Matt Miller

Tom Kean Jr. is paying back an out-of-state political ally.

About 25 friends and colleagues congregated at the state Senate minority leader’s Westfield home to meet and donate to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

It was, according to Kean, the second fundraiser he’s held for McConnell this election cycle, and a way of showing appreciation for one of his major out-of-state backer in his 2006 run against Bob Menendez.

In December, 2005, McConnell’s PAC, Bluegrass Committee, gave $10,000 to Kean’s Senate campaign, and three months later McConnell – then the majority whip -- headlined a New Jersey fundraiser for Kean.

Kate Whitman is the only candidate in the 7th district Republican primary that is “strong” on the second amendment – the only candidate with a hunting license, according to her campaign. 

What does she hunt?

“Pheasant,” said Anthony Attanasio, her spokesman.

And from the Democrats, feeling confident that the winner of their U.S. Senate primary will prevail over the winner of the Republican primary:

Frank Lautenberg has a 31-point lead over Rob Andrews in New Jersey's Democratic U.S. Senate primary: Getty Images Photo
A poll conducted by Joel Benenson and released by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) today shows U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg with a sizeable lead over challanger U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews.

Matt Miller, spokesman for the DSCC, said the April 1-2 Benenson poll of 500 likely Democratic primary voters gives Lautenberg a 52-21% lead over Andrews.

The poll shows Lautenberg with a 75% job approval rating among Democratic voters, and shows 57% of Democrats voting for Lautenberg and 12% against.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) put out a press release today that was sharply critical of new Republican Senate candidate Andy Unanue, singling out his ownership of a New York City nightclub and a family/business dispute that cost him his job as Chief Operating Officer at Goya Foods.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Anne Evans Estabrook’s loss for words while answering a question on gun control may have gone unnoticed a few years ago, but in an age where a video of the awkward moment can circulate quickly in political circles, it could become the silence heard across New Jersey.

“It seemed like kind of a mistake that someone running for the first time in office might make, and it was done in the right kind of context with a small group meeting, where you’re practicing your stump speech, working on your ability to articulate ideas and your policy positions,” said Dr. Joseph Marbach, a political science professor at Seton Hall.

“Unfortunately, it was videotaped,” Marbach noted.

Hannah August will leave her post as Deputy Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Robert Menendez next week to become the Deputy Press Secretary at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  She will join DSCC Communications Director Matthew Miller, who served as Menendez’s chief spokesman in the House and Senate and on the 2006 campaign.  August’s replacement is Betsaida Alcantara.

New scene - Tom Kean, Jr. in the Ethics Reform Walk.

STEVE DEMICCO: Hey, where's your ribbon?

TOM KEAN JR. : Oh, I don't wear the ribbon.

MATT MILLER: Oh, you don't wear the ribbon? Aren't you for Ethics reform?

TOM KEAN JR. : Yeah, I'm working hard for ethics reform. I mean, I'm walking, aren't I? I just don't wear the ribbon.

MATT MILLER: Who do you think you are?

STEVE DEMICCO: Put the ribbon on!

MATT MILLER: Hey, Donald! Bob! This guy won't wear a ribbon!

BOB MENENDEZ: Who? Who does not want to wear the ribbon?

MENENDEZ OWES GOV. KEAN APOLOGY
Sen. Lance Says Menendez Resorted To The "Politics Of Personal Destruction," "Gutter Politics" And "Filthy Mudslinging"

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez's campaign has confirmed that New Jersey Turnpike Authority Chairman Joseph Simunovich remains as their Finance Chairman. "He is our finance chair," said Matt Miller, a spokesman for Menendez.The Record reported today that the state Commission on Ethical Standards has found that Simunovich "violated ethics laws when he took free trips aboard a jet co-owned by one of the highway's biggest contractors." A Menendez spokesman "said he could not say" if Simunovich, who spent twelve years as a Hudson County Freeholder, was "still serving in that capacity," the Record reported.