James Whelan

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.

Images of mostly Democratic elected officials trailing away from the trough of corruption and through the public consciousness earlier this month have sent scandalized Jefferson-Jackson lawmakers in tough districts into ethical overdrive.

Particularly down in Atlantic County, origin of the Pleasantville School Board-turned statewide scandal, according to charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Draw no link. Make no connection with the fallen, and if there’s any doubt, here’s a tough ethics package to prove it. Such is the message of Assemblyman Jim Whelan.

The Democratic legislative candidates in the second district today called for the immediate resignations of the elected officials accused today in the Pleasantville, Essex, and Passaic corruption scandal.

"The elected officials named in today's indictment should resign immediately" said Assemblyman James Whelan, who is running for the State Senate.   "This type of deplorable behavior cannot be tolerated. We need to send a clear message that these actions will not be accepted. The officials involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law. If convicted, their pensions should be seized, and any money illegally obtained should be returned to the taxpayers."

Jim Whelan's campaign says that the arrests of five current or former Pleasantville Board of Education members today helps his campaign, but GOP State Senator James "Sonny" McCullough disagrees. Among the eleven arrested was Maurice "Pete" Callaway, the brother of jailed ex-Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway.

"Whelan’s been fighting these Callaway factions," said Raiyan Syed, spokesman for Whelan, a Democratic Assemblyman and former Atlantic City Mayor who is running for the Senate. "Craig Callaway’s locked up in jail and Jim Whelan’s going to be the next state senator."

McCullough says that the Callaway organization has worked on behalf of Whelan and the local Democratic Party.

Joseph Kuehner, the mayor of Egg Harbor City and a Democratic candidate for the Assembly in district 2, is expected to announce tomorrow that he will drop out of the race, according to sources.

There has been speculation for several weeks that Kuehner, whose father is ill, would step aside. Kuehner has been running on a ticket with state Senate candidate James Whelan and Assembly candidate Blondell Spellman, both of Atlantic City.

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.

Republican Frank Blee will step down as the Assembly Minority Whip -- the number three post in the GOP leadership -- and Jon Bramnick of Union County appears to be the favorite to succeed him.  Blee, who won just 39% of the vote in his bid for State Senate at a Special Election Convention in February, has decided not to seek re-election to an eighth term in the lower house.  Some Republican legislators had privately urged Blee's ouster after the Atlantic County Republican said he would back Democratic Assemblyman James Whelan for State Senate against GOP incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough.

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.

GOP CLERK CANDIDATE HARRIS PLEDGES CONTINUITY, QUALITY SERVICE

Atlantic County Sheriff James McGettigan is giving serious consideration to running for County Executive in 2007. McGettigan has told some Democratic insiders that he might take on GOP incumbent Dennis Levinson, who is expected to seek re-election to a third term. Most insiders expect hotly contested races for County Executive and for the State Senate for longtime Republican incumbent William Gormley's seat, with freshman Democratic Assemblyman (and former Atlantic City Mayor) James Whelan the most likely candidate.