John DiMaio

Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio

The GOP Assembly race in the 23rd District continues, as Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio today secured the endorsement of three-term Warren County Sheriff Sal Simonetti.   

“I have always known John to be a steward of the taxpayers monies and in Trenton, I have 100% confidence that he will be just as vigilant in his work to reduce the size of government while returning more money to the local entities,” Simonetti said in a statement.

“As a law enforcement officer, I recognize the need for dedicated and ethical elected officials who truly understand what it means to be a public servant,” the sheriff added. “In John, the residents of the 23rd District can be assured they are getting a man of character, integrity and who possesses the acumen necessary to be a leader in the State Legislature.”

Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck

Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck won’t pursue a run for the Assembly, he told PolitickerNJ.com this morning.

“I think I’m going to sit out the Assemby race,” said the ally of Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington Twp.), who endorsed Doherty at Saturday’s special convention in Clinton Twp., where Doherty lost in his bid for the state senate. 

“It’s very flattering to be considered in the mix, but there are three very capable candidates in there right now and the timing doesn’t feel right for me,” he explained.

Hunterdon County Freeholder Matt Holt, Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio and Hunterdon County Freeholder Erik Peterson are vying for two vacancies in the 23rd District created by Sen. Marcia Karrow’s victory Saturday and Doherty’s decision to forego his assembly seat to run against Karrow in the une Republican primary.

If Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio wants to win Marcia Karrow’s State Assembly seat in the 23rd district, he’ll need to do better than the 56% Michael Doherty received in Warren County in Saturday’s special election convention for State Senator.   DiMaio will need to get about 120 votes out of Warren County – about 30 more votes than Doherty received.  Some pundits say that’s a reasonable vote goal for the veteran Freeholder.

Today, DiMaio announced the endorsements of sixteen Republican mayors from Warren County, including seven of the mayors who publicly backed Karrow for Senate.  DiMaio also has the backing of two newly-elected Warren mayors from towns where the previous mayor had endorsed Karrow late last year.  Winning support from Warren County Republicans who were in the Karrow camp is an essential ingredient to a DiMaio victory – and shows that DiMaio doesn’t have some of the institutional negatives Doherty did in his own base.

Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio

UPDATED 

Humbled, in his words, by the support of mayors from his home county as he pursues a 23rd District Assembly seat in the lead-up to a Feb. 21 special election, Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio today announced the names of those 16 Warren mayors who back him.

“This overwhelming show of support I am receiving is a testament to my unwavering support of municipal government,” DiMaio said.  “As Assemblyman, I will bring that same vigor as I seek to return more authority to the local level of government.

“Whether it is the rural nature of a community like Blairstown, the suburban character of a community like Greenwich, or the Main Street charm of a community like Hackettstown, I have proven that I can represent the concerns of each and every one of my constituents,” added the county freeholder, a contractor by trade.”  

• Karrow wins Senate seat; calls for unity as Doherty vows to fight her in primary
• Voting underway now in Clinton in a larger context as Lonegan makes an appearance
• Karrow presents herself as rural and local
• Doherty presents himself as the fiscal and social conservative
• Nominating speeches moments away
• It has begun
• Republicans to fill Lance seat today
• With a Senate primary comes two contested Assembly seats
• More than 40 GOP County Committee members didn't show up to elect a new Senator
• Assemblymen beating Senators in primaries are rare
• Karrow will serve on Appropriations Committee
• Next up: the race for Karrow's Assembly seat
• Will Doherty give up his Assembly seat for a second shot at Karrow?
• 25% of Senate entered through special election

Hunterdon County Freeholder Matthew Holt is seeking Marcia Karrow's seat in the State Assembly.

If Mike Doherty follows through on his threat to challenge Marcia Karrow in the 2009 Senate primary, it means both candidates might recruit State Assembly candidates to run on their ticket in the 23rd district.  Karrow will almost certainly run on the Hunterdon Republican organization line, and Warren has no line in GOP primaries.

Republicans will hold a special election convention to fill Karrow's Assembly seat.  Two Hunterdon County Freeholders, Matthew Holt and Erik Peterson, are among the candidates, and the results of Saturday's Senate election show a clear advantage for a Hunterdon-based candidate.  The loser of that contest could have another shot at the Assembly, if Karrow opts to run an all-Hunterdon ticket.

Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl's vote total in his 2008 re-election campaign was nearly identical to the number of County Committee votes Marcia Karrow won in Hunterdon in the special election convention for State Senator.

Marcia Karrow won a State Senate seat by 42 votes, 195-143, boosted by receiving 70% of the vote (125-54) in her home county of Hunterdon and by holding Michael Doherty to 56% (89-70) in his home county of Warren.

Voter turnout in Hunterdon was 86%; thirty Republican County Committee members from Hunterdon County did not show up to vote today.  GOP County Chairman Henry Kuhl told PolitickerNJ.com this week that there were three vacancies out of 212 seats.

Karrow's vote tally in Hunterdon (125) was nearly equal to the votes received by Kuhl (124) in his 2008 re-election bid.  But while Kuhl's opponent, Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck, received 78 votes, Doherty won just 54.
 
All but a few of the 181 County Committee seats in Warren were filled.  Today, 159 votes were cast from Warren County.

Hunterdon County Freeholder Erik Peterson, with U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, is one of the candidates for Marcia Karrow's seat in the State Assembly.

The Republican County Committee in District 23 must now schedule a second special election convention to fill the State Assembly seat of Marcia Karrow, who was elected to the State Senate today.  There are already three announced candidates: Hunterdon County Freeholders Matthew Holt and Erik Peterson, and Warren County Freeholder John DiMaio.  Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck is also mulling an Assembly bid.  Karrow won the seat with 58% of the vote, which demonstrates a clear advantage for a Hunterdon-based candidate.

A new State Senator will be elected on Saturday to replace newly-elected U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

Tomorrow is Election Day in Hunterdon County, where Assemblyman Michael Doherty and Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow will face off in a special election convention to replace Leonard Lance as the State Senator from the 23rd district. Lance resigned his State Senate seat earlier this month to take his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Doherty is widely considered to be the front runner, but insider contests decided by County Committee members can produce some surprises in a race where no polling of a finite universe of voters has been conducted.  Either way, District 23 Republican County Committee members will need to return soon to fill the soon-to-be vacant Assembly seat of the winner.  Three Freeholders - Matthew Holt and Erik Peterson of Hunterdon and John DiMaio of Warren - are already announced candidates for the Assembly.  A fourth candidate, Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck, is also mulling an Assembly bid.

Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck

Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck acknowledged today that he is mulling a run for the Assembly in the 23rd District. 

“It’s certainly something I’m considering, and it’s a matter of where I think I can make the most difference,” said Peck, who failed in his 2005 primary bid for the Assembly, and last year challenged Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl and lost.

“We needed new direction and new energy in the Republican Party and to date I’m pleased to see a lot of the reform aspects I called for have been adopted,” Peck said of his challenge to Kuhl. “The party is more open and inclusive, they’re having more lower-cost events, they have a website up and running, and there is more of an effort to communicate electronically.”