Frank LoBiondo

Many New Jersey Congressmen have fat bank accounts. Leading the pack are three Democrats, none of whom are likely to face competitive races in 2008, but all of whom are considered possible successors if Frank Lautenberg unexpectedly retires. The richest Republican is Frank LoBiondo, whose Second District seat is being eyed as a potential pickup by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Thirteenth District Democrat Albio Sires sits at the bottom of the list. He may face a primary challenge, possibly by Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop.

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Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo has never had a problem winning in the Republican-leaning second district. He has won more than 60% of the vote in all seven of his successful House races and George W. Bush carried his disrict, albeit narrowly, in 2004. But earlier this year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee identified LoBiondo as a potential target in 2008.

It's only Wednesday, but it will be tough for anyone to compete with Congressman Frank LoBiondo for Winner of the Week. The seven-term Congressman played a major role in the election of James "Sonny" McCullough to the State Senate this week, marking a huge victory for LoBiondo and a major defeat for his longtime rival, former State Senator Bill Gormley.

Atlantic County Republicans will meet tonight to elect a new State Senator to replace Bill Gormley, who resigned last week after nearly thirty years in the Legisture. Assembly Minority Whip Frank Blee, a seven-term legislator from Absecon, faces Egg Harbor Township Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough in a contest that many observers say could be close. Gormley is backing Blee, while McCullough has the active support of Congressman Frank LoBiondo.

If Frank Blee loses the suddenly competitive contest for State Senate, there is strong speculation that he will not seek re-election to the State Assembly this year. With the strong support of Congressman Frank LoBiondo, Egg Harbor Township Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough has emerged as a potent challenger to Blee at the Special Election Convention this month for Bill Gormley's Assembly seat.

With his longtime rival Gormley retiring, LoBiondo has wasted no time making a move to enhance his political clout in Atlantic County. LoBiondo, then an Assemblyman from Cumberland County, defeated Gormley in an especially bitter congressional primary in 1994. The Congressman now lives in Atlantic.

Democrats remain optimistic about their chances to pick up the second district Senate and Assembly seats. Their Senate candidate is James Whelan, a first term Assemblyman and the former Mayor of Atlantic City.

Newly-elected Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Chris Van Hollen says that GOP Congressman Frank LoBiondo will be a top target in 2008. LoBiondo won 62% last year against Democrat Viola Thomas-Hughes, the former Mayor of Fairfield. While the second district has been trending toward the Democrats in recent years, LoBiondo is not likely to be in trouble -- unless Van Hollen and New Jersey Democrats can convince three-term Assemblyman Jefferson Van Drew -- a Democrat who runs exceptionally well in Republican areas of the district -- to run. Other possible candidates, like Assemblyman Douglas Fisher or Atlantic County Freeholder Alisa Beth Cooper, are not in Van Drew's league.

One potentially interesting candidate against LoBiondo would be Bridgeton native M. Allyn Brooks-LaSure, a politically savvy African American who has served as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Governor Jon Corzine.

In North Jersey, some Democrats have been trying to recruit Summit Mayor Jordan Glatt to run for Congress next year against 7th district Congressman Michael Ferguson. Ferguson barely (49%-48%) won re-election in 2006, and his opponent, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, is reportedly looking for a rematch. Glatt, who announced his bid for re-election as Mayor of heavily-Republican Summit yesterday, is a favorite of Governor Jon Corzine (who lived in Summit for more than twenty years before his election to the Senate) and is also being recruited to challenge Republican Assemblyman Eric Munoz.

Nicholas Asselta, a Republican State Senator from Cumberland County, continues to be a wild card.

In 2003, Asselta ran unopposed for an open Senate seat, in a highly competitive district where Democrats unseated a GOP Assemblyman and came within 481 votes of ousting Republican Senator James Cafiero two years earlier. At the time, there were allegations of a deal that allowed Asselta to avoid a challenge from Democratic Assemblyman Jefferson Van Drew in exchange for Van Drew getting a pass on his bid for a second term.

There was also considerable speculation that Asselta, whose ties to the New Jersey AFL-CIO are as strong as any legislator, would switch parties if Democrats needed his vote to organize the Senate. (During his campaign, the Senate was split 20-20, but Democrats picked up two seats in 2003 to win majority control.) The possiblity that Asselta could switch remains an active ingredient in Democratic plans to maintain control in the 2007 mid-term election.

One of the things that keeps Asselta on the Republican side of the chamber is his strong desire to someday succeed his close friend, Frank LoBiondo, in Congress. The problem for the 55-year-old Asselta is that LoBiondo, 60, shows no sign of leaving. When LoBiondo first ran in 1994 (against Bill Gormley in the primary and Louis Magazzu in the general), he pledged to limit himself to six terms. But in 2003, he announced that he had changed his mind on term limits and planned to continue his congressional career beyond 2006. LoBiondo has passed on opportunities to run statewide four times, and he is giving no indications of considering a run for U.S. Senate in 2008. That leaves Asselta stuck in a minority party caucus, representing a region of the state that is becoming increasingly more Democratic.

There have been rumors recently that Asselta is under consideration for a high-paying job at the Delaware River Port Authority, which would give Democrats an edge in picking up the first district Senate seat with Van Drew as their candidate. But a source close to the Republican Senator says that Asselta is running for re-election to a second term next year and that he has not had discussions, "directly or indirectly" about any government job, including the DRPA.

The Cape May County GOP have pledged to make a strong move to defeat the two Democratic Assemblymen, Van Drew and Nelson Albano, who upset veteran Republican Jack Gibson in 2005. Among their possible candidates, on a slate headed by Asselta, are Cape May County Freeholder (and Sea Isle City Mayor) Leonard Desiderio, and Norris Clark, a former national spokesman for Ross Perot's presidential campaign and the cousin of former Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Executive Director Curtis Bashaw.

Of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives who will take office in January, New Jersey's Frank Pallone has the second biggest warchest -- $2,412,888 cash-on-hand, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Four others are in the top 10%: Rob Andrews ($2,212,314) ranks fifth, Steven Rothman ($1,740,319) ranks tenth, Frank LoBiondo ($1,386,710) ranks eighteenth, and James Saxton ($1,231,791) ranks 26th.

HARRIS AND LOBIONDO PUSH FOR BALLOT REFORM