Mark Duffy

Lawrence, left, and DiCicco at Monday's event in Pitman

When Republican National Chairman Michael Steele and Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie came to their district on Monday, fourth district GOP Assembly candidates Dominick DiCicco and Eugene E. T. Lawrence were far from the center of attention.  But they were happy to see the state party at least paying some attention to their region.

"It opens the door for South Jersey. We don't get a lot of attention down here, and we don't really have a lot of intense representation that really goes to bat for issues the way that we should," said Lawrence.

When Republicans announced Lawrence's candidacy in the spring, they hailed it as a "game changer" in this suburban Philadelphia district with a nearly two-to-one Democratic registration advantage.  Lawrence, an African-American former councilman from Gloucester Township, switched from Democrat to Republican to join the ticket.  He was soon joined by DiCicco, who is the chief counsel for Zurich's North America Commercial division.

They're running against two-term incumbent Paul Moriarty (D-Washington Township), and Bill Collins, a former Gloucester Township school board president and track coach who is replacing outgoing Assemblywoman Sandra Love (D-Gloucester Twp) on the ballot.

With the upset victory of Robert Villare and possibly his running mate, Lee Lucas, in the 3rd Legislative District's Republican primary for state Assembly, state Republicans have largely given up hope of competing there.

As of election night, the only clear victor was Robert Villare, a surgeon from West Deptford.  For the other Assembly seat, Lee Lucas, a commercial oven repairman who has run for freeholder and Greenwich council before, led Arthur Marchand, a former Cumberland County Prosecutor, Surrogate and Freeholder, by 66 votes.  Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery trailed slightly behind.  So far, nobody has requested a recount, although candidates have 15 days to do so.  

"At this point, it is not likely we will commit any monetary resources," said Assembly Republican Victory Executive Director Mark Duffy.

The political arm of the Assembly Republicans recruited Marchand into the race.  He agreed, but only after extracting a promise that they would put a significant amount of money into the district.  But those same Republicans think that Villare and Lucas have liabilities that will weigh them down in a race against incumbent Democrats Celeste Riley (R-Bridgeton) and John Burzichelli (R-Paulsboro).

The candidacy of Brian Hackett, 21, has caused a stir in the 14th Legislative District

Mercer County and state Republicans are hell-bent on not allowing 21-year-old Brian Hackett, who was chosen by the Middlesex Republican Party to run in District 14, to walk away with the party's nomination for the general election.

But Sidna Mitchell, the Middlesex County resident who Republicans recruited to bracket with Hamilton restaurant owner Rob Calabro against Hackett in the June primary, has decided not to run despite filing her petition signatures on Monday.

It's the latest development of the GOP's candidate recruitment mess in this central Jersey swing district, which just months ago was expected to host one of the two most competitive legislative races in the state.

"I am sorry that Sidna Mitchell has decided not to run for the Assembly in the 14th LD.  She would have been a great candidate and a great Assemblywoman.  However, the race remains winnable with the right Republican candidate, because of the failure of the Corzine Democrats to control spending and reduce property taxes," said Mercer County Republican Chairman Roy Wesley.  "We, as a party, have an obligation to continue to look for a candidate, like Sidna Mitchell, who can address those issues convincingly, because it is in the best interest of both the Republican Party and the voting public to do so.  We, in Mercer County, remain unconvinced that Brian Hackett is that person."

At their convention last month, Mercer County Republicans unanimously picked Calabro, who ran for freeholder in 2007, as their candidate after Hamilton Council President Kelly Yaede - who they had spent months courting to run and who sent signals that she would - abruptly changed her mind.  Although Republicans said Calabro was not merely a placeholder candidate, he did not attend the convention at which he was nominated, has not done any visible campaigning and has not talked to the press.  Phone messages left at his place of work were not returned today.

Marchand

Former Cumberland County Surrogate Art Marchand said that Gov. Corzine’s budget address on Tuesday made it slightly more likely that he’ll run for assembly in the 3rd Legislative District. 

“I think his budget address only reinforces the information we’re getting from Trenton that it’s a disaster.  Blaming George Bush for it all is just not going to work anymore,” said Marchand.  “Democrats have been in charge for seven years.  It’s time for them to accept complete responsibility.  You don’t raise taxes in the middle of a recession – that’s economics 101.”  

Marchand lost his job as surrogate in November after a Democratic wave swept through Cumberland County, taking out the freeholder board’s last Republican member and a long-time incumbent sheriff.  But with Governor Corzine at the top of the ticket this year instead of Barack Obama, Marchand said that the district’s two assembly seats appear ripe for Republican takeover – at least if the GOP agrees to fund more than just a token challenge.    

Over the last three decades, the party makeup of the district’s legislators has mostly mirrored the party that has controlled Trenton, with the exception of former state Sen. Raymond Zane, a Democrat who switched parties at the end of his political career.  With Republicans growing confident about their gubernatorial prospects, some see potential coattails on former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

“My thought is that it’s a completely swing district.  Who has the majority in Trenton and who has the governor basically will have the 3rd District too,” said Marchand. 

The Board of Elections and Democratic and Republican Party operatives run down the provisional ballots, town by town, voter by voter.

FREEHOLD –  The vote stands at 694 provisional ballots for Amy Mallet and 476 for John Curley – not including hand counts - with the count for Manalapan ongoing and Marlboro and Long Branch left to go.

That puts the Fair Haven candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder in a position to win the election, as Long Branch is heavily Democratic and Mallet scored well in Manalapan and Marlboro in the regular vote count.

Prior to the provisionals process, Mallet led Curley by 18 votes overall: 135,688 to 135,670, in this county of 53 towns.  If Mallet defeats Curley, county control of this longtime Republican stronghold will favor the Democrats by 3-2.

Now on the tattered, unresolved edge of the Nov. 4th election, operatives from both parties sit with two Board of Elections reps from each party and a representative from the state attorney general's office at a long table. They all pour town by town over the provisional ballots.

Republican operative Mark Duffy took his name out of the running for Republican State Chairman today.

“I prefer to work on the frontlines of the campaign, and I have no desire for an elected position in the party,” said Duffy, 34, who managed former Rep. Dick Zimmer’s U.S. Senate run against incumbent Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park). 

Duffy’s name surfaced as a potential successor to current chair Tom Wilson, who may not seek another two year term.  But he said he hadn’t been told of the speculation. 

“It was news to me,” he said.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s (R-Montville) call for Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson to resign will not likely be answered in the affirmative, but whether Wilson will serve another two-year term is uncertain.

After Wilson’s term expires in June, tradition dictates that the Republican gubernatorial nominee gets to pick the next chairman. That choice will be ratified by the 42-member Republican State Committee, which will likely accede to the nominee’s pick.

“We have a tradition in the Republican Party that the successful gubernatorial nominee is the one who gets to decide who his or her state chair will be,” said Wilson, who said he did not want to respond to Pennacchio’s press release. “I expect that not to be any different. If there’s a nominee who wants to ask me if I’m interested in staying, that will be a discussion between that nominee and I.”

However, multiple Republican sources say that Wilson has never intended to seek another term as state chairman. In fact, there was talk of him stepping down before the primary, although he said today that he will serve until at least June.

Wilson, for his part, said that his decision in June will depend on “who that nominee is and what kind of vision they have going forward.”

"I will defer completely to the nominee, and if that person wants someone different that’s what they’re entitled to. If they want me to stick around for some period of time, we’ll have a discussion about that.”

Maverick Murray Asks The Tough Questions

As first reported by PolitickerNJ last night, the Star-Ledger confirmed this morning that Andy Unanue is officially withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race, to be replaced by former Rep. Dick Zimmer.

Unanue Campaign Manager Mark Duffy confirmed to the Ledger reporters that he was en route to Trenton to file the paperwork.