Frank Lautenberg

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, who began his fifth term in the U.S. Senate in January 2008, has beaten fifteen Democrats, five Republicans and 20 Independents on his path to becoming the longest serving Senator in New Jersey history.

With the death of former U.S. Senator James Pearson (R-Kansas) on January 13, 2009 at age 88, New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg moves up to 20th on the list of the oldest current and former members of the world's most exclusive club: the United States Senate.

There are now two Democrats who say they will challenge Jon Corzine in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June: former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson and Perth Amboy Councilman Ken Balut.  So far, neither seems to pose a real threat to the incumbent, who despite struggling approval numbers still has a 66%-24% job approval rating among Democrats.  Bergmanson and Balut have not raised money or announced any endorsements. 

For Balut, it will be interesting to see if he can secure the backing of his chief political ally, Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz.

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U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, 85, with President Barack Obama, 47

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg is 85-years-old today.   Born on January 23, 1924 in Paterson, Lautenberg founded Automated Data Processing (ADP) and served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1982.  He was re-elected in 1988 and 1994, and again in 2002 and 2008. 

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz might have to decide if she'll back her own running mate for Governor or the incumbent, Jon Corzine.

There is no sign that Perth Amboy Councilman Kenneth Balut can do any better against Jon Corzine in the Democratic gubernatorial primary than the six percent that Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello won in his campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination against Frank Lautenberg last year.  Balut will have a hard time qualifying for public financing, and even if he did - which he won't - Corzine would not be compelled to debate him since Corzine is not accepting public funds for his re-election campaign.

Gov. Richard J. Hughes won 91% of the vote in the 1965 Democratic gubernatorial primary, when he sought re-election to a second term.

Only twice have incumbent statewide officeholders lost primary elections.  They were both Republicans: in 1973, U.S. Rep. Charles Sandman defeated Governor William Cahill by a 58%-41% margin; and in 1978, when four-term U.S. Senator Clifford Case lost to Jeffrey Bell, a 35-year-old former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, by a 51%-49% margin.

In 1977, Governor Brendan Byrne had ten opponents in the Democratic primary, including two Congressmen, a State Senator, and his own Commissioner of Labor.  Byrne won with 30% of the vote; U.S. Rep. Robert Roe came in second with 23%.

The most high profile primary against an incumbent came in 2008, when 84-year-old U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg faced a major challenge from U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews.  Lautenberg won 59% of the vote in the Democratic primary, with 35% for Andrews and 6% for Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello. 

Lautenberg has faced two minor challenges as an incumbent.  He won 81% against Bill Campbell and Lynne Speed in 1994 and 80% against Elnardo Webster (the father of a powerful Democratic lawyer) and Harold Young in 1988.

U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez today introduced New Jerseyan  Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator nominee, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. 

“She will not only be the first African-American Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, I believe she will be the best Environmental Protection Agency Administrator we have seen in this history of that department,” said Menendez.

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Attorney General Anne Milgram, who may have helped save Gov. Jon Corzine's political career, with then-U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who may be the Republican nominee for Governor this fall.

One of the winners of the week has got to be Attorney General Anne Milgram, who took a risk and personally argued Gov. Jon Corzine's case against the release of his personal e-mails before a panel of appellate court judges and won.  Overturning a Superior Court Judge's ruling that Corzine should make e-mail correspondence with former girlfriend/union leader Carla Katz public could play a pivotal role in the Governor's bid for a second term. 

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) is not on the ballot this year, giving Republicans hope that they can pickup two Assembly seats in the 1st district.

The best shot for the Republicans to pick up a State Assembly seat is in the first district, where incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will need to defend their seats without the benefit of State Sen. Jeff Van Drew at the top of the ticket.  They won in 2007 as the popular Van Drew was ousting GOP incumbent Nicholas Asselta by twelve points.  Albano, swept into office as Van Drew's running mate in 2005, won comfortably; Milam beat Republican Michael Donohue by 2,020 votes.  This is the first time in history that Cape May County is represented by all Democratic legislators.

Milam won't be helped by his admission that he parked in a handicapped spot last October.  The freshman Assemblyman initially sought a trial, alleging that the spot was not clearly marked.  This is not the most egregious offense for a New Jersey legislator in recent years, but it could make a decent mailer and cable TV ad.  Donohue is reportedly interested in running again.

District 1 may be among the most politically competitive in the state, although it has clearly trended Democratic over the last three years.  George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry by 4,792 votes, and Barack Obama beat John McCain by 5,095.  Jon Corzine beat Doug Forrester by 2,984 in the 2005 gubernatorial race, and Tom Kean, Jr. defeated Robert Menendez for U.S. Senate in 2006 by 3,439.  All three of those races were about 53%-47%.

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Bill Bradley (above) and Frank Lautenberg are the only incumbent Democrats to win re-election in New Jersey in the last thirty years.

As he prepares to launch his bid for a second term, Governor Jon Corzine will seek to become the first Democrat not named Frank Lautenberg to win re-election in New Jersey since Bill Bradley just narrowly defeated Christine Todd Whitman in a U.S. Senate race nineteen years ago. 

Lautenberg's victory over Republican Dick Zimmer last year ended a fourteen-year drought for Democratic incumbents winning re-election.  The last time was in 1994, when Lautenberg beat Republican Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian, the Assembly Speaker.   During the subsequent fourteen years, no Democratic statewide officeholder was re-elected to a second term.

Republicans are looking to end twelve-year drought; they haven't won statewide since Whitman was re-elected Governor in 1997.  Since that election, Republican statewide candidates have been victorious  in 49 other states, as well as in Puerto Rico and Guam.