Lewis Eisenberg

It happens every cycle: a candidate gets tripped up by revelations of a campaign contribution to the other party.  Sometimes it hurts – that’s one of the reasons Lewis Eisenberg dropped his bid for U.S. Senate in 2000 – and sometimes it doesn’t matter at all – like Jon Corzine’s donations to some Republicans when he was the Goldman Sachs Chairman.  And Anne Evans Estabrook’s contributions to Democrats like Robert Menendez and Linda Stender does not appear to bother Republican leaders considering her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Is there any tangible value to early endorsements in a presidential campaign? Mitt Romney is at 9% in New Jersey, despite the backing of State Senator (and former GOP State Chairman) Joseph Kyrillos, and John McCain, with the support of GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson, fundraiser Lewis Eisenberg, and Assemblyman Bill Baroni, has just 7% of the state Republican primary vote. And Duncan Hunter, who has the support of Congressman Jim Saxton, is at 1% -- placing ninth out of the nine GOP possible GOP presidential contenders. Fred Thompson, who has no announced endorsements in New Jersey, is second in New Jersey with 12%.

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama, with the backing of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Jersey City Mayor (and Hudson County Democratic Chairman) Jerramiah Healy, and a respectable group of legislators and Democratic leaders, is at just 22%. And John Edwards, who has the support of New Jersey's most popular Democrat, Senate President Richard Codey, is at 8%.

Former New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Anne Evans Estabrook took the first step toward her bid for the 2008 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate by announcing the formation of an exploratory committee that includes a Congressman, four GOP County Chairs, three state legislators and several key Republican fundraisers.

Backing Estabrook’s bid to unseat four-term Democrat Frank Lautenberg are Rep. Mike Ferguson, former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman Lewis Eisenberg, State Senators Diane Allen and Joe Kyrillos, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, Monmouth County GOP Chairman Adam Puharic, Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin, Gloucester County GOP Chairman Loran Oglesby, and Camden County GOP Chairman Rick DeMichelle.

Among the small group of elite Republican fundraisers who met privately with Senator John McCain last Friday was former Port Authority Chairman Lewis Eisenberg, a Rumson resident who once served as Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Eisenberg is close to two other potential presidential candidates -- former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and New York Governor George Pataki -- and his presence at the McCain meeting could be interpreted as a sign that the prominent GOP fundraiser does not expect either Giuliani or Pataki to ultimately enter the race. One of McCain's fundraisers in Mark Miller, who worked for Eisenberg at the Republican Leadership Council.

Three New Jerseyans are serving on the Lewis "Scooter" Libby Legal Defense Trust Advisory Committee: Lawrence Bathgate, Lewis Eisenberg and Steve Forbes. Libby, the former Chief of Staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, was indicted last year on perjury and obstruction of justice charges; his trial is set to begin in January 2007. The defense fund will help may at least one New Jerseyan, Ted Wells, a Democrat whose wife was named Secretary of State by Governor Jon Corzine.

One of the most sought after early endorsements of the 2008 presidential election is Lewis Eisenberg, a former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman and ex-Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As a major fundraiser in a state that traditionally pumps significant early money into national campaigns, Eisenberg is high an important guy to potential candidates. Insiders speculate that the likely front-runners in the "Eisenberg Primary" are former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and New York Governor George Pataki; Eisenberg has close relations with both, although the 2004 Convention Committee he headed apparently knocked heads with Pataki's staff on numerous occasions.