Frank LoBiondo

TRENTON - As Democrats gear up for a bruising senate primary season, unofficial congressional filing results with the state Division of Elections show no same-party challengers to incumbent Democratic congressmen.      

Only in the 1st District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews is vacating his seat to challenge U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the primary, are there several hopefuls battling for what Andrews leaves behind.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics this summer, Rep. Chris Smith wants to take it further – a complete boycott of the games.

In an interview with PolitickerNJ.com last week, Smith renewed his call to boycott the Olympics, in part because of the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on Tibetan dissent. But Smith has been a long-time advocate of such a protest, stemming from the Chinese regime’s long record of human rights violations.

“I’ve called for it very aggressively,” said Smith, the former chairman of the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on Human Rights and Law. “We’re calling it the ‘genocide Olympics’ because of their enabling of the genocide in Darfur.”

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew says he won’t run for Congress in 2008, making GOP Rep. Frank LoBiondo the clear favorite to win re-election to an eighth term this year, the Vineland Daily Journal is reporting.  Possible Democratic challengers to LoBiondo are former Fairfield Mayor Viola Thomas-Hughes, who won 36% against LoBiondo in 2006, and Bridgeton City Councilwoman Celeste Riley.

Democrats are having a tough time finding someone to challenge Rep. FrankLoBiondo
Although state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Dennis) still hasn’t formally decided whether to challenge Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor) in the Second Congressional District, most Democrats assume he’s not going to make a run for it.

And with fewer than three weeks remaining to file a petition, no candidates have put their names forward.

“I’m unaware of anyone that has surfaced, and I’m disappointed about that because I think now is as good a time as any to pose a really credible challenge to making the seat a Democratic seat,” said Atlantic County Democratic insider Damon Tyner, a former candidate for state Assembly.

Democrat Frank Pallone is the most powerful member of the New Jersey congressional delegation and the sixteenth most powerful Congressman nationally, according to rankings by Knowlegis.org.  The least powerful is Republican Frank LoBiondo, who is 377th out of 435.   In the Senate, Frank Lautenberg (#44) is viewed as more powerful than Bob Menendez (#70).

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew still hasn’t made a decision about whether he’s running for Congress, but as the April filing deadline approaches, he’s leaning towards sitting this one out.

“I will say that I do have an interest in being a representative for the second congressional district ,but I’m very aware and mindful of the fact that I just won a senate race and we’re in a uniquely challenging time in the state of New Jersey,” he said.  “I have to weigh that very, very seriously.” 

GASKILL JOINS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Rep. Frank LoBiondo will endorse John McCain for the GOP presidential nomination today. LoBiondo had been backing Rudy Giuliani.

The vast majority of Rudy Giuliani’s New Jersey supporters are expected to endorse John McCain today, and pundits on both sides appear certain that McCain is the heavy favorite to win New Jersey’s winner-take-all primary on Tuesday. McCain will be in New Jersey on Monday, holding a rally at the Colonial Fire House in Hamilton; Rudy Giuliani is expected to accompany him.

Former Republican State Senator Nicholas Asselta’s appointment to the state Board of Public Utilities effectively takes him out of the race for State Assembly in the first district next year – something that substantially boosts the Democrats prospects for re-electing incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam.  Asselta, who hinted he might consider a 2009 Assembly bid following his loss to Jefferson Van Drew last November, would have been an extremely formidable challenger against Albano and Milam, and might have helped bring in a second Assembly seat.