Millicent Fenwick

Leonard Lance has spent his entire life around the political arena: by the time he was born in 1952, his father, Wesley Lance, had already served as an Assemblyman and State Senator (he returned to the Senate for another two terms in 1953).  Now that Lance is running for Congress, PolitickerNJ.com’s Matt Friedman asked him to name his all-time favorite Congressmen.  Lance listed three: Charles Eaton, Robert Winthrop Kean, and Millicent Fenwick.

If Frank Lautenberg wins the Democratic primary, he will become the oldest person to ever win a major party nomination for statewide office in New Jersey.  The record is currently held by Republican Millicent Fenwick, who was defeated by Lautenberg in the 1982 general election.  Fenwick was 72 years and 103 days old, 25 days older than H. Alexander Smith was when he won the 1952 Republican nomination for United States Senator.  Lautenberg became the oldest person to win a Democratic primary when he was renominated fourteen years ago at age 70.

There seems to be a general consensus among political insiders as to who won the Democratic U.S. Senate debate: Steve DeMicco.  Frank Lautenberg was less than impressive – not even close to his performance in previous debates against Millicent Fenwick, Pete Dawkins, Chuck Haytaian and Doug Forrester – but the debate was at 8PM on a Friday night, so it didn’t really matter.  That’s why DeMicco, Lautenberg’s consultant, was the winner – his campaign took quite a few hits for not engaging Rob Andrews in network TV debates, but it appears that was the right call.

The New York Times' editorial endorsement of Frank Lautenberg comes as little surprise. After all, the NYT board has endorsed the junior-senior-junior-senior senator from the Garden State since he first ran for the seat back in 1982. 

What is a bit puzzling is their new cut on the age issue. 

Political observers knew it was coming, but maybe not so blatantly. Democratic Senate primary challenger Rep. Rob Andrews has hit incumbent Frank Lautenberg, 84, directly on his age.

In the Democratic Senate race so far, Andrews has couched the sticky issue of Lautenberg’s age in other language, using terminology like “energy” and lamenting what he called Lautenberg’s “stale, tired, old politics.”

But with two weeks to go before primary day, a new television ad from the Andrews camp skips the euphemisms altogether.

The 30-second spot begins by mentioning Lautenberg’s 1982 campaign against Millicent Fenwick, who was 72 at the time. Lautenberg was 58, and made Fenwick’s senior citizen status an issue in that campaign. The ad called the race “one of the low points in New Jersey political history” and insinuates that Lautenberg holds a double standard with men and women with regard to their age.

This week's PolitickerNJ.com Winners & Losers:

Back in 1982, Millicent Fenwick, a 72-year-old Congresswoman who was the Republican nominee for United States Senator, agreed to debate her Democratic opponent five times. But the Democrat, 58-year-old businessman Frank Lautenberg, said that five debates were not enough and asked for more. Now, 26 years later, it’s Rob Andrews calling for a multitude of debates and it’s Lautenberg, 84, who seems to be avoiding them.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg hobnobs with Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands.

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - Embracing the mantle of the greatest generation, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg asked Monmouth County Democrats to join him in the battle to restore America to the people who own it, in his words: working and middle class people.

"For the first time in eight years we can change America for the better," said Lautenberg. "We can and we must. People still want to know their children can do better than they. That’s the cradle of America."