Anne Estabrook

Sources close to Joseph Kyrillos say the six-term State Senator and former GOP State Chairman is seriously considering a late entrance into the race for the Republican U.S. Senate
nomination. Kyrillos has some free time on his hands now that Mitt Romney has dropped out of the presidential race, and some of his friends suggest that Kyrillos gets that Republicans aren’t terribly excited about the other three candidates – businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook, State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, and Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin.

New Jersey Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate seat since 1972, but some party insiders still hold out hope that there could be an opportunity against Frank Lautenberg, who at age 84 is seeking his fifth six-year term. Lautenberg, as Tom Moran once explained, is just one broken hip away from his age being a real factor in the race.

There is speculation today that State Sen. Joe Kyrillos might enter the race for U.S. Senate: Getty Images Photo
Monmouth County GOP Chairman Adam Puharic wants State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos to enter the race for United States Senate.

"If Joe Kyrillos got in the race, it would be a game-changing event for New Jersey politics," said Puharic, who served on Anne Evans Estabrook’s exploratory committee but has not endorsed a candidate in the race.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Anne Evans Estabrook will join conservative activist Steve Lonegan at a statehouse news conference this afternoon to sharply criticize the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce for endorsing Governor Jon Corzine’s toll hike package.  Estabrook is a former Chamber chair.

Frank Lautenberg has a $4.3 million warchest

Today was the deadline for filing federal campaign returns, and the landscape of New Jersey politics hasn’t altered drastically.

In the Senate race, only Frank Lautenberg has filed with the Federal Election Commission. While the numbers have not yet appeared on the site, campaign manager Brendan Gill said that the 84-year-old Democrat has raised $931,700 during the last quarter of 2007, bringing his cash on hand total to about $4.32 million.

Congratulations to Kristen Materek, the winner of the Jersey Joe Pennacchio Steak Dinner Challenge. When Joe Pennacchio entered the race for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination two weeks ago, PolitickerNJ.com reporter Matt Friedman asked him what he thought about Anne Evans Estabrook receiving campaign contributions from Senate Minority Leader Mitchell McConnell (R-KY) and U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “I’m a Jersey Joe. I’m an average Joe. Ask the average person who Ensign and McConnell are. If you get one person out of a thousand who knows who they are who’s not an insider, I’ll buy you a steak dinner,” said Pennacchio. PolitickerNJ.com asked readers to ask non-insiders to identify Ensign and McConnell. And Pennacchio agreed to buy the winner a steak dinner.

Republican Anne Estabrook announced today that outgoing U.S. 7th District Rep. Mike Ferguson will serve as campaign chairman for  Estabrook's U.S. Senate run.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in his office on FridayU.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg looked east Friday, high above the industrial wasteland crammed into the swamp and river beds, and the lights on the commuter traffic on the Turnpike in the distance, and the packed trains just below boring into Newark Penn Station.

"When I first became a senator I knew I wanted my office to be here in Newark, in the center of things," said Lautenberg, who turned 84 this past week while looking at a favorable job rating of 43% in the latest Monmouth University/Gannett poll.

It’s in an election year for New Jersey’s senior senator, which is why after voting on the floor earlier in the day he returned to New Jersey to make some fund-raising calls in anticipation of his general election showdown with Republicans.

First Obama. Then Romney. Now Estabrook. Upon accepting the endorsement of the Burlington County Republican Organization, U.S. Senate candidate Anne Estabrook tells the audience it's time for a change.

Medford Mayor Chris MyersAs part of his bid to capture his party’s nomination for the 3rd Congressional District, Medford Mayor Chris Myers on Monday night accepted the endorsement of the Burlington County Republican Party.

"What I offer is my background as a businessman," Myers, 42, an executive with Lockheed Martin, said as a counterpoint to Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly’s boast last week that Kelly has more experience than Myers as a freeholder serving half the 3rd Congressional District.

"I’ve met a payroll, and we’ve created 2,000 jobs in this area in four and a half years," answered Myers in an interview with PolitickerNJ.com after he addressed the Republican crowd assembled at the Riverton Country Club. "I know how to cut budgets. As mayor of Medford I’ve cut spending."