Frank Lautenberg

In Blue State New Jersey, Republican candidates for statewide office have not approached election day with approval ratings over 34% in the last five years. Quinnipiac University polling had Douglas Forrester at 32-25 on 11/2/05, Forrester at 34-25 on 10/23/02, Bret Schundler at 30-30 on 10/30/01, and Bob Franks at 34-16 on 11/6/00. In the '05 gubernatorial race, Jon Corzine's pre-election approvals were at 41-31; Frank Lautenberg was at 45-30 in 2002, and James E. McGreevey was at 41-24 in 2001. The last time a Republican won statewide in New Jersey was in 1997, when Christie Whitman's pre-election approvals were at 40-29 and McGreevey's were at 21-18.

One potential 2008 presidential candidate came to New Jersey today to attend Jon Corzine's inauguration as Governor: Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Four other Senate colleagues attended: Frank Lautenberg and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, as well as Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila of Puerto Rico and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Six of New Jersey's twelve Congressmen were there -- Rush Holt and Donald Payne were the only Democrats who did not attend, while Rodney Frelinghuysen was the only Republican who did.

There is a vacancy in the office of United States Senator from New Jersey for the first time since April 12, 1982, when Nicholas Brady was appointed to fill the seat of Harrison Williams, who had resigned on March 11, 1982.

Frank Lautenberg becomes the senior Senator from New Jersey for the second time. He was the senior Senator from January 4, 1997 until January 4, 2001. The last New Jersey Senator to have two separate tenures as the senior Senator was W. Warren Barbour. Barbour was appointed to the Senate in 1931, became senior Senator in 1935, and lost his seat in 1936. He won a 1938 special election to fill a vacancy in the state's other Senate seat and became senior Senator again in 1943.

A compilation of approval ratings of all 100 United States Senators in their home states completed by SurveyUSA shows New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg at #100 with a 42%-43% rating in a December 12 poll. Jon Corzine, who leaves office next month to become Governor, was #80 at 50%-40%. The most popular Senators, in the eyes of their constituents: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Maine Republicans who have approval ratings of 75% and 74%, respectively.

A fundraiser hosted by Len Lauder for Senator Frank Lautenberg's 2008 re-election campaign has already raised a reported $200,000.

Who was the last appointed United States Senator from New Jersey? If you answered Nicholas Brady, you're wrong.

Elton Conda, the 84-year-old Burlington County Surrogate, is leaning against seeking re-election to the job he has held since 1966. Conda has slowed down in recent years -- he works mornings and takes a nap on his office sofa -- and may be the only New Jersey elected official who actually lives in a nursing home; he is a resident of the Masonic Home of New Jersey, a long-term care facility in Burlington. The leading candidate to replace him is Freeholder Vincent Farias, who has been not-so-subtly eyeing the job for the last few years. If he does run, Conda is probably a safe bet for re-election: Democrats would be hesitant to criticize an officeholder's age two years before Frank Lautenberg seeks re-election.

Former Governor James E. McGreevey is on Capitol Hill today, but at least one person he saw says the visit wasn't about business. "Just came by to say hello," an aide to Senator Frank Lautenberg told PoliticsNJ.com.

Who will be more vulnerable: Senator Frank Lautenberg in 2008 or Governor Jon Corzine in 2009? That is the question the new generation of Republican statewide candidates must answer as they begin to eye future political opportunities.

From Roll Call's Stuart Rothenberg: "New Jersey is easy to decipher. Democratic presidential nominees John Kerry and Al Gore carried it by 7 and 16 points respectively, drawing 53 and 56 percent. Jon Corzine drew 53 percent of the vote and won by almost 10 points on Tuesday. In other words, a Democratic state elected a Democratic governor by a 'normall" Democratic margin."

When strong Doug Forrester ran for the United States Senate in 2002, George W. Bush had an approval rating of 63%, yet Forrester lost to Frank Lautenberg by ten percentage points.