Dick Zimmer

For Dick Zimmer to get on the ballot in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, he’ll need two votes from the three members of Andy Unanue’s Committee on Vacancies: Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz; Mark Duffy, a GOP operative who became Unanue’s campaign manager after Anne Estabrook dropped out of the race; and Rafael Cueller, a supermarket owner from Clifton and a friend of Unanue.  Cueller “is currently awaiting Senate confirmation for a Presidential appointment to the National Cooperative Bank, according to his company’s website. 

Who would Bob Torricelli vote for in November 2008: Frank Lautenberg or Dick Zimmer?

The potential entrance of former Rep. Dick Zimmer into the U.S. Senate race could put at least one of state Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s county lines in jeopardy.

Pennacchio won the Hunterdon County Republican Convention in February, earning preferential ballot placement in a county that produces a lot of primary votes. But Zimmer owns a farm in the county, where he lived when he represented the 12th district in Congress during the 1990s.

If Zimmer does get into the race, Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl plans to call a county committee meeting for April 16th to vote on whether or not to change the county committee’s endorsement. If Zimmer wins that, he’ll get the coveted county line.

MIDDLETOWN - Turbulence in the Republican Party caused state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) to more than once consider running for U.S. Senate in this current primary cycle.

He had a number of openings.

Citing health concerns, millionaire Anne Evans Estabrook last month dropped out of the Republican primary, sending the GOP scrambling to find a replacement. The party first recruited millionaire businessman Andy Unanue, while simultaneously trying to recruit millionaire businessman John Crowley.

A statement from Murray Sabrin's spokesman George Ajjan on Andy Unanue's decision to leave the U.S. Senate race:

"Andy Unanue's ridiculous candidacy had been going downhill ever since he launched it from the ski slopes of Vail, and now that it has officially flopped, Tom Wilson and the failed GOP party bosses have finally reached the letter Z in their rolodex with Dick Zimmer."

Andy Unanue has dropped his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination and has headed back to his vacation in Vail, giving his Committee on Vacancies the opportunity to replace him on the ballot, according to several sources familiar with the GOP campaign. Former Rep. Dick Zimmer said today that he would run for the Senate if asked.

But Bergen County GOP Chairman Rob Ortiz, a Unanue friend, says that no decision on a withdrawal has been made.

"Andy let us know that he's been reexamining his business commitments and talking with his accountants and business partners.  He has not made a decision, but wanted to keep us apprised so we have options available if he ultimately chooses to withdraw his name. He has not made a decision," said Ortiz. "He understands the time constraints and will make a decision very soon. Nobody has asked Andy to step down.  The party leaders have always been and continue to be very supportive of his candidacy."

If the reports are accurate – frankly, there has been so much confusion over the last six weeks that it’s hard to believe any of this – Republicans may have found a credible U.S. Senate candidate in Dick Zimmer. 

Multiple Republican sources say Andy Unanue is preparing to drop out of the Republican U.S. Senate race and will be replaced by former Congressman Dick Zimmer.

The arrangement is not final, but Unanue has reportedly agreed to drop his candidacy, while Zimmer has said that he will replace him.

Unanue’s three member committee on vacancies has until next Wednesday to officially change candidates.

Unanue could not be reached for comment, but Zimmer said that he has been contacted by several Republicans about the prospect and has agreed to run if he can count on a lot of support.

“I’ve received a number of phone calls from people who are interested in my running,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a done deal, and I’ve said that if asked I would run. I’m proud of my record of accomplishment as a Congressman, and I would like to put it up against Frank Lautenberg’s.”

Republican political consultant Tom Blakely died this morning after collapsing during a 5k run in Bordentown. He was 47.

Blakely was the President of Jamestown Associates, a New Jersey-based GOP consulting firm. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he served as an aide to Rep. Dick Zimmer and was Campaign Manager of Zimmer’s 1996 U.S. Senate bid against Robert Torricelli. He also ran County Executive campaigns for James Treffinger and Robert Prunetti, and was Director of Appointments for Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.