PolitickerNJ.com is returning to our traditional weekly Winners & Losers format that our readers enjoyed between 2000 and 2007. Wally Edge will again develop the list, which will appear every Friday morning.

If Dick Zimmer had won his race for U.S. Senate in 1996 – our premise is purely hypothetical because he did not – who would be running this year? 

The first question is this: would Zimmer have won re-election in 2002?  Rob Andrews, Bob Menendez and Frank Pallone would have probably declined to challenge him – it’s fair to assume that if they were unwilling to give up their safe House seats to run against Doug Forrester, they would have been less likely to risk a race against an incumbent in post 9/11 New Jersey, when George W. Bush was actually off-the-charts popular in New Jersey.  

Here is one scenario how this might have played out:

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was in San Juan on Sunday and Monday, joining former President Bill Clinton on a two-day campaign swing in Puerto Rico – where 63 delegates will be elected when the island holds a Democratic presidential primary on June 1.

There is some buzz among Republican insiders that Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. is giving some consideration to entering the U.S. Senate race.  Kean, who ran against Sen. Bob Menendez two years ago, could still get in the race even though the filing deadline was five hours ago.  If Andy Unanue drops out, his Committee on Vacancies could assign his nominating petitions to Kean.

Rep. Rob Andrews is making his second bid for statewide office, challenging Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic Senate primary

As he launches a primary campaign for Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat, Rep. Rob Andrews says he’s less prickly than he was 11 years ago when his failed campaign for governor left him holding grudges and questioning the value of a man's word.

The congressman from Camden was bothered by then-Essex County Chairman Thomas Giblin’s 1997 decision to withdraw his support for Andrews to instead back north Jersey product James E. McGreevey for Governor.

“I took it personally and that was my mistake,” said Andrews, 50, who felt vindicated but no less intensely frustrated after McGreevey’s spectacular fall.

“Someone who might have backed McGreevey and not me was not a bad person,” Andrews said.

“He is a foolish person,” the congressman added, “but not a bad person.”

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez raised a reported $1.5 million for his 2012 re-election campaign at an event at Pegasus on Friday night.  The event, which featured former Yankees/Mets pitcher David Cone, was attended by Gov. Jon Corzine, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, several Democratic County Chairmen (including Joseph Ferriero and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy), and Congressmen Frank Pallone and Albio Sires.

State Sen. Paul Sarlo, a close political ally of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, will endorse Rob Andrews for U.S. Senate after a formal announcement of his candidacy, according to sources close to the campaign. Ferriero had been expected to back Andrews, but is now likely to endorse Lautenberg after feeling considerable pressure from key backers of incumbent Frank Lautenberg, including Sen. Bob Menendez and Rep. Steve Rothman.

Steve Rothman delivered a rather strong message to Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero that appears to have caused the powerful party leader to back off his plan to endorse Rob Andrews for U.S. Senate and hold another convention to give Andrews the organization line in Essex County: that he would file a lawsuit against the BCDO for failing to follow its own bylaws by holding an illegal convention; that he would field a full slate of candidates against the organization, from U.S. Senate down to the 1,100 candidates for Democratic County Committee; that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would support Frank Lautenberg; that U.S. Senator Bob Menendez would have his back; and that the move could put Ferriero’s own chairmanship at risk.