Kathleen Donovan

Steve Lonegan fired a clear and direct warning shot at Chris Christie today, suggesting that the endorsement he offered in his concession speech one week ago is based upon the continuation of his conservative agenda during his general election campaign against Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.  But if Christie seeks a move to the political center, as many GOP primary winners do in New Jersey, he could alienate Lonegan and his core political supporters.

One interpretation of Lonegan’s intentions: that Christie needs to proceed with caution as he considers pro-choice running mates.  State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan are reportedly the leading candidates for Lt. Governor on the GOP ticket.  Instead, some Lonegan backers are telling Christie to look at three other candidates: Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-Franklin) and Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno.

Lonegan is taking some heat from supporters for his conciliatory primary night endorsement of Christie, according to sources close to the former Bogota Mayor.  Also taking some heat is New Jersey Right to Life (NJRTL) Legislative Affairs Director Marie Tasy, whom some Lonegan supporters insist backed Christie.  Sources say that Tasy stopped returning Lonegan’s telephone calls in January, and even prevented Lonegan volunteers from handing out literature at a NJRTL dinner.

The decision of Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) to remove his name from consideration for Lt. Governor removes one of the top names from Chris Christie's list, and makes State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan more serious contenders.  Kean was reportedly one of the leading contenders to become Christie's running mate.

Democratic sources say that Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) remains a strong candidate to run with Gov. Jon Corzine. Other names being mentioned by party leaders this week include two Republicans, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Joan Verplanck and Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries, a former N.J. Secretary of State.  It's hard to imagine Soaries is a real contender: he was an early supporter of George W. Bush for President in 2000, and national Republicans helped him in his congressional campaign against Democrat Rush Holt in 2002.  His presence on the ticket might make it more difficult for Democrats to tie Christie to Bush, as they did at Corzine's campaign kickoff on Tuesday.

If Christopher Christie becomes the Republican nominee for Governor, he'll have thirty days to decide on a running mate.  Republican leaders close to the former U.S. Attorney seem to think the race for Lt. Governor is down to two finalists: Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) and State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park), with Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan sitting third on the list.

Kean's fledgling candidacy is helped by his previous statewide experience and his knowledge of state issues.  He was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006, and while he sometimes struggled as a candidate - his avoidance of reporters in an Atlantic City elevator comes to find - his 44% in a bad Republican year had to be a growing experience.  And he's been vetted by the thorough opposition research of Bob Menendez, which means it is unlikely that anything in Kean's background would embarrass Christie.

He has won good reviews for his role as Senate Republican leader from colleagues who view him as more partisan and more aggressive than his predecessor, Leonard Lance.  He seems well-liked, and understands vast details of state government - a quality that might be a good balance for Christie, who has served as a Freeholder and as a federal prosecutor.

The 40-year-old Kean comes from a prominent political family: his father served two terms as Governor and later as Drew University President and as Chairman of the 9/11 Commission; his grandfather was a ten-term Congressman, and his great-grandfather served in the United States Senate.

But Kean's greatest weakness as a candidate for Lt. Governor is his natural hesitation to be an attack dog.  While he has become more combative since his 2006 defeat, he is not exactly the kind of guy who will criticize Democrats just for being Democrats.  He's often reluctant to get his hands dirty.  Kean may not attract voters that Christie won't get on his own, but he won't hurt Christie either.

Allen, 61, has a legitimate base in South Jersey, where she was well known as a television news anchorwoman for a Philadelphia network affiliate before launching a career in politics in 1995.  She has won five races in a district that has elected Democrats to the Assembly for the last twelve years, and got received seasoning as a candidate for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2002.  She helps Christie in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties - places Republicans will need to better than they have in recent statewide elections if they want to beat Gov. Jon Corzine.  And Allen might be more willing than Kean to be act in a fiercely partisan manner.

Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan working in her office on Election Day.

HACKENSACK - Rumored to be a short-list candidate for lieutenant governor should establishment candidate Chris Christie win the GOP gubernatorial primary tonight, Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan told PolitickerNJ.com that she doesn't know what will happen on that front.

"No one's offered," she said. ""Yes, I would consider it, if asked. It sounds like a fabulous opportunity but I also just won re-election and am very happy serving as clerk."

Donovan has served in that capacity for 20 years, defending her territory even as the rise of the Joe Ferriero era in Democratic Party politics here toppled nearly everyone else around her in Republican ranks.

Donovan also served in the Assembly for one term prior to her job as clerk.

"I've been very fortunate to participate in public life and I've enjoyed every minute of it," she said. "Everyday on this job, we help someone."

Filing to run against Republican Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Daniel Van Pelt in the strongly Republican, Ocean County-based ninth district, are Richard P. Visotcky and Robert Rue.  Visotcky, an attorney, is the son of Richard F. Visotcky, a Bergen County Democrat who served in the Assembly from 1974 to 1986. 

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) thinks that Gov. Jon Corzine should consider gender in picking a Lieutenant Governor, but not as a top priority.

"I would hope that it is a woman.  I think that since it is a new job it would be another breakthrough for women in the state.  But I don't think that's a basic requirement," she said.

Weinberg said that the three potential candidates that she's heard the most speculation about - state Sens. Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford), Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Trenton) would all bring valuable traits to the job.

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.

Gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie today picked up the endorsements of 234 Republican leaders and elected officials in Bergen County, the home county of his chief rival, former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan.  Christie has the support of two-third of the county’s GOP Municipal Chairmen, and 23 Republican mayors.

Christie’s supporters include Bergen County GOP Chairman Robert Yudin, State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest), County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, Assemblymen John Rooney (R-Northvale) and David Russo (R-Ridgewood), Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Montvale), and former Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber.

Getty Images Photo

Barack Obama beat John McCain in the 36th legislative district by 10,030 votes, 56%-44%.

New Jersey’s 36th legislative district, which includes politically competitive towns in South Bergen, the heavily Democratic city of Passaic, and Nutley, a swing town in Essex County, is supposed to be a battleground in the 2009 general election.  Assemblymen Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley) won by the lowest margin of any incumbent Democrats in 2007; Republican Don Diorio, a political newcomer who raised about $1,700, came within 2,424 votes of ousting Schaer.  Some Republicans think they can beat Schaer and Scalera this year, especially since State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) is not on the ballot.

But despite some GOP gains at the local level, mostly in response to the EnCap development, the heavily blue collar district still leans Democratic.  In the 36th, Barack Obama beat John McCain 56%-44%, a margin of more than 10,000 votes.  Obama did slightly better than John Kerry’s 5,500 vote (54%-46%) win over George W. Bush in 2004. 

In the 2005 race for Governor, Democrat Jon Corzine won 61% of the vote in District 36, beating Republican Douglas Forrester by more than 10,500 votes.  For Republicans Christopher Christie or Steve Lonegan to win statewide, they’ll need to win the kind of towns that Forrester lost, like Nutley, Rutherford, Lyndhurst and North Arlington.  That could be an argument for either of them to pick five-term Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan for Lt. Governor.  Donovan carried six of the nine South Bergen towns in her 2008 re-election bid.