Jack Kelly

Although three Ocean County state Senators had already thrown their support behind state Sen. Joe Pennacchio prior to Anne Evans Estabrook’s departure from the U.S. Senate race, the county’s Republican chairman, George Gilmore, has not yet committed to a candidate.

“We’re going to wait for the smoke to clear, see who the potential viable candidates are, then have our screening process,” said Gilmore.

The county committee will hold its nominating convention on March 27th. 

Ocean County Republicans appear to be leaning toward an endorsement of Joe Pennacchio for U.S. Senate.  Three GOP State Senators from Ocean -- Andrew Ciesla, Bob Singer and Chris Connors -- announced last week that they would back Pennacchio; that’s a move that doesn’t happen without a wink and a nod from Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore. 

Republicans in Burlington County have already endorsed Anne Evans Estabrook, so Ocean going with Pennacchio is actually convenient in a region of the state that may have a high voter turnout in the GOP primary.  Estabrook can run with third district congressional candidate Christopher Myers, while Pennacchio can be aligned with Jack Kelly.   This could create local primaries for Freeholder, if Estabrook and Myers want to have a line in Ocean and Pennacchio and Kelly want one in Burlington.  The only way to assure a separate line with preferred ballot placement is to recruit Freeholder candidates.

During a press conference this morning at the Buttonwood Park and Nature Reserve in Eastampton, state Sen. John Adler accepted the Sierra Club’s endorsement for his third district Congressional campaign.

"Not only has he been a leader and a champion of environmental causes, he also knows how to get things done,” said New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel in a press release. “We believe that he will be a great asset in Washington and will take his proven legislative experience and environmental leadership to the Congress of the United States."

Although the Sierra Club endorses Democrats more often than Republicans, outgoing Republican Rep. Jim Saxton had repeatedly received the group’s backing in this district that cuts clear across New Jersey and includes a large portion of the shore. This time, the group passed over Republican Medford Mayor Chris Myers – Saxton’s heir apparent.

Republican congressional candidate Jack Kelly is featured in an Oscar winning documentary.

But it may not be the kind of attention he wants.

The movie, Freeheld, follows the struggle of Laurel Hester, a former Point Pleasant police officer who was dying of cancer, to leave her pension benefits to her same sex life partner, Stacie Andree.

But the couple faced obstacles from the Ocean County Board of Freeholders, and from Kelly in particular. In the movie, Kelly is shown saying that giving the benefits would violate the sanctity of marriage. Towards the end of the film -- after the rest of the board reconsiders and grants pension benefits to same-sex couples -- the camera focuses on the empty seat of Kelly, who did not attend the meeting.

Kelly, however, said that he’s not scared that the movie could drum up donations to Democratic candidate John Adler from the gay community should he be the nominee, or adversely affect his race for the Republican nomination against Chris Myers.

Jack Kelly and Chris Myers, the two leading candidates for the Republicans’ third district congressional nomination, have both indicated that they plan to keep their primary contest gentlemanly despite strong pushes from each of their counties’ Republican organizations.

“What you don’t want to turn this into is us against them,” Kelly, an Ocean County Freeholder, told PolitickerNJ.com in November. “We need to assure them that the needs of the district come first. Which one of us becomes a successful candidate comes second.”

But are the candidates merely paying lip service to civility this early in the race, or will they actually be able to live up to the idea?

If the 1984 primary race for the seat is any indication -- the last time there was a competitive primary in the district and Burlington and Ocean Counties went head-to-head – then yes, the contest may very well remain civil.

“We had a gentleman’s primary,” said retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, who went on to narrowly win that primary and then serve 12 consecutive terms in the House. “We debated the issues. Ronald Reagan was a theme of the campaign. He was very popular at the time.”

Chris Myers won an important endorsement today in his quest for the Republican nomination to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton, getting the support of the Camden County Republican Chairman Rick DiMichele and the Cherry Hill Republican Committee.

The third district’s Republican voters come in roughly equal numbers from Ocean and Burlington County, which both have powerful Republican machines. Burlington backs Myers, while Ocean County backs his chief rival, Freeholder Jack Kelly. Camden County only has one town in the district: Cherry Hill, which leans Democratic but has 5,900 Republicans -- enough to play an important role in the primary.

Medford Mayor Chris MyersAs part of his bid to capture his party’s nomination for the 3rd Congressional District, Medford Mayor Chris Myers on Monday night accepted the endorsement of the Burlington County Republican Party.

"What I offer is my background as a businessman," Myers, 42, an executive with Lockheed Martin, said as a counterpoint to Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly’s boast last week that Kelly has more experience than Myers as a freeholder serving half the 3rd Congressional District.

"I’ve met a payroll, and we’ve created 2,000 jobs in this area in four and a half years," answered Myers in an interview with PolitickerNJ.com after he addressed the Republican crowd assembled at the Riverton Country Club. "I know how to cut budgets. As mayor of Medford I’ve cut spending."

The screening committee for the Burlington County Republican Organization interviewed 3rd district Congressional candidates Chris Myers and Jack Kelly today at party headquarters in Mount Holly.

The committee also heard from U.S. Senate candidates Anne Estabrook, state Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, and Murray Sabrin; six county clerk candidates; and eight freeholder candidates.

GOP Ocean County Freeholder Director Jack Kelly takes the fight to Democratic Party candidate in the 3rd Congressional district, state Sen. Jack Adler.