Eric Munoz

Republican County Committee members from District 21 will need to schedule a special election convention within seven to 35 days to fill the State Assembly seat left vacant yesterday by the death of Eric Munoz.  Hours after the death of the five-term Assemblyman, Republicans were listing several potential candidates for the Munoz seat: former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield, Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin, Cranford Mayor David Robinson, Berkeley Heights Mayor David Cohen, Roselle Park Mayor Joe DeIorio, former Garwood Councilwoman Patricia Quattrocchi, and Mountainside Councilman Glenn Mortimer.

Another possible candidate is Peter Kane, a longtime Summit GOP leader who ran Mike Huckabees's New Jersey presidential campaign in 2008.  Huckabee will be speaking in New Jersey tomorrow at the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Hatfield ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for Congress in 2008, but won the Union County convention; she is now the party's Finance Chair.  Morin came within a handful of votes of winning an Assembly seat in a 2003 special election convention that was won by Jon Bramnick.

Republicans say the seat won't go to Westfield, where Bramnick and State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr. live.  And it is unlikely to go to anyone in Essex, Morris or Somerset counties.   Bramnick and Kean are also considered potential candidates for Lt. Governor; their selection would trigger other conventions t his year.

Democratic Chair and Assemblyman Cryan statement on the passing of Assemblyman Munoz, M.D.

TRENTON – Democratic Chair and Assemblyman Joe Cryan this evening issued this statement on the passing of Assemblyman Eric Munoz, M.D. (R-Summit):

Eric Munoz, M.D. (1947-2009)

Celebrated by his colleagues for his intelligence, gentility and dedication to public service, Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) died this evening following heart surgery earlier today.

He was 61. 

"It is with deep regret that we announce the death this evening of Assemblyman Eric Munoz, M.D. following cardiac surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)," read a statement issued by the Office of Assemblyman Munoz. "Funeral arrangements will be forthcoming."

A practicing trauma surgeon at UMDNJ, Dr. Munoz first became an assemblyman in 2001, fulfilling a lifelong dream to enter politics.

Of Puerto Rican descent, Munoz was born in the Bronx and grew up in Colts Neck, where his parents owned and operated a country general store on Route 537, which served the surrounding horse farming community during his youth.

Tonight, the accomplished doctor and lawmaker leaves behind a wife and five children.

Assemblyman Eric Munoz had surgery this morning.

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) issued a statement this afternoon concerning the condition of Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit).

“Assemblyman Munoz was admitted to the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey Hospital (Newark) this morning for surgery. No other information is available at this time.  An update on the assemblyman’s condition will be provided when it is available.”

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, left, and Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine

ROSELLE PARK – On a night of party revelry, two men here tonight appeared at least initially dejected.

There would be no candidates’ speeches at the Union County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner/Auction, and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan accepted the news with admitted disappointment.

“First it was five minute speeches then three minutes and now we’re down to no speeches,” said Lonegan when he was asked if he would be addressing the packed crowd at the annual event.

A second candidate for governor, Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine, arrived with an envelope containing prepared remarks in his jacket pocket, but there was no need, he learned from Lonegan when Levine walked in the door to the small but swanky Solar do Minho banquet hall.

“The candidates are mingling, talking to people,” explained Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin. “They’re getting their message out. If we do speeches, we’ll be here all night.”

GOP candidate for governor Chris Christie arrives at the party at the Marco Polo on Thursday evening.

SUMMIT –To the oft-muttered intra-party charge that Republicans plan to coronate former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie as their candidate for governor, Union County Republican Chairman Phil Morin said his organization stands on its record. 

Last year, millionaire businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook was supposedly the money candidate for U.S. Senate. Then the county committee here awarded the line to erstwhile underdog state Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris), dropping the jaws of not only Estabrook’s campaign infrastructure but the party establishment in all 21 counties.  

After Estabrook pulled the plug on her candidacy owing to health problems, Morin resisted pressure to hold another convention to dump Pennacchio and swap in the state GOP’s latest frontrunner, former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, who would ultimately go on to secure the statewide nomination. 

Morin’s view was Jersey Joe earned it the hard way, he should have it.

Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) in Summit on Friday.: Politicker photoSUMMIT - Coming off a train station rally here for presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer and state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) convened a town hall meeting at the high school, where they brandished their fiscally conservative credentials in a room of about 50 voters.

Now in a race with Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) to represent the 7th Congressional District, Lance the veteran legislator underscored his tenacity fighting bloated government, including the administration of disgraced former Gov. Jim McGreevey.Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer addresses voters in the Summit High School Library as GOP organizer Kelly Hatfield looks on: Politicker photo

"I am the ‘Lance’ of Lance versus McGreevey," the senator said of his suit against the former administration to curb borrowing to balance the state budget.

The New Jersey Supreme Court in 2004 allowed McGreevey to borrow $1.9 billion, or nearly 7 percent of what was then a $28 billion budget, but forbade the governor from borrowing in the future.

Talking to Summit voters Friday evening in the high school library, Lance took pride too in noting how his proposed Constitutional amendment to ban borrowing without voter approval will appear on the Nov. 4th ballot.

Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Union) was voted New Jersey's Smartest LegislatorCongratulations to Eric Munoz, a trauma surgeon, five-term Assemblyman, and the smartest member of the New Jersey Legislature, according to PolitickerNJ.com readers. Munoz won the Smartest Legislator Tournament, where over 100,000 votes were cast during six rounds over the last two weeks.

Munoz, who was the #4 seed, defeated Barbara Buono in Round 1, John Wisniewski in Round 3, Charlotte Vandervalk in the Sweet Sixteen, Mary Pat Angelini in a controversial Elite Eight that was marred by the presence of a computer robot who cast thousands of votes for Angelini, Bob Gordon in the Final Four, and Pamela Rosen Lampitt in the final round.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, Assemblyman Eric Munoz, Sen. Thomas Kean, and U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson soak in one of the speeches.

WESTFIELD - The word going into that first round of voting at the Union County Republican Convention on Saturday was that former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield and Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks would require a second showdown.

"This is going to a runoff between the top two candidates," said John DeSimone, commissioner for the county Board of Elections as he waded into the crowd of delegates. And that’s exactly how it went down at Westfield High School, where Hatfield eventually prevailed over Marks with 60% of the vote in the Union County GOP’s pre-primary battle for the line in the 7th District Congressional race.

The Seventh district Republican congressional race saw some new – and in some cases surprising – endorsements this morning.

Today Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. will appear with State Sen. Leonard Lance to promote him to replace outgoing Rep. Mike Ferguson.

But Kean’s two Assembly running mates, Minority Whip Jon Bramnick and Dr. Eric Munoz, announced today that they are backing former Summit Council President P. Kelly Hatfield for the seat.

Both Kean and Bramnick were early frontrunners to seek the seat, but they declined.