Douglas Steinhardt

Complaints from Warren County Republicans over their treatment by the Express-Times has provoked an angry response from the newspaper's publisher:

Warren County GOP Chairman Douglas Steinhardt, in an e-mail to local GOP leaders:

"What can you say about the Express-Times? Sure, they got the legislative races right, but Daggett, Fitting and Theise? Not only does it show its political bias and obliviousness, but they went about by dragging our Freeholders through the mud. We can be proud of our Freeholders' accomplishments and relieved that the Express keeps endorsing their challengers.  It seems to all but insure our success!"

Former Warren County GOP Chairman Walter Orcutt, responding to Steinhardt's e-mail:

It's time to send a message to the Express Times.  We have put up with their bias for years and I for one have vowed not to ever purchase that paper again.  As elected officials, planning and zoning board members and other who direct the placement of legal notices and advertising; it's time to stop feeding the machine that does NOTHING for Republicans, and in fact,  they appear to go out of their way to do harm to our message, our values and our accomplishments. Drop your subscriptions or simply do not purchase the paper.  Pretty much every bit of the "news" is available on-line at their site for free (or go to the library) so let's beat them at their own game!   (...and you will be doing something positive for the environment - ok, maybe you need to find something else for the bottom of the bird cage)

Express-Times publisher Martin Till, responding to Orcutt:

Mr. Orcutt,

Can you please explain our bias to me.  Let me see, we endorsed Bush twice, we endorse more Republicans than Democrats, we cover all the candidate equally (both sides complain to us, so we must be doing it right).

I can assure you The Express-Times has no agenda or bias.  And I'm glad that as an a American, you value free speech and opinion.

As a registered Republican, former Army Green Beret and Publisher of this newspaper, I find your email to be insulting and quite frankly, stupid.

Debate, discussion and differing opinions are what have made this country great.  Believing there is only one way to solve problems and trying to eliminate different opinions is to me, un-American.

If you need paper for you bird cage, just print out your stupid emails.

Best.

Martin K. Till
President & Publisher
The Express-Times

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News about GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie's failure to disclose a loan to a former employee and report the income on his federal income tax and fallout from his pre-campaign discussions with Karl Rove have Democrats alert to shifting terrain in the gubernatorial election even if they remain guarded about the outcome.

Ahead by double digits through the bulk of the summer, Republicans say the headlines are inevitable campaign turbulence, and not even close to death spiral spasms.

"We'll continue to work contrasts between Jon Corzine and Chris Christie," said Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, who wouldn't identify this week as the first time in the cycle that Gov. Jon Corzine has appeared to have climbed off the political cold slab, a condition some polls have shown the governor to be in since he and Christie officially started their head-to-head rivalry back in June.

State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) today stepped up the optimism.

"At this point it's a horse race, but I'm feeling very confident the governor will be successful," said the chair of the Senate Budget Committee and a prospective candidate for lieutenant governor until Corzine picked her colleague, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck).

Buono toured Indian-American businesses with Corzine today on Oak Tree Road in Edison in her first campaign appearance with the governor since failing to lock up the LG spot.

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Robert Ortiz, the New Jersey GOP State Finance Chairman and the former Bergen County GOP Chairman, is now a lawyer at Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt and Fader. The firm is headed by former Democratic Gov. Jim Florio and partners include former Warren County Democratic Chairman Michael Perrucci, Warren County GOP Chairman Douglas Steinhardt, and Paul Fader, who was Chief Counsel to Gov. James E. McGreevey.

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The third-step in the four-part contest to nominate Republican legislative candidates in the 23rd  district will be a decision by Hunterdon County Republicans to pick a second Assembly candidate to run on their organization line in the June primary.  Their ticket already includes newly-elected State Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) and Assemblyman-elect John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown).  The other Assembly candidate will be from Hunterdon.

The leading candidates for the one seat are the two Hunterdon Freeholders who lost to DiMaio in yesterday's special election convention: Erik Peterson and Matthew Holt.  On the first ballot, Peterson beat Holt 104-56.  These numbers might indicate an advantage for Peterson.

Hunterdon GOP Chairman Henry Kuhl and the Republican screening committee must pick a candidate to replace Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington), who says he's leaving the Assembly to challenge Karrow in the Republican State Senate primary.  Even if Doherty decides to drop his Senate bid, it appears that the door is closed to being included on the organization line for a fifth term in the State Assembly.

The main thing to watch over the next few weeks is to see if Doherty stays in the Senate race - an uphill fight, now that his friend and ally, DiMaio, has now endorsed Karrow and will run on her ticket, and that his friend and ally, Warren County GOP Chairman Douglas Steinhardt, has agreed to back the Kuhl slate.  If Doherty continues, he might recruit two Assembly candidates to run with him. Read More >

Assemblyman Michael Doherty, who says he would "rather die" than skip a State Senate primary against incumbent Marcia Karrow, but now it looks like keeping his Assembly seat is no longer an option.  Since losing the special election convention for Leonard Lance's Senate seat last month, Doherty has seen some of his top supporters abandon him.  Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio, who has been a top Doherty supporter and longtime friend, will run for Assembly with Karrow on the Hunterdon organization line in the June primary.  Another Doherty backer, Warren County GOP Chairman Douglas Steinhardt, is expected to flip his support and endorse Karrow - possibly as early as today.

DiMaio is one of three candidates competing in a special election convention this month for Karrow's Assembly seat, along with Hunterdon County Freeholders Matthew Holt and Erik Peterson.  With the support of Steinhardt and Hunterdon County GOP Chairman Henry Kuhl, and with the backing of Warren Republican mayors who had supported Karrow over Doherty, DiMaio is the clear front runner.

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After Marcia Karrow was sworn in as the new State Senator from the 23rd district, a new quorum call was requested.  This was Karrow’s first vote in the Senate, and observers heard her turn to Henry Kuhl, the Hunterdon County GOP Chairman, and say: “Push my button, Henry.”  Kuhl obliged, and Karrow’s first vote in the Senate was cast by her County Chairman.

Kuhl and Warren County GOP Chairman Douglas Steinhardt accompanied Karrow during her brief swearing in cermony earlier this afternoon. Steinhardt backed Assemblyman Michael Doherty in the special election convention for the open Senate seat, and his presence sends a clear signal that Doherty might be losing political support in his Warren County base as he moves toward a primary challenge against Karrow.

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It’s a week after the election, and the dust has yet to settle on the race to take over the state Senate seat of Leonard Lance (R-Flemington).  But one thing has been constant since Wednesday: Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington) is gunning hard for the seat, and has already started his door knocking campaign across pastoral Hunterdon and Warren Counties.

“I have my list and I have my Garmin, which certainly helps navigate some of our rural roads in the dark,” said Doherty.

There are roughly 400 county committee members from the two counties that comprise the 23rd Legislative District, and Doherty plans to visit every one of them (many are husband and wife teams, which helps cut down on the number of doors to knock on). Last night, he began his campaign, visiting committee members in Glen Gardner, Bethlehem and Hampton.

After Lance resigns his seat to move up to Congress in January, those committee members will decide who gets to fill in for Lance in Trenton until the June primary and special election in November.

Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Flemington), who has also expressed interest in the seat, has a slight geographical edge.  Hunterdon County has a larger population than Doherty’s native Warren County, and has about 40 more county committee members.

That’s why Doherty has begun by focusing on Hunterdon County Committee members.

“I initially focused on some Hunterdon county folks, but I’ll hit folks in the two counties,” he said.

Karrow could not be reached for comment.  Several Republican sources said today that she’s having second thoughts about running, given Doherty’s strong support by conservative groups.

Warren County Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt said that Doherty can count on nearly unanimous support from the Warren County committee members.  Even if Hunterdon County does field a candidate, he said, Doherty will be able to sap enough votes from their members to win.

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Editor's Note: Paul Fader has indicated that he is not interested in seeking the Bergen County Democratic Chairmanship, and told PolitickerNJ.com that he has not made any phone calls indicating his interest or seeking support.  The Inside Edge gives him the benefit of the doubt and accordingly, retracts our report.

Joe Ferriero's recent legal woes -- allegations that he assaulted a woman at a Labor Day barbecue at his home, and a federal probe of a grants business in which he is a part owner that resulted in the FBI seizing records from his law office -- have resulted in his taking a leave of absence from his post as Bergen County Democratic Chairman.  Sensing a possible vacancy in the powerful post sometime in the near future, Paul Fader, a former Mayor of Englewood who served as Chief Counsel to Governors James E. McGreevey and Richard Codey,has begun making calls to seek support for Ferriero's job. 

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Over the course of the next week, brand new U.S. Senate candidate Andy Unanue will have a chance to cement his status as the Republican favorite to take on incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg in a marathon series of eight conventions.

Between tomorrow and next Wednesday, there are Republican county conventions coming up in Monmouth, Mercer, Ocean, Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem, Middlesex and Somerset. County committees will decide between Unanue, a businessman who's an heir to the Goya Foods fortune and the heir apparent to the campaign of former candidate Anne Estabrook, and his two Republican competitors: state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and Ramapo College finance professor Murray Sabrin.

The person who each committee picks will be awarded a coveted spot on the party line, which typically provides a boost to the candidate whose name occupies it.

But Pennacchio, not to be counted out, is focusing on winning the line in traditionally Democratic counties where he believes he can appeal to a working-class "Reagan Democrat base" in the general election - specifically Mercer and Middlesex. He already has the line in Bergen County, although that may change if Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz meets with his executive committee and opts to give the line to Unanue, a personal friend who he recruited. He's also got the line in Hunterdon, Passaic and Union counties.

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