Kelly Hatfield

Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks 

SCOTCH PLAINS - There sits Mayor Martin Marks at his desk in Town Hall and he doesn’t look as ruffled as he might.

It’s not that he isn’t in a fight, or unwilling to start a scrap in the lulls that are fewer and fewer now with 14 days to go in this 7th Congressional District Republican Primary. Indeed, the self-described "across the board conservative Republican" seizes every opportunity to bash the record of presumptive frontrunner state Sen. Leonard Lance.

"Nice guy, a gentleman," admits Marks. "But people like Leonard Lance play fast and loose with the term conservative. A moderate? All right. But not conservative. He’s pro choice. And he’s going around bragging that he’s gotten the endorsement of the Sierra Club. That’s not conservative."

Kate Whitman 

BRANCHBURG - Next door to the pizza parlor where Kate Whitman pauses before working the backroom of local Republicans two weeks before Election Day stands a Cryan’s Ale House.

Someone throws the name of the tavern owned by the family of State Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Cryan in her direction, and the 31-year old daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman smiles with recognition.

"I grew up just up the street, and I went to Cryan’s all the time," says the 7th Congressional District candidate.

But if she pleasantly surprised some of her opponents who thought she would come into the race with riding crop and foxhounds, she also encountered a party that gave her and her family a jolt bordering on disrespect, as she failed to secure party backing based on her mother’s clout and lost three of the district’s four organizational lines in the pre-primary.

Tom Roughneen 

In his dogged fight to stay relevant and competitive against the reality of state Sen. Leonard Lance’s big organizational advantages heading into their 7th Congressional District primary, Thomas Roughneen tonight talked strategy with his allies in a conference call.

The former Essex County prosecutor and Iraq War veteran faces a Thursday night debate with the other competitors in this Republican Primary fight, including businesswoman Kate Whitman, former Summit Council Vice-President Kelly Hatfield, Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks, Seton Hall business professor A.D. Amar, Murray Sabrin-running mate Darren Young, and Lance.

The debate will be the last of the cycle with two weeks to go before Election Day.

Ideologically P. Kelly Hatfield isn't much different from her two most high profile opponents in the 7th Congressional District's Republican primary.

Like state Sen. Leonard Lance and former first-daughter Kate Whitman, Kelly considers herself conservative, but with moderate stances on social issues like abortion (all three are pro-choice, with exceptions).

It can be hard to stick out in a field of seven candidates when she doesn't have a 17-year record as a highly visible member of the state legislature, like Lance, or a political lineage going back 100 years, like Whitman. Nor has Hatfield staked a place out well to the right of her opponents, as Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks.

State Sen. Leonard Lance is the front-runner in his bid for the GOP nomination for Congress in the 7th district
Leonard Lance doesn’t like to use the F-word, but some pundits say it applies to him in his bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district.

“I never use the word ‘frontrunner’,” said Lance, a veteran State Senator from Hunterdon County. “I think it’s a dangerous word, and I campaign as vigorously as I can.”

While Kate Whitman, the daughter of former Gov.Christine Todd Whitman, has raised the most money in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Mike Ferguson, Lance appears to have raised enough to assuage doubts about his fundraising prowess. And he has secured the organization lines in two counties where 67% of Republican primary voters live.

As of the end of last month, Lance had raised $294,130 – which includes a $100,000 personal loan -- and has $255,654 on hand for the primary. Whitman has taken in $444,433 and has $307,260 on hand, although about $50,000 of that is from maxed out donations and must be set aside for the general election.

Thomas RoughneenAn administrative law judge today ruled that Thomas Roughneen’s petitions are in good order, and told the 7th Congressional District candidate he could continue to compete in the Republican primary.

Emilio Dabul of South Plainfield had challenged 79 of Roughneen’s 273 petitions but did not attend court in Elizabeth today, according to Roughneen. Yesterday Dabul would not say if any of the candidates had asked him to challenge Roughneen’s petitions.

Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield and Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks said they had nothing to do with the petitions challenge.

Three of the four top contenders for the Republican nomination for Congress in the seventh district have made substantial contributions to their campaigns.  State Sen. Leonard Lance has loaned $100,000 to his House campaign – nearly one-third of the $294,130 he has raised so far.  Former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield, who has the organization line in Union County, loaned her campaign $55,813 – more than half of the $106,293 she’s brought in so far.  Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks has raised $123,340 – which includes a $75,000 personal loan.  Kate Whitman has raised $434,283, which includes a personal contribution (not a loan – that means she can’t get it back) of $4,600.

Former Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield in front of the old Town Hall 

SUMMIT - Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield stands downtown on a corner where she can see the old Town Hall, the parking garage and the historic horse trough - all items that were either renovated or built during her nine years on the council.

"I have proven experience as a problem solver," says the microbiologist who retired from the council in 2005 and now is a longshot to represent the Republican Party as a candidate for U.S. Congress in the 7th District.

The other candidates in the 7th Congressional District GOP primary responded favorably to Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks’s challenge today for four debates.

"We are happy to debate," said Amanda Woloshen, spokeswoman for state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon). "We have actually already accepted a debate from Channel 9. Any opportunity for Leonard to express his record of true fiscal conservatism is always welcome."

Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks 

Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks today sent a letter to his opponents in the Republican 7th Congressional District Primary, challenging them to a series of four debates.

Marks said he wants four candidate debates, one each in Union, Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset counties.