John Adler

Republicans across the state are in awe of George Gilmore, the Ocean County GOP leader who delivered a 70,000 plurality for Gov.-elect Christopher Christie on Tuesday.  That's bad news for U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), who is preparing to seek re-election next year to a second term in Congress.  Republicans held the third district seat from 1884 until 2008, but have struggled to find a candidate and are way behind in fundraising - Adler has $1 million in his campaign account and has raised more money than any other freshman.  But now Christie and Gilmore are positioned to raise some serious money, and there's a fairly good chance the GOP will just left Gilmore pick a candidate.

The Courier-Post has endorsed Republican Joseph Adolf, a former Mayor of Magnolia, for State Senator in the sixth district.  Adolf faces incumbent James Beach (D-Voorhees), who won a special election convention in January for the seat of John Adler, who was elected to Congress.

“We’re backing Adolf because we think more fiscal conservatism is needed in Trenton, and Adolf would bring that. He knows that cutting property taxes is the most important issue. He wants to do a thorough review of state government and look at where services are being duplicated so operations can be made more efficient and less costly. That's a great idea,” the editorial said.

For the Assembly, the Courier-Post praised all four candidates, but endorsed Democratic incumbents Louis Greenwald (D-Voorhees) and Pamela Lampitt (D-Cherry Hill) over GOP challengers Scot DeCristofaro and Brian Greenberg.

New Jersey's off-year elections and the competitive gubernatorial contest have stalled the start of the 2010 cycle.  That's great news for U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), who still has no Republican opponent in a district that sent a Republican to Congress for 124 consecutive years until Adler won it with 52% in 2008.  Days after Adler won the seat last year, former major league baseball star Al Leiter said he would not run.  And last May, a millionaire self-funder the GOP was recruiting, Moorestown investor John Culbertson, said he would not run.

Adler's fundraising prowess is likely to scare away top tier challengers, like State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), who some insiders would have won the seat last year if a local GOP feud hadn't kept her out of the race.  Adler raised $404,406 over the last three months and has amassed a $1,193,061 war chest; he raised more money than any other freshman Congressman. Unless there is a Republican Governor who can help level the financial playing field, it's possible that this seat won't be seriously contested.

Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) has the biggest campaign war chest in New Jersey's thirteen member congressional delegation, with more than twice as much money in the bank as Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn).  Pallone has $4,012,918, while Rothman has $1,759,842.  Pallone raised $355,661 during the last quarter, while Rothman brought in just $25,212 - less than any other New Jersey Congressman from either party.

Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton) has the lowest cash on hand - just $120,480.  He is expected to face a Republican primary challenge, possibly from former Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman.  Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) has $195,210 in the bank, and still carries a debt from his challenge to Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) in the 2008 Democratic U.S. Senate primary.

Freshman John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), who won a House seat last year with 52% in a district the Republicans had not lost since 1886, has $1,193,060 cash on hand.  He raised $404,405 during the last quarter - the  best in the New Jersey delegation.  Another freshman, Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), has $314,755.

If you are a New Jersey State Senator, you are more likely to die in office than to win higher elective office. Under the current State Constitution, 49 sitting State Senators have asked voters to promote them to a new office, but only eleven have won.  

That might be bad news for Loretta Weinberg, the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, and the 50th State Senator to run for another office.

Nearly half of the State Senators seeking higher office have run for Governor and all 21 have lost: Malcolm Forbes (1957), Wayne Dumont (1965), Raymond Bateman (1977) and James E. McGreevey (1997) won major party nominations but lost the general election -- each time to an incumbent; William Schluter ran as an Independent in 2001; and Walter Jones (1961), Charles Sandman (1965), William Kelly (1969), Frank McDermott (1969), William Ozzard (1969), Harry Sears (1969), Ralph DeRose (1973), Raymond Garramone (1977), Frank Dodd (1981), William Hamilton (1981), Joseph Merlino (1981), James Wallwork (1981), Bill Gormley (1989) and Gerald Cardinale (1989).

Edward Crabiel gave up his Senate seat to run in 1973 but withdrew when some party leaders decided to back Brendan Byrne. In 2001, Donald DiFrancesco dropped his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

All seven State Senators who have run for the United States Senate have lost: Frank Guarini, in 1970 Democratic primary against Harrison Williams; Richard LaRossa (1996), Bill Gormley (2000), Diane Allen (2002), John Matheussen (2002), Thomas Kean, Jr. (2006) and Joseph Pennacchio (2008).  Only Kean won a primary.  (The last time a sitting State Senator went to the U.S. Senate was in 1934, when William Smathers beat Kean's great-grandfather.)

Eleven of the fourteen sitting State Senators who have run for Congress have won: John Hunt (1966), Edwin Forsythe (1970), Joseph Maraziti (1972), Matthew Rinaldo (1992), Bernard Dwyer (1980), James Saxton (1984), Frank Pallone (1988), Richard Zimmer (1990), Robert Menendez (1992), John Adler (2008) and Leonard Lance (2008).  Five have lost House bids: Richard Stout (1968), Joseph Kyrillos (1992), Gormley (1994), John Bennett (1996), and Cardinale (2002).

Less than sixty weeks remain before the 2010 midterm elections, and Republicans still don't have a candidate to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) in a district they held continuously from 1884 to 2008, and where their candidate won 48% of the vote in the last election.  During his first six months in office, Adler raised more than any other House freshman, and had $869,275 cash on hand as of his last report.  If the GOP were to pick their candidate today, he/she would need to raise $25,000 a week for the next year just to remain financially viable.

New Jersey's congressional delegation voted 8-5 along party lines in support of a House resolution voicing disapproval of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who shouted "You lie!" during President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress last week.  Democrats John Adler, Rob Andrews, Rush Holt, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Steven Rothman, and Albio Sires voted yes.  Republicans Rodney Frelinghuysen, Scott Garrett, Leonard Lance, Frank LoBiondo and Christopher Smith voted no.  The resolution passed 240-17.  Seven Republicans voted yes and twelve Democrats voted no.

Staffers working for a legislator who resigns or dies in office keep their jobs until a successor is elected and seated.  While there are no formal rules dictating how legislative offices should operate in the event of a vacancy, in recent years the Senate President and Assembly Speaker have authorized district offices to remain open and staff to continue to be paid.  Those staffs are supervised by the Senate Secretary or the Assembly Clerk, although there is relatively little oversight in those situations.

The staff of former Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean) remains intact, even though Van Pelt resigned last week after being arrested on federal corruption charges.  And while Speaker Joseph Roberts has effectively suspended two legislators facing criminal charges without pay, Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy) and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) continue to have district offices and staffs who report to them.

It is clear that Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore had no idea that the feds were about to arrest Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean): just yesterday, Gilmore told PolitickerNJ.com that Van Pelt was a potential challenger to U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) in 2010.  The criminal complaint filed against Van Pelt seems to indicate that a challenge to Adler was something he was considering as recently as last May:

"Later, defendant VAN PELT further told the CW (Cooperating Witness) that he would assist the CW in Waretown, that the CW did not owe VAN PELT anything, and that VAN PELT wanted to see Waretown and the CW do well. In response to the CW indicating that the CW was willing to pay more money to officials, including defendant VAN PELT, for their assistance, defendant VAN PELT indicated to the CW that if VAN PELT ran for a seat in the United States Congress, they would talk."

Click here to view the full Van Pelt criminal complaint.