Jim Saxton

Retiring Rep. Jim Saxton won’t make a formal endorsement for the Republican nomination for his successor, but he spent yesterday in Washington with Medford Deputy Mayor Christopher Meyers, a Lockheed Martin executive and the presumptive favorite to be the Burlington County candidate in the race to succeed him.

Saxton met with Myers and took him to offices of the Republican National Congressional Committee yesterday to introduce him around, said Jeff Sagnip, who served as Saxton’s campaign manager in 2006. Saxton, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Myers, a defense contractor who works for the largest employer in South Jersey, have been close friends for years.

Republican Assembly Brian Rumpf withdrew his name today for consideration to run for outgoing U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton’s seat.

In a letter to Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore, Rumpf said that he would prefer to remain a member of the state legislature.

"This year’s recent election shed even greater light on the myriad of serious issues currently confronting our state that residents want addressed. Out of respect for the voters who chose me to continue representing them in the State Assembly, I am committed to serving in the State Legislature as an active advocate for my constituents,” wrote Rumpf.

Rumpf, however, left the door open to a possible congressional run “at some point in the future.”

Since Election Day ’07, politics in New Jersey has centered on the unexpected retirements of Republican Congressmen Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson – with barely any mention of the race next year for the United States Senate.  Frank Lautenberg, who turns 84 in January, is expected to seek re-election to a fifth term.  The last time the name of Anne Evans Estabrook, one of the Republicans seeking to challenge Lautenberg, appeared in a daily newspaper was a brief mention by the Philadelphia Inquirer on November 8 – 22 days ago.  Her rival for the GOP nod, Joseph Pennacchio, was mentioned in the Asbury Park Press on November 9, but in the context of his recent election to the State Senate.

As veteran state legislator Diane Allen’s congressional star descended over the 3rd district, an opposing faction in her party inch by inch unveiled what they believe is the tantalizing candidacy of newcomer Christopher Myers, a decorated Gulf War veteran and vice president at Lockheed Martin.

"A real man's man," said an early supporter.

The popular Allen just endured a six-month long re-election campaign in which she fairly beat up the opposition by a 12% margin, but also expended energy and capital in a losing effort to pull in a pair of Assembly running mates.

Rep. Jim Saxton will retire next year after 24 years in Congress: Getty Images Photo
Congressman Jim Saxton says that he does not intend to endorse anyone for the House seat he has held since 1984, and that he has an “open door policy” to share his thoughts with any Republican interesting in representing the third district.

Saxton says he has a strong preference for the three county GOP organizations to adopt a plan to pick one candidate before the April filing date and avoid a primary. He said such a process would have helped him in his first race for Congress, when three Republicans sought the nomination.

The retirements of Congressmen Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson offers the potential for an interesting game of political musical chairs.

In District 3, if John Adler goes to Congress, look for Louis Greenwald to replace him in the State Senate.  That will open up a sixth district Assembly seat that Cherry Hill might claim, although that decision will be made by party leaders.  Most of the Cherry Hill Councilmembers are potential candidates, and one interesting replacement for Greenwald would be Councilwoman Shelley Adler, whose husband could be a Congressman.  This is a safe Democratic district, and legislators picked at a Special Election Convention would be virtual shoo-ins for the November 2009 elections.

It happens every cycle: a candidate gets tripped up by revelations of a campaign contribution to the other party.  Sometimes it hurts – that’s one of the reasons Lewis Eisenberg dropped his bid for U.S. Senate in 2000 – and sometimes it doesn’t matter at all – like Jon Corzine’s donations to some Republicans when he was the Goldman Sachs Chairman.  And Anne Evans Estabrook’s contributions to Democrats like Robert Menendez and Linda Stender does not appear to bother Republican leaders considering her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

It's a saga as old as Saul versus David, Red Cloud versus Crazy Horse. The scrappy old boss has to go out and try to defend his turf against the brazen young challenger bucking to be if not his successor exactly, then the leader of a new breed.

That's the way it is in Burlington County, where 36-year old Dawn Lacy, acting chair of the Republican Party, is facing Glenn Paulsen, 60, the party's former chair and enduring craggy-faced poster boy for GOP power. 

When Lacy threw Paulsen's surrogates out of party headquarters the day after the election on Nov. 6th, the boss went into attack mode and promptly started stirring up opposition to the bright-eyed young politico whom he'd initially brought into the fold to head up the party's youth recruitment efforts.