Joe Marbach

Can’t wait until tomorrow night to see who wins the major U.S. Senate and Congressional primary contests?

Below are some predictions from pollsters, political science professors and observers who track Garden State politics.

The observers were unanimous in their predictions for the Democratic Senate primary, foreseeing a relatively easy victory for incumbent Frank Lautenberg. On the Republican end, the outlook was not so clear cut, with observers split between state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and former Rep. Dick Zimmer. Ramapo College Finance Professor Murray Sabrin will have the support of presidential candidate Ron Paul’s fans, and could take some conservative voters away from Pennacchio.

In the heated Republican primary in the 7th congressional district, state Sen. Leonard Lance is the clear favorite. The 3rd district congressional primary, however, is a toss-up. In what has been perhaps the nastiest race of the election cycle, it was tough decide who had the edge between Medford Mayor Chris Myers and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly.

These races will likely be determined by a very small number of voters. Even the most optimistic of outlooks puts voter turnout at approximately 30%, and most say they expect significantly less than that.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is a likely candidate for the GOP nomination for Governor in 2009Perception of corruption’s so rampant, political scientists say it’s unlikely yesterday’s fiasco will substantially impact Election Day.

Every time U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie puts on the cape and lands on the steps of a federal building in either Trenton or Newark, inevitably there are those who want to try to drive over a mud puddle and spatter the fearless crusader.

What Christie has had to stare down in particular over the past year is the criticism that under the guise of Captain Americanism he’s little more than a lowly spear carrier for the Bush administration, serving a subpoena to Democrat Robert Menendez in 2006, and in ‘07 going after urban and mostly African-American lawmakers who represent poor Democratic districts.

There are great primary races for State Senate and Assembly in seven districts tomorrow. Some are about the candidates themselves, and others are about power struggles between party leaders and other key players.

Each of these districts – 24, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 40 – are competitive only in primaries. That means a victory in Tuesday’s primary in tantamount to election.

PoliticsNJ.com asked four political science professors who keep a careful eye on New Jersey politics for their predictions in key races: Ingrid Reed, the Director of the Eagleton Project at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute for Politics; David Rebovich, the Managing Director of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics; Montclair University Political Science Professor Brigid Harrison; and Seton Hall University Political Science Professor (and Acting Dean) Joseph Marbach.