Joseph Pennacchio

For Immediate Release

Contact: Steve Kush 609-980-6714

For Immediate Release

Conntact: Steve Kush 609-980-6714

Pennacchio supports McCain plan

Mercer County Republicans tonight endorsed former Rep. Dick Zimmer for U.S. Senate.  In his first intra-party contest since joining the Senate race on Thursday, Zimmer defeated State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio by a 25-5 vote.  Murray Sabrin received two votes.  Zimmer, who represented part of Mercer as a state legislator and Congressman, will run on the organization line in the June 3 primary.

Last month, the Mercer GOP convention had authorized their Executive Committee to endorse a Senate candidate.  The organization had decided to endorse John Crowley, if he ran, and then Andy Unanue as a second choice.

Joseph Pennacchio won the Somerset County Republican convention last month in a race where he was essentially unopposed.  Andy Unanue, in the race a few days and still vacationing in Vail, declined to compete, and Murray Sabrin was ineligible because he refused to sign a pledge required by the party to support the organization slate.  Now Pennacchio is in danger of losing the Somerset endorsement as GOP County Chairman Dale Florio maneuvers behind the scenes to add Dick Zimmer to the line.  Sources close to Florio say that he has discussed either a do-over vote based on the new field of candidates -- Zimmer represented part of Somerset County in Congress from 1991 to 1997 --  or simply creating a limited open primary, where Pennacchio and Zimmer – but not Sabrin – would run on the organization line.

Andy Unanue will file papers tomorrow morning withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race, and his Committee on Vacancies will announce tomorrow that they have designated former Rep. Dick Zimmer to take his place on the ballot in the June 3 Republican primary.

Unanue reportedly signed papers ending his campaign earlier today from his vacation home in Colorado. Zimmer, 63, the 1996 GOP U.S. Senate candidate, has been making calls today advising party leaders of his decision to enter the race. He will face State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and college professor Murray Sabrin in the primary.

The Republican U.S. Senate primary appears to have settled down a bit -- at least for now – with a decision by Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. that he won’t run statewide this year.  The deadline for replacing candidates on the ballot is tomorrow, and with Kean and John Crowley saying no over the last four days, the GOP field appears to be exactly where it was two weeks ago: Goya Foods millionaire Andy Unanue, State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, and Murray Sabrin, the leader of Ron Paul’s New Jersey campaign.  This has the makings of a competitive primary: Unanue has organization lines in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Hudson, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean, while Pennacchio has the lines in Bergen, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic, Salem and Somerset (and the support of GOP County Chairmen in Morris and Warren, which have open primaries).  Sabrin has the organization endorsement in Gloucester County.

Even after today’s filing deadline, it seems like everybody still wants to change the candidates in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. At least a few high ranking Republican activists are hoping that they can convince Goya Foods heir Andy Unanue to drop out, but his friend and advisor, Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz, said that’s not going to happen.

“Andy has no intention of stepping down,” he said.

Unanue, entered the race just two weeks ago as the party’s darling but quickly fell from grace amidst questions about his residency and allegations stemming from an intra-family business dispute.

Some Republicans say that Unanue is upset at the national Republicans’ all out effort to push biotech millionaire John Crowley into the race, which went so far as to have John McCain and Rudy Giuliani call him and urge him to run.  What’s unclear is whether that anger will make Unanue more or less likely to forego his run.

According to Ortiz, however, Unanue isn’t mad.

U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) today stood by his aRep. Rob Andrewsdvocacy of Gov. Jon Corzine's toll roads proposal in the face of bad mouthing from state Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris).

"I give the governor credit," said Andrews, who entered the U.S. Senate race last week against Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

"We want to address the state's problems," Andrews said. "I take Joe Pennacchio's criticism as a high compliment."

As he struggles to secure his party's nomination in a turbulent GOP primary, Pennacchio treated the entry of Andrews into the contest asState Sen. Joseph Pennacchio an opportunity to go after another Democratic target.

When asked to draw a contrast between himself and the Camden Democrat, Pennacchio said, "I never raised a tax.

"Joe Pennacchio has a record of cutting taxes," the senator added of himself.

The Republican referred to Andrews's public declaration of support earlier this year for Corzine's plan to increase tolls by 50% every four years until 2022 on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, Atlantic City Expressway and Route 440.