The Political Prince Of Darkness Strikes Again

The struggle of the late political consultant Tom Blakely’s widow to secure payment from the life insurance policy her husband signed just days before he died may lead to legislation in New Jersey. 

Last month, four state Senators wrote a letter to TransAmerica Life Insurance Corp. CEO Patrick S. Baird inviting him or a representative of the company to meet with them over legislation they plan to propose next month that would change the way life insurance companies operate in New Jersey.

TransAmerica has been assailed by prominent New Jersey Republicans ever since it challenged the validity of Blakely’s second policy with the company.  Blakely was a co-founder of Jamestown Associates, a top Republican consulting firm, and died in March after collapsing during a 5K race in Bordentown. 

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE

On March 7, 46-year-old Republican political consultant Tom Blakely and his wife, Deborah, sent off a check to Transamerica Life Insurance Corp., beginning the family’s second life insurance policy with the company.

The timing of the Blakelys' decision to take on that policy turned out to be a tragic coincidence.

On March 15, while running a weekend 5K race in Bordentown, Blakely suffered a heart attack, collapsed and died on the spot. Shockwaves immediately reverberated through the political community, many of whom had known Blakely, a fit former Marine with two children ages three and one, for decades, and who had used his company, Jamestown Associates, to run their campaigns.

But two months after Blakely’s death, Transamerica is disputing his family’s claim for the second life insurance policy, and still has not paid their first one.

Ken Kurson, the co-author with Rudy Giuliani of Leadership, which spent 25 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has joined Jamestown Associates, a New Jersey-based political consulting firm that works for GOP candidates nationally.  Kurson served as Deputy Director of Communications for Giuliani partners, and most recently served as COO of Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

"I am thrilled about Ken Kurson joining the firm. He is brilliant writer, a smart strategist and is  passionate about winning. He is a perfect fit for Jamestown Associates,” said Jamestown Associates CEO Larry Weitzner.  “Over the month that we've been discussing Ken's arrival, Tom Blakely and I were very excited to bring Ken aboard and the three of us had a lot of fun anticipating the great things we'd accomplish together."

Larry Weitzner, the CEO of Jamestown Associates, issued a statement this evening on the death of his business partner, Tom Blakely:

Third district congressional candidate Christopher Myers has dropped Jamestown Associates as his campaign consultant – just a week after Jamestown scored a major victory in Maryland where their client ousted a seven-term incumbent in a GOP primary.

Judging by the pre-election coverage, at least two of the state’s congressional races are expected to be among the most hotly contested House seats in the nation.

Perhaps the big story is the Republican’s financial disadvantage given Jim Saxton's and Mike Ferguson’s retirements in 2008. At least that was the focus of the Inquirer’s recent coverage by Cynthia Burton, GOP retirements could prove crucial, (11/21/07). The story highlighted the Republican Party’s electoral loss of a “$2 million head start on campaign fundraising”.

Two interesting scenarios for people who want to over think the race for Congress in the seventh district:

Could millionaire businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook, a former resident of Summit, switch from the U.S. Senate race to a bid for Congress? Estabrook lives in Spring Lake, where Mike Ferguson lived when he decided to move to Union County in 2000 and run for a suddenly open seat. Estabrook’s consultant is Larry Weitzner – the same strategist who came up with the idea of moving Ferguson north (he was preparing for a rematch of his ’98 race against Frank Pallone) and entering a crowded GOP primary with the biggest campaign budget.

Mike Ferguson’s decision to leave Congress was based entirely on his desire to spend time with his wife and four young children and had nothing to do with politics, says his longtime political consultant, Larry Weitzner.

“There weren’t any political considerations in this whatsoever – it was just really a matter of him wanting to spend more time with his family – it’s a very young family,” said Weitzner, who has worked for Ferguson since his first race for Congress, against Rep. Frank Pallone in 1998. “He got into politics for the right reasons and now he’s leaving for the right reasons –he’s dedicated to service and he’s also dedicated to his family. With young children, he just felt conflicted all the time, traveling back and forth and not being able to go to his kids' soccer games.”