook says she suffered a mini-stroke on Monday morning that has forced her to end her bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

“On Monday morning, at approximately 7:45 AM, I noticed in the mirror that the left side of my face was drooping slightly and that I was losing control of my left arm,” Estabrook said. “After several hours of testing, the doctors confirmed that I had suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or mini-stroke.”

Estabrook says she has not suffered any long term damage, but “the bad news is that once the condition presents itself, there is a high likelihood it could happen again.” 

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.