Jon Bramnick

Republican County Committee members from District 21 will need to schedule a special election convention within seven to 35 days to fill the State Assembly seat left vacant yesterday by the death of Eric Munoz.  Hours after the death of the five-term Assemblyman, Republicans were listing several potential candidates for the Munoz seat: former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield, Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin, Cranford Mayor David Robinson, Berkeley Heights Mayor David Cohen, Roselle Park Mayor Joe DeIorio, former Garwood Councilwoman Patricia Quattrocchi, and Mountainside Councilman Glenn Mortimer.

Another possible candidate is Peter Kane, a longtime Summit GOP leader who ran Mike Huckabees's New Jersey presidential campaign in 2008.  Huckabee will be speaking in New Jersey tomorrow at the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Hatfield ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for Congress in 2008, but won the Union County convention; she is now the party's Finance Chair.  Morin came within a handful of votes of winning an Assembly seat in a 2003 special election convention that was won by Jon Bramnick.

Republicans say the seat won't go to Westfield, where Bramnick and State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr. live.  And it is unlikely to go to anyone in Essex, Morris or Somerset counties.   Bramnick and Kean are also considered potential candidates for Lt. Governor; their selection would trigger other conventions t his year.

Former Republican Mercer County sheriff candidate Jim McSorley confirmed today that he will not run for state assembly in the 14th District.

“My DNA is in the law enforcement end, but I know that they’re going to win those two seats,” he said.  

McSorley, who ran a long shot campaign against incumbent Sheriff Kevin Larkin last year, was heavily recruited by state Republicans to run with Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede, meeting with Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) about the prospect.  Yaede could not be reached for comment, but is said to be undecided.  

The 14th is expected to be one of the few true battleground districts this year, with its two assembly seats held by freshman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) and long-time incumbent Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro).  

TRENTON – However subdued his variations on this year’s most infamous catch phrase, “tough economic times,” members of both parties are prepared to hear Gov. Jon Corzine’s budget address tomorrow as a starter’s gun blast in the 2009 gubernatorial and legislative races.

Already exhilarated by Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Chris Christie’s argument that Corzine and the Democrats must accept responsibility for the state budget (which swelled from $25 billion to $33 billion in nine years) and not hide within the folds of an international economic crisis, the GOP wants to capitalize on a dismal tide statewide, which last year buried John McCain at the national level in a narrative of poor fiscal management by the Bush administration.

“It’s too late,” confirmed Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) of Corzine. “You’ve been the governor. If the economy was doing great you would take credit for it. When it’s not doing well, you’re stuck with the hand you’ve been dealt. If the state ain’t getting better, end of story."

Presumably no longer able to rely on their most beloved if unwitting ally – President George W. Bush – to deepsix the Republican Party, New Jersey Democrats face a humbling nine point deficit in the gubernatorial contest, according to last week’s Fairleigh Dickinson Poll. 

Pat Schuber, 61, now a college professor, served as Bergen County Executive, Assemblyman, and Mayor of Bogota between 1972 and 2002.

Gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie dropped a major hint yesterday about his choice of a running mate if he wins the June primary: he said his Lieutenant Governor would chair the “New Jersey Partnership for Action,” leading an agency that will “create an effective infrastructure for economic growth.”  If Christie intends to have his LG play a key role in the state’s economic recovery – not necessarily a bad idea – then it could mean that he does not intend to pick an LG candidate based on geographical, gender, racial, or ideological balance.  Christie could be looking for someone out of the private sector, or someone with executive experience.

Could former Bergen County Executive William "Pat" Schuber come out of retirement to run for Lt. Governor?  Schuber is a friend of the former U.S. Attorney and of his top advisor, William Palatucci.  And while Schuber has been out of office for seven years -- something that could be turned into a positive -- he is likely to still have a following among independent voters in Bergen County that could be criticial to Christie's general election success.

How about former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield for Lt. Governor? Some sources say its on the table.

Christopher Christie's 74% victory at the Union County Republican convention is good news for Jon Bramnick, the Assembly Minority Whip who very much wants to be the GOP candidate for Lt. Governor.  While there were plenty of Republican leaders who can take credit for the big Christie win, including Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr.,  GOP County Chairman Philip Morin, and longtime Westfield resident William Palatucci, a lopsided win in Union surely won't hurt Bramnick's chances.

One Republican who won't be held in high esteem by Christie if he becomes Governor is Elizabeth Municipal Chair Helen Rosales.  Rosales endorsed the former U.S. Attorney, but flipped her support this morning to former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan and nominated him at the convention.  Lonegan won 21% of the vote, followed by Assemblyman Rick Merkt (2%), Franklin Mayor Brian D. Levine (1%), and South Brunswick businessman David Brown (1%).

SUMMIT –Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie easily won the Union County Republican Convention today -- an outcome that everyone, including the four other candidates who competed, expected.

The lopsided result at the Lawton C. Johnson middle school, while not surprising, bolsters Christie’s frontrunner status in the Republican primary.  

Christie got 294 votes to former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan's 83 while Assemblyman Rick Merkt had 9, Franklin Mayor Brian Levine had 5 and South Brunswick inventor David Brown got 4.  

The convention was the first held by a county committee in the state, but it’s the second Republican county line awarded to Christie, who earlier this week won the favored ballot spot in Monmouth County by Chairman Joseph Oxley.  

The only result truly in question today was whether Merkt or Levine would place fourth.  Both, however, downplayed the importance of the result, and said it would have no effect on whether they continue their campaigns.

“Are we in it until the primary?” Merkt asked his Campaign Manager, Chris Venis, in response to a question from PolitickerNJ.com prior to knowing the voting results.

“We’re in it ‘til November,” Venis said.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, left, and Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine

ROSELLE PARK – On a night of party revelry, two men here tonight appeared at least initially dejected.

There would be no candidates’ speeches at the Union County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner/Auction, and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan accepted the news with admitted disappointment.

“First it was five minute speeches then three minutes and now we’re down to no speeches,” said Lonegan when he was asked if he would be addressing the packed crowd at the annual event.

A second candidate for governor, Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine, arrived with an envelope containing prepared remarks in his jacket pocket, but there was no need, he learned from Lonegan when Levine walked in the door to the small but swanky Solar do Minho banquet hall.

“The candidates are mingling, talking to people,” explained Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin. “They’re getting their message out. If we do speeches, we’ll be here all night.”

Former Star-Ledger reporter Jeff Whelan will direct opposition research for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.

The latest addition to what has become an extensive list of former newspaper reporters who now work for the people they once covered in Jim O'Neil, who reported on the Middlesex County Prosecutor while for the Star-Ledger, has taken a job as a public information aide to Bruce Kaplan, the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

O'Neil's colleague, Diane Walsh, who covered Middlesex County government and politics for the Star-Ledger, is now the communications director to Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield).  Bramnick is actively seeking the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor on a ticket with Christopher Christie.

Jeff Whelan, the Star-Ledger reporter who covered Christie at the U.S. Attorney's office until late last year, will head the opposition research team for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.

Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) is a possible candidate for Lt. Governor if Chris Christie wins the GOP nomination for Governor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – There’s Assembly Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) at Union Station and someone on the move cries out to him, “Hey, it’s the lieutenant governor,” and Bramnick grins and waves, playing along with GOP buzz that he’s short list candidate for the number two spot on a gubernatorial ticket topped by former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

“I’m well trained for the job,” Bramnick cracks to a gaggle of reporters wiaiting to catch the Chamber of Commerce train back to New Jersey. “I tell people I’m from District 21 and they look right through me. Then I tell them it’s Tom Kean’s district and suddenly they warm up.”