Brian Hackett

New Jersey Republicans admit that there is little possibility they'll turn over control of the Assembly this year, but they have hyped their chances in some sleeper districts where they don't typically compete.

Fundraising reports released today show that some money is being raised in those purported sleeper districts, but not much. 

In the 4th District, Republicans Domenick DiCicco and Eugene Lawrence have raised $69,887 - most of which comes from attorneys all over the country.  That's about half of the $134,473 incumbent Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Twp.) and newcomer Democratic running mate Bill Collins have raised. 

"Obviously District 4 is a place where we expect to do well," said Republican State Chairman Jay Webber.

Republicans haven't talked much about District 7, which is considered a Democratic district even though GOP Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) has won there five times.  But their Assembly candidates there - Leah Arter and Harry Adams - have raised almost $90,000 and have spent $77,263 (The Assembly Republican Victory committee took enough notice to donate almost $5,000). The two Republican candidates have $12,250 on hand. 

Chris Russell, a political consultant for Arter and Adams, said the campaign against incumbents Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) and Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken) is "under the rader." 

"We know the district is difficult, but we figure the only way to put them is position is the old fashioned way," said Russell, who cited the candidates' aggressive ground game.   "If they're in position, we'll strike, and I think right now, they're definitely outworking Conaway and Connors on the ground."

Conners and Conaway have raised a combined $196,603 and have about $53,000 on hand. 

District 14 was supposed to be one of the Republicans' top races this year, but their recruitment efforts fell through after Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede dropped out at the last minute.

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MONROE TOWNSHIP -- State Assembly candidate Brian Hackett's youth has worked as a double edged sword over the last two months.

At just 21, the relative novelty of Hackett's 14th District candidacy attracted more media attention than it likely would have otherwise.  It also earned him some praise by Republicans anxious to see youth more involved in the party.

"That kind of attention is very positive because it's showing that perhaps it's a bit unusual that a youth has taken this kind of perspective on life and society," he said.

But Hackett's age also caused Republicans in neighboring Mercer County to balk at how a Middlesex County resident barely out of his teenage years, one who lives with his parents and has never paid property taxes, would play in blue collar towns like Hamilton.  Rather than go with the traditional arrangement of recruiting one Assembly candidate from Mercer and one from Middlesex, the Mercer GOP drafted a 30-something attorney named Bill Harvey to join a slate with Hamilton restaurateur Rob Calabro.  That left Hackett on the Middlesex line, but off the line in Mercer.

"It's some of the attention on the youth by people who don't know me at all and subsequent negative judgments that come from that which are not justified," he said.  "Everybody in politics, in both parties, speaks a very good game about youth... But it seems too often -- it happens in both parties -- that we just want the youth to be interns and campaign volunteers but not take that extra step up."

Hackett decided to take the extra step after hearing that Middlesex Republicans didn't have any candidates to run in the 14th District, even though it was supposed to be one of the most competitive in the state.  He got unanimous consent at the party's convention in March before meeting resistance in Mercer.

In a couple months will enter his senior year as a Political Science major at The College of New Jersey, but Hackett said that his involvement in politics over the last year  -- and especially the last two months -- has taught him more than his three years in college.

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Assembly Republicans are spending money in the 14th district in a clear bid to stop 21-year-old college student Brian Hackett from winning the GOP primary.  At least five mailings have been sent out on behalf of restaurant owner Rob Calabro and attorney Bill Harvey, who are running on the Mercer County organization line.  Hackett is running alone on the line in Middlesex.

The campaign to oust incumbents Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) fell apart a week before the filing deadline when the two candidates recruited by Republicans, Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede and former Cranbury Councilman Wayne Wittman, unexpectedly changed their minds about running.  Mercer Republicans convinced Calabro, a former Freeholder candidate, to run.  But when Middlesex couldn't find a candidate and Hackett showed up at the convention and won, Mercer refused to accept him.  Middlesex has stuck with Hackett, the winner of their convention. 

In 2005, about 600 more Republicans voted in Mercer than in Middlesex.  In 2001, the Mercer edge was about 500.

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When Middlesex County Republicans tapped 21-year-old Brian Hackett as their candidate for Assembly in District 14, the GOP in neighboring Mercer County - which accounts for the slightly larger half of the district - decided to field a primary challenger against him rather than go with the traditional arrangement of each county fielding one candidate.

The Mercer Republicans argued that Hackett, a college junior who has never owned a home or held a full-time job, would not be taken seriously by the electorate.  But Hackett said that his young age is one of his key strengths.

"There are people who say I can't relate to the voters, and that's not true," said Hackett, who's running against restaurant owner Rob Calabro and attorney Bill Harvey -- two Mercer County 30-somethings - for the Republican nomination.

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Rather than support college student Brian Hackett, Mercer County Republicans have chosen Hamilton attorney Bill Harvey to run for State Assembly in the 14th district.

The pick sets up a Mercer-Middlesex primary in a district where both parties traditionally split their Assembly tickets between the two counties.  Harvey will bracket with Hamilton restaurant owner Rob Calabro while Hackett will run as Middlesex County's sole candidate.

Harvey, 31, moved from Passaic County to Hamilton with his fiancé just over a year ago and runs a private law practice out of Lawrenceville.   He responded to recruitment efforts by the three-member vacancy committee of Sidna Mitchell, who filed petitions with the Division of Elections but decided not to run.

"I saw an opportunity to present myself and seized upon it," Harvey said.  "Given my background, I believe I could do a very good job for Mercer County, the 14th District and the State of New Jersey. I'm here to do my best for the state and constituents."

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Hamilton restaurant owner Rob Calabro is not a placeholder candidate for Assembly in District 14, both he and Mercer County Republican Chairman Roy Wesley said today.  

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to start [campaigning] as soon as possible.  We’re meeting every week as we speak,” Calabro said.

Calabro’s absence from the Mercer County Republican Convention last month drew skeptical responses from insiders who felt that no candidate who is serious about running in one of the state’s most competitive legislative districts would skip his own nomination.  He was tapped at the last minute to replace Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede, who was the Republicans’ top choice but, after signaling that she was likely to run, declined.  

Calabro said that he was with his wife, who is pregnant with the couples’ third child, on the night he was nominated.  

Mercer Republicans are seeking a running mate for Calabro in the June primary, since they will not accept the candidacy of 21-year-old college student Brian Hackett, who was chosen by Middlesex Republicans.

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Embattled 21-year-old Assembly candidate Brian Hackett, who was chosen by Middlesex County Republicans as their candidate in District 14 two weeks ago, said today that he won’t step down to make room for a more seasoned office-seeker.  

“Middlesex County was the largest convention held in the state,” said Hackett, a junior at The College of New Jersey who currently works as a research intern for the Assembly Republicans.  “I received unanimous approval from Middlesex delegates through the Democratic process, and I’m going to respect that and continue to stay in the race.”  

The Republican parties from Middlesex and Mercer Counties traditionally pick one candidate each to run in this Central Jersey swing district, which is dominated by the Mercer County town of Hamilton.  At their convention last month, Mercer Republicans picked Hamilton restaurant owner Rob Calabro, who some insiders speculate is a placeholder until they can come up with someone with a higher profile.  Three days later, Hackett, who lives with his parents in Monroe Township, was approved by a voice vote at the Middlesex County Republican Convention after he became the screening committee’s unanimous choice.  

But Mercer Republicans, fearing that working and middle-class Hamiltonians will not take Hackett seriously because he has not yet held down a full-time job or paid property taxes, are trying to recruit candidates from Middlesex County.  Middlesex Republican Chairman Joe Leo, for his part, is committed to backing Hackett unless he decides to withdraw on his own.  Read More >

Mercer County and state Republicans are hell-bent on not allowing 21-year-old Brian Hackett, who was chosen by the Middlesex Republican Party to run in District 14, to walk away with the party's nomination for the general election.

But Sidna Mitchell, the Middlesex County resident who Republicans recruited to bracket with Hamilton restaurant owner Rob Calabro against Hackett in the June primary, has decided not to run despite filing her petition signatures on Monday.

It's the latest development of the GOP's candidate recruitment mess in this central Jersey swing district, which just months ago was expected to host one of the two most competitive legislative races in the state.

"I am sorry that Sidna Mitchell has decided not to run for the Assembly in the 14th LD.  She would have been a great candidate and a great Assemblywoman.  However, the race remains winnable with the right Republican candidate, because of the failure of the Corzine Democrats to control spending and reduce property taxes," said Mercer County Republican Chairman Roy Wesley.  "We, as a party, have an obligation to continue to look for a candidate, like Sidna Mitchell, who can address those issues convincingly, because it is in the best interest of both the Republican Party and the voting public to do so.  We, in Mercer County, remain unconvinced that Brian Hackett is that person."

At their convention last month, Mercer County Republicans unanimously picked Calabro, who ran for freeholder in 2007, as their candidate after Hamilton Council President Kelly Yaede - who they had spent months courting to run and who sent signals that she would - abruptly changed her mind.  Although Republicans said Calabro was not merely a placeholder candidate, he did not attend the convention at which he was nominated, has not done any visible campaigning and has not talked to the press.  Phone messages left at his place of work were not returned today.

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Middlesex County Republican Chairman Joe Leo is not searching for a replacement candidate in the 14th Legislative District, he told PolitikerNJ.com this morning.

Leo said that he did not meet with Sidna Mitchell, who ran for assembly in 2003 and was the deputy director of the Council on Affordable Housing under former Gov. Chrstine Todd Whitman, about replacing 21-year-old college junior Brian Hackett on the ballot.

“I didn’t meet with [Mitchell],” said Leo, responding to an Inside Edge report from this morning.  “There were people trying to get me to a meeting yesterday, but I was at a medical appointment and didn’t get there.  It might have been wishful thinking that Joe Leo sat down with this woman.”

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