Marcia Karrow

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) is expected to be sworn in as a State Senator when the Senate comes back into session on November 23.  Doherty defeated incumbent Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) in the June Republican primary - five months after he lost a special election convention to fill the seat of Leonard Lance, who was elected to Congress.  Karrow has been lobbying hard for a post in Gov.-elect Christopher Christie's cabinet; she wants to be Commissioner of Community Affairs.

From left: GOP nominee Chris Christie, Assemblyman John DiMaio (R-Hackettstown), Steve Lonegan.

FLEMINGTON - Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie this afternoon stood onstage with the man he conquered in the June Primary: former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, leader of the conservative movement in New Jersey, who promptly bashed President Barack Obama.

"The people who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in ships didn't come here looking for security and a welfare check, they came here seeking freedom and liberty," Lonegan told an excited crowd packing the sidewalk in front of the Hunterdon County Courthouse. "Barack Obama doesn't understand that simple message.

"Those folks had learned a lesson that Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do not understand," Lonegan said.

A day before Obama is scheduled to appear at rallies in Camden and Newark in support of Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, the crowd cheered in the rain.

"Some of my friends said they were going to write Steve Lonegan in," added the former gubernatorial candidate. "But let me tell you, we have an opportunity to take back New Jersey, to make New Jersey the economic leader it once was. The best man did win. The best man will put an end to the advancement of the Corzine-Obama team."

On a Senate Republican conference call yesterday to discuss the politics of the race for Senate President, Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) represented the 23rd district and not the incumbent Senator, Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan Twp.).  Doherty narrowly defeated Karrow in the June GOP primary, and is viewed as a sure winner in his general election bid against Democrat Harvey Baron.

Senator Karrow says that local vendors that pay taxes and create jobs in New Jersey deserved a right to bid for a multi-million dollar contract to supply state government with office supplies. 

The six Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee have sent a letter to Chairwoman Barbara Buono that asks her to call the committee into session this summer. The committee's task would be to develop a plan to close an unprecedented $8 billion structural deficit and a more than $2 billion deficit in the unemployment fund. The letter points out that Governor Corzine is avoiding questions about how he plans to do to deal with this $10 billion crisis. "When there is a gap in leadership at the top, others must step in to fill the void, " said Senator Anthony Bucco, senior Republican member on the budget committee and Republican budget officer.

Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Flemington)

TRENTON - Now the session is in gear, with the promise of no surprise ending - it's a given the budget will ultimately pass in the hands of the majority Democrats - undercutting longterm suspense and compressing drama into short-burst senatorial speeches. 

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) just did an Essex County Marc Antony impression, building sections of oratorical drama on top of one another, the impact of which Democrats tried to blunt by murmuring throughout.

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) finally intervened when O'Toole amplified outrage over New Jersey taxes to include the banks on Wall Street with the unmistakable line: "they're stealing our money."

O'Toole agreed to yield at last.

Both sides began trading.

Speaking after O'Toole, state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) just announced that he plans to support the budget. He'd been an ornery holdout to the end.

Corzine Repeats Claims He Reduced Budget Despite Record High Spending

Senator Marcia Karrow (R-23), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, responded to the false claims that have been robotically repeated by Governor Jon Corzine that his 2010 budget plan reduces government spending. While the Governor adamantly insists that the state will only spend $30 billion next year, the true figure approaches $60 billion.

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Assemblyman MIke Doherty (R-Washington Twp.)

It was a different scene than it was in Clinton earlier this year when establishment Republicans felt like misfit grunts bucking KP duty as Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) bellowed out a speech from atop the stage at the middle school.

Stunned when they voted against him and chose Marcia Karrow to succceed the mild-mannered Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), Doherty stubbornly launched what many assessed as an implausible primary campaign.  

This morning at the Republicans' unity breakfast at the Mountainview Chalet in Asbury, Doherty called his win over incumbent state senator Karrow the toughest of his decade-long political career.

"I've been through a lot of tough primaries, but Marcia was the heartiest competitor," said Doherty.

Defeated by Karrow in that January special election, Doherty aligned with movement conservative Steve Lonegan's gubernatorial candidacy to come back and beat Karrow Tuesday night, 52% to 48%.

Assuming Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) wins the November special election for State Senate in District 23, he would be sworn in to replace Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) immediately upon the certification of his election.  It will be Doherty, not Karrow, who votes during the lame duck session of the New Jersey Senate.

State Sen. Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) was the only incumbent legislator defeated in the 2009 primary election, losing the Republican primary to Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) by a 1,001 votes,  52%-48% margin.  This marks a comeback of sorts for Doherty, who gave up his Assembly seat to challenge Karrow after losing a January special election convention to her by a 58%-42% margin. 

Doherty will now face Democrat Harvey Baron in a November special election to fill the remaining 26 months of the Senate seat left vacant in January when Leonard Lance left to take his seat in Congress.  Doherty, one of the Legislature's most conservative members, is the overwhelming favorite to win the seat.  He would replace Karrow as soon as the November election results are certified.

Doherty beat Karrow by 527 votes in his home county, Warren, and by 472 votes in Hunterdon, Karrow's home county and where she had the organization line.