Frank Lautenberg

The Rob Andrews Senate campaign isn’t giving up on proving that Frank Lautenberg claimed Washington, DC as his primary residence. 

Despite a letter that Lautenberg’s campaign produced stating that he received a homestead tax deduction by mistake – a prerequisite of which is to claim the town as a primary residence – Andrews filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with the city’s Office of Tax and Revenue for all records pertaining to the rebate. 

Andrews said that Lautenberg would have had to affirmatively apply for the program and acknowledge Washington, DC as his primary residence.    

“We have been advised by the District of Columbia, Office of Tax and Revenue that it is and has been impossible to receive the Homestead Deduction unless an application is completed,” read a letter attached to the FOIA request from Andrews counsel William Tambussi.

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NEWARK - They both come from the south, but the more common U.S. Rep. Rob Andrewsand, they say, compelling trait that South Jersey Congressman Rob Andrews and South Ward Councilman Oscar James II share is desire for change.

Already counting on the long-established North Ward Democratic Organization for support in his U.S. Senate campaign here in Essex County, Andrews has banded with members of the fledgling South Ward Political Action Committee (SWPAC) and will rally with them this Saturday at an event hosted by James.

The alliance looks like a natural.

As the Newarkers take on an entrenched South Ward party machine, and Andrews statewide simultaneously goes after an 84-year old incumbent, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), they both highlight the new-versus-stale narrative in their respective June 3 battles.

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Frank Lautenberg continued to assail Rob Andrews today on an earmark directed to his wife’s employer, demanding that he release a “signed certification to the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee stating that neither he nor his spouse received any financial interest in the earmarked project.”

At issue is over $2 million in federal grants received by Rutgers University Law School in Camden, where Camille Andrews worked as associate dean of admissions. Andrews has already said that he cleared the grants with the House Ethics Committee. more >

Frank Lautenberg touted two new endorsements today in his Senate primary campaign against Rob Andrews: one from an environmental group and one from a union.

Lautenberg has the backing of Communications Workers for America District One.

"No one could possibly do a better job of representing New Jersey's working families in the U.S. Senate,” said Chris Shelton, the union’s vice president.

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The NARAL Pro-Choice America Political Action Committee endorsed incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg for Senate today.

A press release from the organization cited Lautenberg’s support for the Freedom of Choice Act and the Prevention First Ac -- which it said were the “pro-choice community's two flagship pieces of legislation” – along with his opposition to President Bush’s policies on abstinence-only education and his authoring of legislation to prevent pharmacists from refusing to fill birth control prescriptions.

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Frank Lautenberg’s campaign said today that a political blog’s story about the Senator designating his Washington, DC condo as his permanent residence was old news and inaccurate.

The blog claimed that, prior to 2005, Lautenberg had claimed Washington as his primary residence in order to take advantage of the city’s Homestead Tax Rebate, and that he only stopped listing Washington as his “permanent address” in 2005 after reporters started asking questions about the deduction.

But Lautenberg’s campaign today released a letter sent to the Senator in 2005 by the city’s Real Property Tax Administration that took responsibility for the mistake.

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Democratic Senate candidates Frank Lautenberg and Rob Andrews each released endorsements today from prominent African-Americans.

Andrews announced the support of Newark Councilman Oscar James, Jr., an ally of Mayor Cory Booker who managed former Mayor Sharpe James’s successful 2002 reelection campaign against him.  According to the Newark Municipal Council’s Web site, James, the son of a grassroots activist, was the youngest person ever to be elected to public office in the city’s history.

"Rob Andrews has always recognized the challenges faced by inner-city Americans, especially our urban youth, and has worked hard as a member of Congress to find solutions to their problems," said James.  “He represents change and the passing of the torch to the next generation of leadership in the Senate.”

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Incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg bolstered his left-leaning credentials today with the endorsement of Democracy for America, which bills itself as the “nation's largest progressive political action organization.”

Lautenberg is running against Rep. Rob Andrews in the Democratic Senate primary.

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United States Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) may have done both Frank Lautenberg and Rob Andrews a favor today by not weighing in on their Senate primary fight.

“I’ve never been involved with it. Frank Lautenberg is a good friend, and I know Rob Andrews,” said Lieberman as he was leaving a McCain press conference at Jersey City’s Liberty Science Center. “Probably I should say that I have nothing to say.”

Lieberman, who broke with Democrats over his support of the Iraq War and left the party to win reelection to his seat in 2006 after he was defeated by Ned Lamont in the primary, wouldn’t exactly be a coveted endorsement in the race. Both Democrats have distanced themselves from their own earlier support for the war, and Lieberman's support of President Bush's foreign policy is anathema to the liberal Democrats who tend to turn out for primaries.

Lieberman continues to caucus with the Democratic Party, but is an “Independent Democrat” who supports Republican John McCain for president.

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U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1). 

In a conference call today with reporters, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) again accused U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) of hiding, and bewailed the incumbent’s decision to accept just two debates, despite Andrews’s repeated requests to debate seven times.

"Pathetic," said the congressman. "This is a job application. We’re talking about issues of life and death and he is unwilling to engage the issues. He’s hiding from them."

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