Michael Illions

Assemblyman Sam Thompson (R-Old Bridge) introduces Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, right, to Gloria DeMatteo of East Brunswick.

EAST BRUNSWICK - Sheriff Kim Guadagno, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, works the crowd the same way she did two years ago when she ran for Monmouth County Sheriff and squeaked out a win over popular Belmar Police Chief Jack Hill.
 
She touches a lot of hands. The shakes are firm, friendly. Keep in mind, this isn't Monmouth County.
 
Twelve days after she joined the Christie campaign in the number two slot, she's here tonight to gnaw at the edges of this sprawling target of opportunity called Middlesex County.
 
"Much better looking than Hillary Clinton," affirms William Hoover, a candidate for Monroe Town Council, moments after shaking hands with Guadagno.
 
"No comparison," he adds. 
 
Sensing diminished opposition spirits this year with Gov. Jon Corzine breaking a sweat if failing to break out of a slump, and Assemblyman Joe Vas staring at corruption charges in the 19th Legislative District and his replacement, South Amboy Mayor John O'Leary, also apparently flailing, a lot of GOP party allies pour into the breach between booths, where rubber frogs fly through the air with the drop of a mallet and the giant ferris wheel, a standard at the Middlesex County fair, spins high above Cranbury Road.

Conservative activist and blogger Michael Illions announced over the weekend that he is running to become Middlesex County Republican Chairman.  

“Currently, the Executive Board of the Middlesex County GOP is ineffective and void of leadership, both in providing it or inspiring it in others. It is mostly filled with longtime establishment insiders, who care more about what’s in it for them, then how to grow and build the Party,” wrote Illions in a post on his blog, Conservatives with Attitude.  

Illions made the announcement on Saturday at the Conservative Leadership Breakfast in North Brunswick, which he helped organize.  

Illions was a major backer of former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan in the Republican gubernatorial primary, and has been a frequent critic of GOP gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, who he says has shifted his campaign rhetoric to the left after defeating Lonegan in June.  He has also criticized current chairman Joseph Leo, whose term does not expire until June, 2010. 

EAST BRUNSWICK -- With totals showing Chris Christie maintaining a lead over Steve Lonegan, the crowd is sober and quiet at Lonegan’s rally.  

Lonegan supporter Michael Illions, a conservative activist and blogger, acknowledged that he felt “a little bit” somber about the results so far.

“We hoped to have a better foundation to build on this early,” he said. “Of course you don’t know what counties are counted yet.” 

It was a tough crowd for state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest).

Speaking as a surrogate for gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie to a group of conservatives who mostly supported rival candidate Steve Lonegan at the Conservative Leadership Breakfast at a diner in North Brunswick, Cardinale was interrupted by Lonegan's chief strategist, Rick Shaftan, while he was making the case for Christie's conservative ideals. 

"This guy was just out there spewing cold lies out so I just corrected the record a bit," said Shaftan.

That led to a testy exchange between Cardinale and Shaftan that would soon reverberate in the conservative blogosphere and add another layer of drama to an already tense primary campaign.

While Lonegan has taken a confrontational tone with Christie since he entered the race, the Christie camp has, at least until recently, purposefully refused to engage Lonegan.  Last week, Christie gave a rare acknowledgement of Lonegan, albeit without mentioning his name, by criticizing his decision not to compete for party support at Republican county conventions.  But it largely has fallen to Christie's supporters, like Cardinale, to debate with the Lonegan loyalists.

The Somerset County wing of a conservative PAC has endorsed Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks for Congress in the seventh district.

The Republicans for Conservative Leadership (RFCL) said that they endorsed Marks because he’s pro-life, pro-second amendment, and because of his positions on national security and limited government.

“When you weed through the Republican field full of Liberals and Political Scions the only real conservative candidate who can win

The Seventh district Republican congressional race saw some new – and in some cases surprising – endorsements this morning.

Today Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. will appear with State Sen. Leonard Lance to promote him to replace outgoing Rep. Mike Ferguson.

But Kean’s two Assembly running mates, Minority Whip Jon Bramnick and Dr. Eric Munoz, announced today that they are backing former Summit Council President P. Kelly Hatfield for the seat.

Both Kean and Bramnick were early frontrunners to seek the seat, but they declined.

In an interview with PolitickerNJ.com in Woodbridge on Saturday, Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks promised to prove himself in the 7th district congressional primary as the conservative choice.

The pro-life mayor and executive member of the League of Municipalities, says he has over $100,000 in the bank so far toward his congressional campaign, and looks forward to mulitple GOP forums in the coming weeks to distinguish himself from the rest of a large field of candidates.

Supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul stampeded the Forge in Woodbridge this morning and gave their candidate a blow-out victory in a straw poll conducted by the right wing New Jersey bloggers' aggregate, Conservatives with Attitude (CWA).

Michaal Illions, a candidate for U.S. Congress in the 7th district, read the results of 207 participants.