Michael DuHaime

Tom Fitzsimmons becomes the first Republican campaign manager in ten years to oust an incumbent Democratic State Senator with Jennifer Beck’s defeat of Ellen Karcher. The last one was Michael DuHaime, who managed Anthony Bucco’s campaign against Gordon MacInnes in 1997. DuHaime is now the National Campaign Manager of Rudy Giuliani’s White House bid.

Rudy Giuliani won 66% of the vote at the Passaic County GOP convention today. Mitt Romney came in second with 17%.: Getty Images Photo
In New Jersey's first open convention of the 2008 campaign, the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization has endorsed Rudy Giulani for President.

Giuliani won 66% of the vote, garnering 77 out of the 117 votes cast. Mitt Romney came in second with 19 votes, followed by John McCain and Fred Thompson with seven each, Ron Paul with four and Mike Huckabee with three. Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo failed to receive any votes.

From Politico's Jonathan Martin:

Rudy Giuliani's campaign manager Mike DuHaime will be featured as Fox News Sunday's "Power Player of the Week," according to a source not named Mike DuHaime.

DuHaime, a son of the Garden State, returned to his Tri-State roots to run Rudy's race earlier this year after serving as political director of the RNC. Before that, he was the regional political director for the northeast for Bush-Cheney '04.

Known for his decidedly un-Jersey-like, easy-going demeanor, DuHaime is mature beyond his 30-some-odd years and will likely be a very good sport about the inevitable razzing that will come when hometown friends, college buddies and his campaign hack cronies get wind of his honor.

The resignation of Gordon MacInnes as the Assistant Commissioner of Education is fueling speculation that he will challenge GOP State Senator Anthony Bucco in the 25th district. MacInnes, who served in the State Senate before losing to Bucco in 1997, has not announced his future plans.

The 65-year-old Democrat, who has spent five years administering the state's Abbott district program, was elected to the State Assembly in the 1973 Democratic landslide. He lost his bid for a second term two years later, and then went to the Senate in a major upset when he defeated Majority Leader John Dorsey in 1993. In 2003, his wife, Blair MacInnes, won 45% in her race against Bucco.

Bucco is the last Republican to unseat an incumbent Democratic State Senator. His campaign was managed by Michael DuHaime, now the Campaign Manager for Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. His consultant, Mark Campbell, is now Giuliani's National Political Director, and his Field Director, Bill Stepien, is now Giuliani's National Field Director.

A pair of New Jersey political operatives now holding senior positions at the Republican National Committee can rightfully claim a great deal of credit for U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee's victory in the Rhode Island Republican primary yesterday. It was the voter turnout operation of RNC Political Director Michael DuHaime and Bill Stepien, who runs the 72-Hour Campaign operation, that helped Chafee -- who trailed conservative Stephen Laffey, the Mayor of Cranston, 34%-51% in a recent poll -- secure a solid victory in a record turnout primary. Hotline Editor Chuck Todd said last night that the "RNC 72-hour program has once again surpassed expecations."

DuHaime joined the RNC in 2004 after serving as Regional Political Director for the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. He served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, as Deputy Campaign Manager of Bob Franks' 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and as Campaign Manager for Anthony Bucco's successful State Senate campaign in 1997. Bucco's defeat of Gordon MacInnes nine years ago was the last time an incumbent Democratic Senator lost re-election.

(DuHaime's hometown is Hoboken, which has become the political capital of New Jersey; Governor Jon Corzine, Senator Bob Menendez and Senate Majority Leader/Hudson County Democratic Chairman Bernard Kenny all live there.)

Stepien spent the last week on the ground in Rhode Island, as he did earlier this year in a special election for Congress in California's 50th district, where the 72-Hour campaign was credited with the win in a nationally important House race. He started out in politics working on Bucco's '97 campaign, worked as Franks's driver in the 2000 Senate race, managed Bill Baroni's 2003 campaign that unseated incumbent Gary Guear, and served as Field Director of the Bush/Cheney campaign in New Hampshire in 2004.