NJ-7

U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance won't take sides in a race to fill his State Senate seat in January

Asked whether he’ll endorse anyone to replace him in the state Senate, Congressman-elect Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) said that he would follow advice from his late father, former Senate President Wesley Lance. 

“He said, ‘You cannot choose your successor in political life,’” said Lance.  “I think I will remain neutral.”

At least one of Lance’s running mates, Assemblyman Michael Doherty, is running for the seat.  If his other running mate, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow, jumps in, it could be an intense battle (Multiple Republican sources say, however, that Karrow is having second thoughts about running). 

“I think very highly of both of my running mates.  I think we have worked well together. Both of my running mates have experience on freeholder boards – experience I did not have, and I want to speak highly of both of them,” he said.

In an election year driven by a hemorrhaging economy and an electorate hungry for an end to divisive politics, 7th Congressional District candidate Linda Stender positioned herself on the wrong side of the Democratic wave.

The election marked a desire for change in both policy and politics. The Southern Strategy is dead. Barack Obama fought for votes in all corners of the country and won in places the pundits said he had no business even competing. Talk of the "Real America" and accusations of anti-Americanism looked petty in the context of our nation's challenges, particularly while most Americans worried about their jobs and lost retirement savings. The divisive issues that characterized the Bush era were but an asterisk in the presidential race, and when they did surface, the Karl Rove strategy of divide, distract and conquer failed to deliver. Despite Californians narrowly voting for the bigoted Proposition 8, they still delivered Obama a crushing margin over McCain. The grip of fear over the electorate has weakened.

Exhausted from years of excessive political divisiveness, voters of all stripes turned to Barack Obama because he embodied a spirit of respect, cooperation, and bipartisanship (not to be confused with centrism).

If there are parallels between the presidential and 7th Congressional District races, they buck the national trends that swept Obama and other Democrats into office. In this case, it was Leonard Lance -- a self-described Eisenhower Republican with a long record of reaching across the aisle, whose temperament offered voters a change of pace from the politics of the past.

State Sen.Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) with supporters Robin Visconti, left, and Nicole Davidman

SOMERVILLE - Claiming victory here tonight in his 7th Congressional District contest, state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) gave this crowd of Republicans reason to celebrate on an otherwse mostly difficult landscape.

"I think the editorial board support was important," said Lance, standing among his supporters in the Elks Club. "The papers unanimously endorsed me, and it mattered."

The final ad the Lance campaign ran in the cycle trailed those endorsements across the screen for emphasis.

The Stender campaign attempted to depict Lance as a Bush drone, and he ran much of the race without the necessary cash to punch back.

U.S. Rep.-elect Leonard Lance

State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) defeated Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) in a hotly contested race for Congress in New Jersey's 7th district, keeping the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson in Republican hands. Lance beat Stender by a 51%-42% margin.

John Adler remains in the war room upstairs, but his supporters seem optimistic about victory based on apparently strong results out of Burlington County.

Evesham Mayor Randy Brown just addressed the crowd, saying that every last precincts remains to be counted, but hinted that a victory speech is imminent.

“I’ve got the feeling that you’re really going to like what’s going to come down the elevator.”

The formerly “pensive” room has transformed into a party atmosphere.

SPRINGFIELD – At the Union County Central Labor Council’s headquarters this afternoon, Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan told about 100 union members getting ready to canvass for Assemblywoman Linda Stender’s congressional bid that turnout was high in Democratic areas of the 7th District, but that it was also high in the traditionally Republican counties of Somerset and Hunterdon.

“Our tracks around the state and our tracks around this district show that our folks are coming out to vote, but you know what? Theirs are too.  What you’re going to do over the next few hours are going to make the difference.” 

Speaking to PolitickerNJ.com before the rally, Cryan talked up Gov. Corzine, saying that he was the person most responsible for what is likely to be a victory for Barack Obama in New Jersey, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

From left: Union County Central Labor Council President Ed Zarnock; New Jersey AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech; Gov. Corzine; Assemblywoman Linda Stender; New Jersey AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan;

SPRINGFIELD – At a labor rally today, Assemblywoman Linda Stender said that she feels confident that the high turnout today will benefit her campaign.

“I think it’s thrilling for our Democracy to see people get involved,” she said. “And I have to say, as I’m spending my day continuing to talk to voters at diners, the train station and all that stuff, it feels to me like the numbers are with me in terms of people that have already voted for me. We’ll see. It’s going to be a long day.”

Stender said that 20 percent of registered voters had already turned out by 9:00a.m. in her hometown of Fanwood.

Kean, Ferguson and Lance make the rounds in Cranford

CRANFORD -- State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) said turnout is high today, but that it won’t necessarily benefit his opponent in the 7th District Congressional race.

“I’ve been endorsed by every editorial board based upon my independence and views on the issues, and I believe that the public will vote based upon the issues,” said Lance, who’s running against Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood).

At his own polling place in solidly Republican Hunterdon County, Lance and his wife were voters numbers 305 and 306 as of 10:30 a.m., which Lance called a “very healthy” turnout.

Linda Stender today in Somerset County

MARTINSVILLE - Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) said the fact that her 7th Congressional District opponent accepted an endorsement from President George W. Bush, $5,00 from Exxon/Mobil, and advertising capital from the Bush-backing Freedom’s Watch, make it hard to classify state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) as a moderate.

“It all adds up to someone who will continue Bush’s policies,” said Stender at a buck-up-the-troops stop here at Somerset County Democratic Party headquarters on Sunday afternoon.

She also objected to Lance’s tagline that he’s a fiscal conservative, citing his support for Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Phil Clinton, a.k.a. Phil Morin, endorses Lance

KENILWORTH -- Talk about a study in contrast.

Yesterday, Democrats attracted about 1,500 people to Union County College in Cranford to hear former President Bill Clinton stump for Assemblywoman Linda Stender’s (D-Fanwood) congressional bid.

Tonight, despite pitchers of free beer, the Union County Republicans attracted about 100 people to Kenilworth’s VFW hall to support Stender’s rival, state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington), and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer.

Yesterday, Clinton was Stender’s main draw. Tonight, Union County Republican Chairman Phil Morin donned a mask of Clinton, called himself “Phil Clinton” and endorsed Lance.

“If anybody wants to join me, I’ll be at the Hooters on Route 22,” he said.