John Kean

One of the closest statewide primaries in New Jersey history was for United States Senator in 1910, one of the last Senate contests before the 17th amendment, which allowed for the direct election of Senators by the voters.

Three Republicans ran in the primary for the seat of John Kean, who was not seeking re-election to a third term: former Governor Franklin Murphy, who served from 1902 to 1905; Edward Stokes, who served as Governor from 1905 to 1908; and Congressman Charles Fowler, the Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee.

Stokes won by 736 votes statewide, a 34.4%-33.8% victory over Fowler.  Murphy finished third with 31.8%, just 3,214 votes behind Stokes.

John Murphy, whose third place finish in last year's gubernatorial primary earned him a spot on the short list of Republican candidates for Governor in 2009, must decide in the coming weeks whether he will seek re-election to a fourth term on the Morris County Board of Freeholders. Murphy's own advisors are split on what he should do: some are telling him to run again, that being an incumbent officeholder gives him added status in a statewide campaign (especially when the highest office he has won is a countywide post); others on the Murphy team tell him he is already a statewide candidate and not running again will allow him to focus his time on fundraising and making contacts across New Jersey. The last sitting GOP elected official to win election as Governor was William Cahill, who was in the middle of his sixth term in Congress when he won in 1969; the last Republican elected officeholder to win a U.S. Senate seat was in 1918, when Governor Walter Edge won.

State Senator Thomas Kean, Jr. appears to be the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate this year; he will become the second Kean family member to win a statewide primary as a sitting officeholder: his grandfather, Robert Kean, was a ten-term Congressman when he ran for the Senate in 1958; his father, Thomas Kean, had been out of the State Assembly for four years when he won the 1981 gubernatorial primary, and his great-grandfather, Hamilton Kean, had never held public office before winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1928. His great-great-uncle, John Kean, eleven years after losing a bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Footnote: Most Keans lose a statewide contest before they win: Kean Sr. lost the 1977 primary, Hamilton Kean lost a 1924 primary, and John Kean lost a race for Governor in 1892.

Besides Kean Sr., Douglas Forrester in 2005, Christine Todd Whitman in 1993, James Mitchell in 1961, Malcolm Forbes in 1957, Paul Troast in 1953, and Alfred Driscoll in 1946 were not serving in public office at the time they won Republican gubernatorial primaries: Forrester had not served in public office since he left the West Windsor Council in the early 1980's; Whitman had left the Somerset County Board of Freeholders to join Governor Kean's cabinet; Mitchell and Troast had never held elected office (though Mitchell was U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Dwight Eisenhower) before they ran for Governor; Forbes resigned his State Senate seat to run for Governor full time; and Driscoll left the State Senate five years before he ran for Governor. Bret Schunder was the Mayor of Jersey City when he won the 2001 GOP gubernatorial nomination, James Courter (1989) and Charles Sandman (1973) were Congressmen, and Raymond Bateman (1977) and Wayne Dumont (1965).

Democrats are different: their last six candidates for Governor were holding elected office at the time of their nomination and election. The last time Democrats nominated an outsider for Governor was in 1973, when Brendan Byrne resigned as a Superior Court Judge to mount his first campaign for office.

A new political dynasty is being built in Essex County, headed by Congressman Donald Payne. Payne's brother, William Payne, is the Assemblyman from the 29th district, and his nephew, Craig Stanley, is the Assembyman from the 28th district. His son, Donald Payne, Jr., was elected to the Essex County Board of Freeholders in 2005 -- Democrats dumped incumbent Albertus Jenkins from the organization line to make room for him. Payne's cousin, Phil Thigpen, is the Essex County Democratic Chairman. Now, Bill Payne's son-in-law is eyeing a bid for public office: Wilfredo Benitzez, a Montclair attorney, reportedly wants to replace Democrat Joseph Brennan as the Essex County Surrogate. There was some talk of dumping Brennan, a former West Orange Councilman, in 2001. Since backing winners in hotly contested races for Mayor of Newark and Essex County Executive in 2002, Payne has emerged as one of the most powerful Democrats in Essex County.