Aubrey Fenton

If Christopher Christie becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, he'll have thirty days to decide on a running mate.  Republican leaders close to the former U.S. Attorney seem to think the race for Lt. Governor is down to two finalists: Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) and State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), with Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan sitting third on the list.

Kean's fledgling candidacy is helped by his previous statewide experience and his knowledge of state issues.  He was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006, and while he sometimes struggled as a candidate - his avoidance of reporters in an Atlantic City elevator comes to find - his 44% in a bad Republican year had to be a growing experience.  And he's been vetted by the thorough opposition research of Bob Menendez, which means it is unlikely that anything in Kean's background would embarrass Christie.

He has won good reviews for his role as Senate Republican leader from colleagues who view him as more partisan and more aggressive than his predecessor, Leonard Lance.  He seems well-liked, and understands vast details of state government - a quality that might be a good balance for Christie, who has served as a Freeholder and as a federal prosecutor.

The 40-year-old Kean comes from a prominent political family: his father served two terms as Governor and later as Drew University President and as Chairman of the 9/11 Commission; his grandfather was a ten-term Congressman, and his great-grandfather served in the United States Senate.

But Kean's greatest weakness as a candidate for Lt. Governor is his natural hesitation to be an attack dog.  While he has become more combative since his 2006 defeat, he is not exactly the kind of guy who will criticize Democrats just for being Democrats.  He's often reluctant to get his hands dirty.  Kean may not attract voters that Christie won't get on his own, but he won't hurt Christie either.

Allen, 61, has a legitimate base in South Jersey, where she was well known as a television news anchorwoman for a Philadelphia network affiliate before launching a career in politics in 1995.  She has won five races in a district that has elected Democrats to the Assembly for the last twelve years, and got received seasoning as a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2002.  She helps Christie in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties - places Republicans will need to better than they have in recent statewide elections if they want to beat Gov. Jon Corzine.  And Allen might be more willing than Kean to be act in a fiercely partisan manner.

The number of Hispanics that will serve in the State Assembly, currently nine, could drop by one-third next year with the death of Eric Munoz (R-Summit) and the retirements of Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) and Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy).  A fourth Hispanic legislator, Matthew Milam (D-Vineland) is considered the most vulnerable incumbent in the November 2009 general election.  Munoz and Vas are not expected to be replaced by Hispanics.

Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton doubts his party will have to defend two open freeholder seats this year, when control of the board hanging in the balance.  But even if they do, Layton said it won't make a difference.

"It doesn't matter if there are two vacancies or not. Last year we lost an election because of Barack Obama, and this year that dynamic has changed.  We have Chris Christie at the top of the ticket," he said.

Both Jim Wujcik and Bill Haines - the only freeholders up for reelection -- are mulling retirement.

While Layton was less certain about Wujcik, he was confident that Haines would decide to give it another go.

"Bill Haines has been a great freeholder, and he's contemplated running for reelection a few times during the last couple elections he's run," Layton said.  "I think he indicated pretty clearly that he's interested in running and a lot of things changed when Aubrey [Fenton] and Stacey [Jordan] lost."

At their election night party in Mount Laurel, while Burlington County Democrats were ecstatically watching the best returns they've seen in recent memory roll in, local Democratic chairman Rick Perr followed newly minted Congressman-Elect John Adler's (D-Cherry Hill) victory speech with a joke that lent a sobering reminder to an otherwise heady atmosphere.

"Hey John, when does re-election start?" he said.

The answer: immediately. 

After losing a seat that their party held for 124 years, national Republicans have stressed to local party leaders that they should start fielding potential challengers to Adler as soon as possible.  Not that they needed to tell that to Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore and Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton, who head up the GOP in the two counties that dominate the 3rd Congressional District (Camden County has one town, Cherry Hill, in the district).

Source: Burlington County Web site

Bill Haines, Jr.

Burlington County Freeholder Bill Haines, Jr. is considering retiring at the end of his current term, a move that could make the Republicans’ 3-2 majority on the board even more tenuous.  

“I’m still trying to decide what I’m going to do about freeholder,” said Haines, who this year finishes up his fifth term.

Haines, a Republican who’s sometimes known as “Cranberry Bill,” said that the expansion of his cranberry and blueberry farming business is the main reason he’s considering retiring from the political world.  

The fact that control of the freeholder board is up this year, with Republicans holding just a one seat majority over Democrats, complicates matters.  

“I probably would have made the decision a long time ago if Aubrey Fenton and Stacey Jordan had won the last time, but with control up it makes the decision more difficult,” he said.

Some pundits view State Sen. Diane Allen, with U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, as the strongest potential Republican challenger to freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler in 2010.

New Jersey Republicans will face some pressure from the national GOP over the next few months to settle on their candidate to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) in 2010.  Adler won the seat of retiring twelve-term Republican Jim Saxton last year with 52% -- the first Democrat to win the seat since Thomas Ferrell ousted two-term Republican George Robeson with 50.1% in 1882.

Republicans think they can beat Adler next year, but the National Republican Congressional Committee is sending signals that they want the candidate in place soon so that he or she can begin fundraising.  That's what Adler did in 2006, before Saxton had announced his intention to retire.  If the third district Republican candidate does not meet certain early fundraising goals, sources say that the NRCC might not become fully engaged in the race, according to one House Republican staffer familiar with NRCC operations.

Democrats Chris Brown and Maryanne Reinhart have ousted Republican Freeholders Aubrey Fenton and Stacey Jordan in Burlington County, and Democrat Timothy Tyler defeated Republican Gary Woodend in the race for County Clerk by a 54%-46% margin.  The GOP majority on the Burlington Board of Freeholders is now reduced to 3-2, and Democrats now have a County Clerk and Surrogate.

A summary of daily newspaper endorsements in local races:

Democrats stormed Burlington County Republican headquarters in Mount Holly earlier today, demanding to know how Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton and Freeholder Stacey Jordan are funding their campaign with one week to go before Election Day.

Evesham Deputy Mayor Chris Brown and Shamong Committeewoman Mary Anne Reinhart wonder how Fenton and Jordan can pay for a barrage of Philadelphia network television advertising when the GOP candidates reported just $44,000 in the bank in their latest ELEC report.  

Endorsement lauds Freeholders' record of cutting taxes and controlled spending