New Jersey primary

While John McCain is now the favorite to win New Jersey’s February 5 winner-take-all GOP primary, supporters of Mitt Romney believe New Jersey could still be in play in June --  if the Republicans have not yet selected a presidential nominee.

John McCain’s campaign will announce endorsements from thirteen Republican County Chairs that had been supporting Rudy Giuliani for President, and from Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. and other legislators.  There are two holdouts: Sussex GOP Chairman Richard Zeoli, who has not decided if he will endorse any of the candidates before Tuesday’s primary; and Middlesex GOP Chairman Joseph Leo, largely because  no one could reach him to ask.

The vast majority of Rudy Giuliani’s New Jersey supporters are expected to endorse John McCain today, and pundits on both sides appear certain that McCain is the heavy favorite to win New Jersey’s winner-take-all primary on Tuesday. McCain will be in New Jersey on Monday, holding a rally at the Colonial Fire House in Hamilton; Rudy Giuliani is expected to accompany him.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who ended his bid for the GOP presidential nomination earlier this evening, is expected to join Sen. John McCain at a rally in Hamilton on Monday -- the day before the New Jersey presidential primary. 

Barack Obama may have gotten the support of Dick Codey today, the most popular politician in New Jersey, but two other prominent Edwards supporters have gone the Clinton route.

Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney and State Sen. Joseph Vitale announced their support for Clinton in a conference call today, burnishing their respective organized labor and health care credentials. They were joined by Mike Beson, the Edwards campaign state director

Vitale, who chairs the Health and Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, said that Clinton has the best plan to provide universal health care.

“I find her approach to helping solve this issue not just inspired but informed. I’m pleased to join her campaign,” said Vitale.

Dick Codey, who may be New Jersey's most popular politician, will endorse Barack Obama for President
Senate President Richard Codey is expected to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, sources close to Codey told PolitickerNJ.com. Codey, who served as Governor from 2004 to 2006, had served as New Jersey Chairman of John Edwards’ campaign.

Egg Harbor Township Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough is endorsing former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney for president, according to the Romney campaign.  McCullough endorsed Rudy Giuliani on October 1.

McCullough, who lost last year in his attempt to hold onto his district 2 state Senate seat, plans to offically back Romney on Tuesday morning.

Burlington County GOP Chairman Bill Layton is expected to endorse John McCain for President, shifting the powerful GOP organization to McCain one week before the New Jersey presidential primary.  Layton’s predecessor, Col. Michael Warner, had previously backed Rudy Giuliani, and had delivered the backing of many local Republican leaders to the Giuliani camp.

Reporters Roundtable with Michael Aron (NJN, Sunday 10AM): Dunstan McNichol, Kevin McArdle, Charles Stile and Michael Symons talk about Gov. Jon Corzine’s toll road plan, Steve Lonegan’s arrest, the $2.5 billion dollar budget cut, school construction borrowing and the presidential primary.

On the Record with Michael Aron (NJN, Sunday 9AM and 11AM, Monday at 6:30AM): Surrogates for Republican presidential candidates discuss New Jersey's February 5th primary – Bill Baroni, Joe Kyrillos, Murray Sabrin, Paul Beaudreau and George Gilmore.

John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are in a statistical dead heat in New Jersey, and Hillary Clinton holds a 17 point lead for the February 5 presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. McCain leads Giuliani 29%-26%, with Mitt Romney at 14% and Mike Huckabee at 9%. Fred Thompson had 9%.

Clinton, who will make stops in Hackensack and North Bergen today, leads Barack Obama, 49%-32%. John Edwards gets 10% of the likely Democratic vote. Among Black voters, Obama leads 62%-27%, while Clinton leads among women 44%0-36%.