Frank LoBiondo

The state Republican Committee welcomed President Bush to a fundraiser in the spring to help raise cash for GOP candidates in Legislative races, but Rep. Frank LoBiondo says the money wheeling into the 1st district senate race from Camden Democrats is worse.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman and Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Tom Cole says he isn’t especially worried about New Jersey in 2008, even though Republican Congressmen will likely be playing defense in at least three districts and his party is not poised to gain a single seat.

Instead, Cole said, problems with the state legislature will eventually take a toll on the Democratic Party’s popularity, translating into future vulnerabilities.

Michael Ferguson was re-elected to his 7th district House seat in 2006 by just one percentage point, and now faces a rematch with Democrat Linda Stender, a three-term Assemblywoman.  According to the most recent Federal Election Commission filing, Ferguson has $758,292 in his warchest (and $151,345 in debt), while Stender has $227,244 cash on hand (and no debt).  Stender, who has been campaigning for re-election to the Assembly this year, actually outraised Ferguson in the last quarter.

(VINELAND, October 3) -- Senator Nick Asselta -- responding to a report on PoliticsNJ.com indicating that Democrat Jeff Van Drew is leaving the door open to making a run for Congress next year -- today issued the following statement:

“Jeff Van Drew used to be indecisive. Now he’s not so sure." 

Jeff Van Drew won't say he won't challenge Rep. Frank LoBiondo in 2008Late last month, Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew’s State Senate campaign manager downplayed the idea of the Democratic Assemblyman from the first district running for Congress against Frank LoBiondo in 2008.

“I can safely say he’s not running next year, but maybe sometime soon,” campaign manager Allison Murphy told PoliticsNJ.com at the time.

But when pressed for comment today, Van Drew’s response was far more cautious.

Democrats say they can beat Frank LoBiondo, who won re-election last year with 62% and has a $1.5 million warchest.Two competitive races for the U.S. House of Representatives are shaping up in New Jersey, where State Sen. John Adler is challenging 12-term Rep. Jim Saxton, and Assemblywoman Linda Stender is seeking a rematch against Rep. Mike Fergsuon in a contest that was decided by just one percentage point last year.

That’s two out of the three races that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says they plan to target in New Jersey. But in the second district, where Democrats keep saying Rep. Frank LoBiondo is vulnerable, no clear candidate has emerged to take him on.

The most prominent name in the running has been Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, who’s currently enmeshed in a tight state Senate campaign GOP Republican incumbent Nicholas Asselta. Democrats insist that a Van Drew victory for state Senate in district one, along with a win by Jim Whelan in the neighboring second district, would be a bad omen for LoBiondo. It could even give the Democrats the momentum they need to move Van Drew up to Congress, they say.

Congressman James Saxton has given absolutely no indication that he might not seek re-election to a thirteenth term, but given the trend of other House members around the country, it's reasonable to speculate that he could retire. Saxton is the presumptive favorite to win next year -- even against a first-tier challenger like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Adler -- but the first time since he won a hotly contested GOP primary for an open seat in 1984, he may have a real race on his hands. Democrats have made gains at the local level in Burlington and Ocean counties, and George W. Bush won just 51% in this district in 2004.

The message from a major Republican player is simple: if Frank LoBiondo doesn’t step up and make sure his two close friends, State Senators Nicholas Asselta and James “Sonny” McCullough, have enough money to hold their seats in November, then LoBiondo shouldn’t count on huge party support when redistricting time comes – just four years from now. 

More importantly for LoBiondo is the threat of his own second district congressional seat in 2008 or 2010 if Asselta and/or McCullough lose.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already begun to show interest in taking on LoBiondo, and the two Democratic Senate candidates running this year – Jefferson Van Drew and James Whelan – would be formidable rivals to LoBiondo in the next election.  Van Drew went to Washington earlier this year to meet with the DCCC about taking on LoBiondo in a district that is trending Democratic.

(BEESLEY’S POINT BRIDGE, July 20) – Today Congressman Frank LoBiondo and Senator Nick Asselta held a press conference with First District Republican Assembly candidates Michael Donohue, Norris Clark, and Cape May County Freeholder Gerald Thornton offering their vision to reopen the Beesley’s Point Bridge. 

Frank Pallone has the biggest war chest of any Congressman in the country.

“I certainly would like to run statewide. I guess that’s no surprise to anybody, whether it would be for Senate or Governor at some point. But I fully support Senator Lautenberg,” said Pallone, who added that he didn’t set any specific fundraising goal. “It wasn’t my intention to be number one, but I’m happy it worked out that way.”