Jim Saxton

Since he left Congress at the beginning of this year, Michael Ferguson has cut the balance of his old campaign account in half.  He started the year with $113,446 cash on hand, and had $54,911 in the bank as of the end of September.  Now a Washington lobbyist, Ferguson has contributed $20,000 to campaign accounts and political action committees connected to some former House colleagues.

Ferguson gave $4,000 last May to Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Congressman who later drew national attention when he called the President a liar during a joint session of Congress.  He also gave $5,000 to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor's PAC, and $4,000 to former House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, who is running for an open U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.  Ferguson also contributed to a Senator from North Carolina (Richard Burr, a former House colleague), and Congressmen from Kansas, California, Nebraska, and Michigan.

In New Jersey, Ferguson used his campaign account to contribute $3,400 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  That is Ferguson's lone contribution from his campaign to local GOP candidates.

Former Republican Congressman Jim Saxton endorsed ex-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie for governor today.

Saxton, who left the House in January after serving 24 years, said that Christie “will get our state's economy back on track and his proven leadership will provide the platform for improvements in all areas of our state.”  

"As someone who has fought to keep jobs in New Jersey, I know Chris's business-friendly plan will reduce taxes for small businesses, break down overbearing regulation, and create an environment where job creation is a reality,” he said.

Christie has the endorsement of all but one sitting Republican Congressmen.  U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) has remained neutral.  

Moorestown investor John Culbertson said today that he is not interested in running for Congress in 2010.

“I’ve given a lot of thought.   I’ve actually spoken to a number of people and consulted a variety of folks, and I’ve decided that 2010 is not the right time for me to run – primarily for personal reasons,” said Culbertson.  “I am not a candidate for 2010, but I am certainly interested if the time is right in the future.”
 
Although he did not have much of a history with the Republican Party in his native Burlington County, Culbertson was an intriguing candidate to some GOP insiders because of his ability to self-fund. 

Republicans are working hard to recruit a candidate early to take on freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), who was the first Democrat to win a seat in the 3rd District since the late 19th century.  Adler, obviously aware that national Republicans plan to target his seat next year, raised almost $500,000 last quarter. 

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is widely mentioned as a possible candidate for Lt. Governor if Chris Christie wins the GOP primary.

One major obstacle for Diane Allen as a potential candidate for Lieutenant Governor is the objection of Burlington County Republican leaders who have been feuding with the popular South Jersey State Senator from the last two years.  Allen, a former TV anchorwoman has proven herself as a strong vote-getter in the suburban Philadelphia region, winning five successive general elections in a Democratic-leaning district.

Allen nearly entered the race for Congress in 2008 after Jim Saxton announced his retirement, but withdrew when it became apparent that her home county organization would not support her.  Some pundits think that Allen would have kept the seat in Republican hands against Democrat John Adler, who won the seat 52%-48% against the lesser known Christopher Myers. The same pundits say that Allen’s presence on the ballot might have prevented Republicans from losing two Freeholder seats and the County Clerk’s office.

At their election night party in Mount Laurel, while Burlington County Democrats were ecstatically watching the best returns they've seen in recent memory roll in, local Democratic chairman Rick Perr followed newly minted Congressman-Elect John Adler's (D-Cherry Hill) victory speech with a joke that lent a sobering reminder to an otherwise heady atmosphere.

"Hey John, when does re-election start?" he said.

The answer: immediately. 

After losing a seat that their party held for 124 years, national Republicans have stressed to local party leaders that they should start fielding potential challengers to Adler as soon as possible.  Not that they needed to tell that to Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore and Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton, who head up the GOP in the two counties that dominate the 3rd Congressional District (Camden County has one town, Cherry Hill, in the district).

Some pundits view State Sen. Diane Allen, with U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, as the strongest potential Republican challenger to freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler in 2010.

New Jersey Republicans will face some pressure from the national GOP over the next few months to settle on their candidate to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) in 2010.  Adler won the seat of retiring twelve-term Republican Jim Saxton last year with 52% -- the first Democrat to win the seat since Thomas Ferrell ousted two-term Republican George Robeson with 50.1% in 1882.

Republicans think they can beat Adler next year, but the National Republican Congressional Committee is sending signals that they want the candidate in place soon so that he or she can begin fundraising.  That's what Adler did in 2006, before Saxton had announced his intention to retire.  If the third district Republican candidate does not meet certain early fundraising goals, sources say that the NRCC might not become fully engaged in the race, according to one House Republican staffer familiar with NRCC operations.

Getty Images Photo

U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-Mt. Holly) will retire tomorrow after 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

When Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson leave Congress tomorrow, New Jersey will have nineteen living former Congressmen.  The oldest is Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen, the 93-year-old father of U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.  He first won an open seat in 1952 and served until his retirement in 1974.  The youngest is the soon-to-be-unemployed Michael Pappas, 48, a Republican who won an open seat in 1996 and lost his bid for re-election to a second term two years later.  Pappas works for the Small Business Administration and will likely lose his job when the new administration takes office this month.

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is a possible candidate for Congress against John Adler in 2010

If Republicans can't beat John Adler in 2010, chances are they never will.  If Adler wins a second term, watch for mapmakers to take take some heavily Republican Ocean County towns out of his district when new congressional districts are drawn for the 2012 elections.  Adler scored a 52%-48% victory last week over Republican Christopher Myers for the seat of retiring twelve term U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton -- a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1882.

Republican insiders say that Myers isn't likely to get a second shot at the seat, and that the favorite candidate could be former major league baseball pitcher Al Leiter.  Leiter, a Toms River native who has said he wants to run for office someday, has turned down several offers to seek U.S. Senate and House seats in recent years.  Other possible Adler opponents include: State Sen. Diane Allen (who must first heal wounds in a very fractured Burlington County Republican organization); State Sen. Phil Haines; Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego; Assemblyman Brian Rumpf; and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who lost the '08 GOP primary to Myers.

Of the two New Jersey congressional districts where Republican incumbents did not seek re-election this year, the third district in parts of Ocean, Burlington and Camden counties is arguably more Republican than the seventh district, which includes parts of Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Middlesex counties.  In District 3, Jim Saxton won 58% of the vote in 2006 and 63% in 2004; George W. Bush won with 51% in 2004.  In the 7th, Mike Ferguson nearly lost his 2006 re-election bid to Democrat Linda Stender, 49%-48%, after winning 57% in 2004; Bush won 53% four years ago.  Republicans have held the Saxton seat since 1884 and the Ferguson seat since 1956.

Democrats have picked up a Republican House seat in New Jersey's third district, with State Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) defeating Medford Mayor Christopher Myers.  The incumbent, Republican Jim Saxton, is retiring after 24 years in Congress.  Democrats have not won this seat since 1882.