Mitt Romney

If Leonard Lance decides to run for Congress, perhaps he's bought himself a little bit of cover from the conservatives: he endorsed Mitt Romney for President, and when Assemblyman Michael Doherty mulled a bid for the U.S. Senate last summer, Lance signed on as Co-Chairman of the exploratory committee. 

Doherty, one of the most conservative members of the Legislature, is a huge stakeholder in a Lance for Congress campaign.  If Lance wins Michael Ferguson's seventh district seat, Doherty would be the odds-on favorite to move up to the State Senate.

By throwing his support behind Ron Paul, Assemblyman Mike Doherty became the highest profile New Jersey politician to back the long shot presidential candidate.

This move wasn't surprising to people who have followed the career of the very conservative and outspoken legislator from Warren County, who tends not to equivocate on his political stances. But for a politician with aspirations for higher office, it wasn't the most practical choice.

While other legislators are lining up to hitch part of their political fortunes to Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain, Doherty chose a fringe candidate who consistently polls in the very low single digits. To Doherty, it's not so much about bolstering his own shot at a statewide seat someday as it is the principle of supporting the candidate he sees as most in line with old-fashioned, straight up conservatism.

The owner of Campaigns & Elections magazine has endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. Michael Hennessey, a New Jersey businessman who bought the political news publication in 2005, will serve on Romney’s New Jersey campaign steering committee, according to a statement issued by the Romney campaign.

Mitt Romney today announced new additions to his New Jersey steering committee.

Brad Brewster of Hopewell and Claire Eckert of Bernardsville will serve as the committee’s co-chairs. They’ll join the leadership of state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, the group’s chairman, Co-Chair David Norcross and Finance Co-Chair Hersh Kozlov. Other new members include:

It looks like the Democrats are moving toward a coronation of Hillary Clinton as Obama and Edwards seem so weary or stale. Obama has decided to attack flag lapel pins, and Edwards has gone from being a populist to a prissy wealthy liability lawyer.    So that gives us time to focus at least for now on the Republicans.  And one can see them in bloom at their Detroit debate, celebrating capitalism, Bush, budget cuts, and themselves.  Like an old marriage, we have heard all that before with some exceptions.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey’s February 5, 2008 presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

Among Democrats, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-20% margin, with 9% to John Edwards. On the Republican side, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson by 36 percentage points – 48%-12%, with 9% for John McCain and 7% for Mitt Romney.

In a general election matchup, Clinton and Giuliani are in a statistical dead-heat, with each candidate at 44%.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey's February 5, 2008 presidential primaries, according to a new Strategic Vision poll released today. Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 52%-21% margin among Democrats (John Edwards is at 7% and Bill Richardson at 5%), while Republicans give Giuliani a 53%-11% advantage over Fred Thompson. John McCain and Mitt Romney each have 7%.

In New Jersey, President George W. Bush has an upside-down overall job approval rating of 18%-71%. Seven out of ten voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, 69% disapprove of his handling of the war in Iraq, and 57% want a U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq within six mohths. But New Jersey voters, by a 49%-41% margin, approve of Bush's handling of the war on terrorism.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to be in a statistical dead heat for New Jersey’s fifteen electoral votes, with Giuliani leading 45%-44%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Clinton and Giuliani continue to hold huge leads in the February 5, 2008 presidential primaries.

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-15% margin, with 11% for Al Gore and 7% for John Edwards. In the GOP primary, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson, 45%-12%, with John McCain at 8% and Mitt Romney at 6%.

In 1994, Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts against Ted Kennedy

GOP presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have both won races where Democrats dominate: Getty Images Photo
There may have been a time when Mitt Romney would have appealed to New Jersey voters, even potentially carrying the state against a Democrat in the presidential election.

Not any more, says a group of academics who monitor New Jersey campaigns.

While the pundits say Rudy Giuliani has a good chance to carry New Jersey – two independent polls have him leading all of the Democratic contenders -- they say that Romney can't win a state that has gone Democratic in the last four presidential elections.