Bill Layton

State Sen. Diane Allen, left, says she will consider a challenge to freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler, right, in 2010

Now that state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is no longer in the running for lieutenant governor, she's a top prospect to run against freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) next year - at least among Burlington County Republicans.

"The organization would whole-heartedly support Diane Allen if she decided to run for Congress," said Burlington County GOP Chairman Bill Layton.

Allen, a moderate Republican who consistently wins reelection easily in a district with a two-to-one Democratic registration advantage, has fought bitterly over the years with former chairman Glenn Paulsen and more recently Layton, his close ally.  The party divide even sunk her fledgling bid for the House in late 2007, with the Paulsen/Layton faction instead recruiting Lockheed Martin executive Chris Myers, who became the nominee.

"Now is not the time in my life that I feel prepared to again fight a Democrat opponent as well as a rogue faction of the Burlington County Republican Party simultaneously," Allen said when she announced in late 2007 that she would not seek the open House seat>

But Layton says he's intent on letting bygones be bygones.

"In politics, sometimes you have your differences, but you put them aside and try to do the best thing for the party," he said.

Myers, who lost narrowly to Adler in 2008, may be in line for a state Senate seat if state Sen. Phil Haines (R-Springfield) is appointed to a Superior Court judgeship.  He would likely have a lot of support if he decided to run for Congress again, but he is not expected to.

Allen remains non-committal about running, but she leaves the possibility open.

"It is kind of early, and truthfully it's just nothing I've given any thought to," she said.

Allen said that her decision will depend on whether Adler does a good job addressing the district's issues.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie has publicly sworn off political considerations in making his eventual Lieutenant Governor pick, arguing that the public will vote largely based on who occupies the top of the ticket.

But the two women said to be at the top of Christie’s shortlist – state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan -- each has a history of running strong in regions that are crucial to Christie’s electoral prospects, and both could help Republicans down-ballot in their respective counties.  

Christie alone will have the say on his choice for the number two spot, so he could surprise observers with his pick.  But media speculation about who he will choose has come down to Allen, who repeatedly wins reelection in a South Jersey legislative district that has a two-to-one Democrat registration advantage, and Donovan, who over the last decade has been the one Republican bulwark against the Bergen County Democratic Organization’s complete dominance and last year won reelection the most votes of any county-wide candidate, Democrat or Republican.  

“These are counties that have gone Democratic in many cases over the last few years in statewide races after having been solidly Republican for a while,” said Monmouth University pollster and political science professor Patrick Murray.  “These are counties that Christie must win.”

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.

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is widely mentioned as a possible candidate for Lt. Governor if Chris Christie wins the GOP primary.

One major obstacle for Diane Allen as a potential candidate for Lieutenant Governor is the objection of Burlington County Republican leaders who have been feuding with the popular South Jersey State Senator from the last two years.  Allen, a former TV anchorwoman has proven herself as a strong vote-getter in the suburban Philadelphia region, winning five successive general elections in a Democratic-leaning district.

Allen nearly entered the race for Congress in 2008 after Jim Saxton announced his retirement, but withdrew when it became apparent that her home county organization would not support her.  Some pundits think that Allen would have kept the seat in Republican hands against Democrat John Adler, who won the seat 52%-48% against the lesser known Christopher Myers. The same pundits say that Allen’s presence on the ballot might have prevented Republicans from losing two Freeholder seats and the County Clerk’s office.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie has been awarded the Republican organization line in Burlington County, GOP County Chairman Bill Layton announced today.  Layton cited endorsements of the former U.S. Attorney by all 39 Republican municipal chairs and by 118 local elected officials, and rival Steve Lonegan's announcement last week that he would not compete for organization endorsements, as his reason for backing Christie.

"The Republican leadership in Burlington County is unanimous in its support of Chris Christie for Governor," said Layton.  "He is the right person to lead our party against Jon Corzine and the inept, tax-hiking, job-killing, economy-wrecking Trenton Democrats this November, and the right person to lead our state in these challenging times."

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).

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Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has not declared his gubernatorial candidacy yet, but without even personally pleading his case to anyone, he has already rolled up the support of several GOP chairmen -- some from heavily Republican counties.

George Gilmore, the Republican chairman of Ocean County, will personally endorse Christie if he decides to enter the race, as will his counterparts John Sette in Morris County and Doug Steinhardt in Warren County. Some other Republican chairs are circumspect about committing this early in the process, but say they lean towards Christie.

“Now this is my personal statement obviously, but I think Chris Christie, if he is desirous of running for governor, offers the best opportunity for the Republican Party to win a statewide election next year against Gov. Corzine,” said Gilmore.