Kelly Hatfield

Coming off a victory in his home county on Monday, State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) rejoiced in a third place finish in Union County on Saturday.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, Assemblyman Eric Munoz, Sen. Thomas Kean, and U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson soak in one of the speeches.

WESTFIELD - The word going into that first round of voting at the Union County Republican Convention on Saturday was that former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield and Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks would require a second showdown.

"This is going to a runoff between the top two candidates," said John DeSimone, commissioner for the county Board of Elections as he waded into the crowd of delegates. And that’s exactly how it went down at Westfield High School, where Hatfield eventually prevailed over Marks with 60% of the vote in the Union County GOP’s pre-primary battle for the line in the 7th District Congressional race.

Hatfield savors a Union County victory in Westfield on Saturday. 

WESTFIELD - Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield vanquished Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks here today in a second ballot face-off after the pair of Union County Republicans dusted the rest of the eight-person field vying to be the Republican nominee for the 7th Congressional District.

"Union County people know me," said Dr. Hatfield, a microbiologist. "They know that I'll work hard to advocate for them."

The Union County Republican Committee awarded the victory to Hatfield with 196 votes. Marks received 134 votes. State Sen. Leonard Lance finished third with 65 votes.

The Union County Republicans will hold their convention to choose a House and Senate candidate tomorrow morning.

The meeting will take place at 8:30 a.m. at Westfield High School.

Among the many candidates competing for the House nod are two from Union County : former Summit Councilwoman P. Kelly Hatfield and Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks.

Because of his Hunterdon County base, Leonard Lance starts as the front runner in the Republican primary to succeed Mike Ferguson in New Jersey's seventh congressional district, but he faces a formidable challenge from Kate Whitman, the 30-year-old daughter of the former Governor, and from a pair of candidates from Union County.

Lance has two main problems: he's a horrific fundraiser, as evidenced by his inability to properly fund Republican Senate races after serving as Minority Leader for the last four years; and Republicans are worried that he lacks the ability to step up and run the kind of tough campaign the GOP thinks they need to hold the seat against Linda Stender in the General Election. 

Warren Mayor Victor SordilloIt’s primary season in a Republican-leaning district, and to date Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks has most vocally filled the pro-life terrain in the 7th district primary field, where he hopes to upend pro-choice Dr. Kelly Hatfield of Summit this Saturday at the Union County Republican Convention.

But Warren Township Mayor Victor Sordillo in neighboring Somerset County appears intent on moving even farther to Marks’ starboard on the issue of abortion, and doing so with the specific strategic goal of gaining ground in his home territory.

Since learning of Assemblyman Peter Biondi’s intentions last month not to pursue a run for Congress in this district that contains portions of four counties (Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Middlesex), Sordillo entered the fray and has determinedly carved out a hard right entrenchment.

State Sen. Leonard Lance makes his case as one of his opponents, Warren Township Mayor Victor Sordillo, looks on.

FLEMINGTON - State Sen. Leonard Lance flattened the other 7th Congressional district primary candidates in his home county tonight at a meeting of the Hunterdon County Republicans, and specifically targeted Kate Whitman in his speech to the county committee.

In his most animated remarks so far on the campaign trail, the former minority leader vowed to fight the terrorists and fight the Taliban, and quoted Lincoln’s "America is still the world’s last best hope on earth."

The schedule for county organization endorsements in the 2008 Republican primary for Mike Ferguson’s seventh district House seat:

They're not state Senators or gubernatorial offspring. They don't come from political dynasties and don't have powerful county organizations backing them.

But in the third and seventh congressional districts, there are eight lower-profile Republican candidates, considered second-tier to the likes of state Sen. Leonard Lance, Kate Whitman, Medford Mayor Chris Myers and Ocean County Freeholder Director Jack Kelly. And those candidates want to stress that even without a famous name or a powerful county organization behind them, they can have an impact on these races.

One of the longest shot candidates on the ballot in either district is Suzanne Penna, a 37-year-old nursing student from Bayville who's only been involved in politics for the last year and a half. It won't be her first time facing Kelly in a primary.

Seventh district Republican congressional candidate P. Kelly Hatfield announced today by three prominent Clark Republicans: Mayor Sal Bonacorrso, Councilman Sheila Whiting and Republican Municipal Chairman John DeSimone.