Diane Allen

John Adler's congressional campaign raised expectations on Friday when they said they would "announce a major endorsement today.  There was some buzz that Adler was rolling out Diane Allen, a popular Republican State Senator from Burlington County who is feuding with local GOP leaders and has not formally endorsed Republican Christopher Myers.  But in the end, the Adler hype was disappointing: their major endoremnt is from Outdoor Alliance, an environment group that lacks enough members in the third district to make their support substantially more meaningful than the multitude of other groups takin sides in the contest for Jim Saxton's seat.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-Mount Holly) never had a hard time defeating Democrats in the third congressional district. In fact, no Democrat has held the seat in 124 years. But Saxton isn’t on the ballot this year, leading Democrats to believe that voting trends over the 24 years of Saxton’s tenure no longer apply.

“You have to start with this premise: Jim Saxton won this district by 20 points in every election over the last several years. The district itself went Bush over Kerry 52-48% – that’s district-wide,” said Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr.

The Bush/Kerry numbers, Perr said, are more representative of the district’s true voting trends than the large margins that Saxton, who had become a known quantity and beloved incumbent, used to win by.

“That is the DNA of the district,” he said. “That’s where they vote when they deal with national issues aside from for some personality. So you erase a 20 point Saxton win.”

With 48 days to go before the race between Democratic state Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) and Republican Medford Mayor Christopher Myers is decided, the great unknown is Perr’s county.

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington): Politicker photo 

TRENTON - Happy to be back in the action after being hospitalized for pneumonia, state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) says now's not the time for a gubernatorial run.

She ran for U.S. Senate once and learned then that failing enormous personal wealth and machine connections - the former out of reach in her case, and the latter tantamount to giving up her independent brand - a statewide run is a long shot at best. 

But she won't take her name out of contention for lieutenant governor.

"I don't think there's anybody who would say, if asked, if it would help the party, that he or she wouldn't run (for lieutenant governor)," said Allen. 

The struggle of the late political consultant Tom Blakely’s widow to secure payment from the life insurance policy her husband signed just days before he died may lead to legislation in New Jersey. 

Last month, four state Senators wrote a letter to TransAmerica Life Insurance Corp. CEO Patrick S. Baird inviting him or a representative of the company to meet with them over legislation they plan to propose next month that would change the way life insurance companies operate in New Jersey.

TransAmerica has been assailed by prominent New Jersey Republicans ever since it challenged the validity of Blakely’s second policy with the company.  Blakely was a co-founder of Jamestown Associates, a top Republican consulting firm, and died in March after collapsing during a 5K race in Bordentown. 

Not long ago, State Sen. Diane Allen thought she would be headed to St. Paul.

According to Allen (R-Burlington), she informed the leadership of the Burlington County Republicans that she would like to attend early this year.

“I was led to believe that would occur.  But in the end, the leadership of the Burlington County Republicans I guess went a different way because my name didn’t turn up on the ballot,” she said. “I called Bill Layton a week before (the filing deadline) and asked what I needed to do.  He said ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of it’ And indeed he did.”

After hearing the news that John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) said that she was proud of how far women have come in politics.

She related a story of a recent trip to the Adirondaks with her seven year old grandson, Jackson. The two met a local woman State Senator named Betty Little. Jackson, knowing his grandmother was also a state senator, turned to Allen with a question.

“He looked at me with big eyes and said ‘Grandy, can boys ever be Senators?,” she said. “I thought women around the world have been waiting for this question.”

Senator Diane Allen (R-7), a member of the Senate Education Committee, commended the New Jersey Association of Colleges and Universities for holding a press conference today to build awareness of how state colleges and universities are becoming increasingly unaffordable for New Jersey residents.

State Sen. Diane Allen, recovering from pneumonia that has sidelined her for much of the year, says she has no plans to retireState Sen. Diane Allen set the record straight today, denying rumors that she’s considering retirement due to health issues.

“There is no truth to that. Absolutely not,” said Allen in a phone interview this morning.

Allen has been suffering through a severe bout of pneumonia for most of the year, which has left her unable to attend some legislative sessions, including recent ones on the budget. It also kept her from considering a U.S. Senate bid earlier this year after she was courted by party leaders to replace Anne Evans Estabrook, who pulled out of the race after suffering a minor stroke.

The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) will conduct mass demonstrations on Friday at the offices of thirty State Senators to protest legislation they say targets teacher and school employee pensions. NJEA officials say that thousands of union members will participate.

“We stand ready to work with the Legislature to root out the real causes of pension abuse and corruption that genuinely harm the state’s finances,” said NJEA President Joyce Powell. “But we will not tolerate – not now, not ever – any attempt to scapegoat teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, crossing guards, and other school employees for sins they have never committed.

NJEA members are sending legislators a message, Powell said: “We aren’t the problem. Craft legislation that eliminates the abuse you have tolerated for so long, and don’t target innocent people who educate New Jersey’s kids and keep them safe.”

Eighteen women have served in the New Jersey State Senate: Mildred Barry Hughes (D-Union) in 1966, Jerry English (D-Union) in 1971, Wynona Lipman (D-Essex) in 1972, Anne Martindell (D-Mercer) and Alene Ammond (D-Camden) in 1974, Leanna Brown (R-Morris) and Catherine Costa (D-Burlington) in 1984, and Martha Bark (R-Burlington) in 1997. Diane Allen and Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) took office in January 1998, Barbara Buono and Nia Gill in 2001, and Teresa Ruiz, Dana Redd, and Sandra Cunningham in 2007.

Ellen Karcher in January 2004, and Loretta Weinberg the following November. Jennifer Beck defeated Karcher last November – the first time one woman unseated another.