George Gilmore

Will former GOP State Chairman David Norcross run for Congress?U.S. Rep. James Saxton's retirement has opened the floodgates, with over a dozen names pouring out as potential successors to the dozen-term Congressman. And many of those names hail from Ocean County, a solidly Republican locale that has never had a Congressman who called it home.

Ocean County politicians see this as a great opportunity to a long-deserved seat. But while they appear to have more aspirants than Burlington County, which makes up a roughly equal chunk of the district, so far no potential candidate has appeared from Ocean with the name recognition or draw of Diane Allen, who bobs to the surface of congressional hopefuls.

Short of drafting a celebrity to run, the best hope for any Ocean County Republican to win the nomination is an internal battle in Burlington County - a real possibility. Allen's current nemesis, GOP boss Glenn Paulsen, could make things more complicated for her as long as their two party factions are warring. Or former GOP State Chairman David Norcross, a veteran political player who has reportedly expressed interest in running for the seat, could wage a strong challenge as well.

A decade ago, there were ten Republicans who dominated politics in their counties: Bill Gormley in Atlantic, Pat Schuber in Bergen, Glenn Paulsen in Burlington, James Treffinger in Essex, Robert Prunetti in Mercer, Harry Larrison in Monmouth, George Gilmore in Ocean, Peter Murphy in Passaic, Dale Florio in Somerset, and Donald DiFrancesco in Union. Today, Democrats have completely overtaken five of those counties, and the Republicans are now playing defense in the other five.

Assemblyman Michael Panter says there are Republican bosses and Democratic bosses, and argues that he is not ethically compromised by taking money from his party.

Richard Strada, the Democratic candidate for Mayor in Toms River, wants the state Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate the circumstances surrounding the proposed purchase of property formerly known as Albocondo Campground by the Toms River Board of Education.

Toms River has been around since the 18th century, but this year's mayoral race will only be the second ever in this Ocean County town of 89,706.

That’s because the town, which until last year was officially named Dover Township, changed its form of government in 2003 from a Township Committee that appointed the mayor to the more common mayor/council setup. Since then, odd alliances and rivalries have taken shape, giving way to a Democratic mayor, Paul Brush, and a council controlled completely by Republicans.

Now that Brush is not seeking a second term, Democrat Richard Strada, a former committeeman who served a brief stint as Mayor under the old system in 1978, is facing off against Republican town council President Gregory McGuckin. Councilman Carmine Inteso, another Republican, is trying to enter the race as an independent along with a slate of three council candidates, but his petition has been challenged in court.

Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore says he was "disheartened" by GOP State Chairman candidate Peter Mancuso's $1,000 contribution to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  Gilmore says the check, written after Tom Kean, Jr. had already entered the race, was effectively a donation to Democrat Bob Menendez. 

Former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano is expected to drop his bid for Republican State Chairman, and is mulling opportunities to team up with one of the remaining candidates according to sources close the negotiations.  Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore has reportedly offered DiGaetano a new position -- Co-Chairman -- if he would back incumbent Tom Wilson for the post. 

A few Republican County Chairmen are not sure they want to support Ocean GOP Chairman George Gilmore for another term in the largely ceremonial but potentially powerful post of Chair of the Chairs. Gilmore is still taking heat for his decision to award the organization line to Robert Schroeder in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Schroeder finished a weak third in Ocean County and won only 5.5% statewide.