State Sen. Diane Allen, left, says she will consider a challenge to freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler, right, in 2010

Now that state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is no longer in the running for lieutenant governor, she's a top prospect to run against freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) next year - at least among Burlington County Republicans.

"The organization would whole-heartedly support Diane Allen if she decided to run for Congress," said Burlington County GOP Chairman Bill Layton.

Allen, a moderate Republican who consistently wins reelection easily in a district with a two-to-one Democratic registration advantage, has fought bitterly over the years with former chairman Glenn Paulsen and more recently Layton, his close ally.  The party divide even sunk her fledgling bid for the House in late 2007, with the Paulsen/Layton faction instead recruiting Lockheed Martin executive Chris Myers, who became the nominee.

"Now is not the time in my life that I feel prepared to again fight a Democrat opponent as well as a rogue faction of the Burlington County Republican Party simultaneously," Allen said when she announced in late 2007 that she would not seek the open House seat>

But Layton says he's intent on letting bygones be bygones.

"In politics, sometimes you have your differences, but you put them aside and try to do the best thing for the party," he said.

Myers, who lost narrowly to Adler in 2008, may be in line for a state Senate seat if state Sen. Phil Haines (R-Springfield) is appointed to a Superior Court judgeship.  He would likely have a lot of support if he decided to run for Congress again, but he is not expected to.

Allen remains non-committal about running, but she leaves the possibility open.

"It is kind of early, and truthfully it's just nothing I've given any thought to," she said.

Allen said that her decision will depend on whether Adler does a good job addressing the district's issues.

Burlington County Republicans are saying that they expect Gov. Jon Corzine to nominate State Sen. Philip Haines (R-Springfield) to the Superior Court this month, and that Haines has told party leaders he could be out of the Senate as early as June 25.  Republican sources say that Christopher Myers, a former Medford Mayor who won 48% in a bid for Congress last year, has emerged as the leading candidate to win a July special election convention to fill Haines' seat.

Haines would become the third Senator in recent years to resign from the upper house to become a Superior Court Judge: Garry Furnari (D-Nutley) did it in 2003, clearing the way for Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) top move up to the Senate; and later that year, Joseph Charles (D-Jersey City) left the Senate after less than two years to become a Judge.  It was the Charles seat that led to a rancorous primary between then-Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham and the candidate backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, then-Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith.

Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to nominate State Sen. Philip Haines (R-Springfield) as a Superior Court Judge within the next two weeks, setting the stage for a special election in the Republican-leaning eighth district this November.  Burlington County Republicans say they expect Haines to be out of the Senate by next month, and are preparing for a special election convention in July.  Former Medford Mayor Christopher Myers, who won 48% of the vote in his 2008 race for Congress against Democrat John Adler, could emerge as a leading candidate for Haines' Senate seat.

These are interesting times in Burlington County politics, where Republicans are defending their control of the Board of Freeholders for the first time in decades.  The GOP now has a 3-2 majority, and two of their seats are up in 2009.  The two Republican incumbents are not seeking re-election.  State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is reportedly under consideration to become the GOP candidate for Lt. Governor - something that would likely help Republicans keep control.

State Sen. Philip Haines (R-Springfield) is under active consideration for appointment as a Superior Court Judge, sources say, a move that could force a special election for his State Senate seat as early as this November. 

Haines, 58, served as a Burlington County Freeholder and County Clerk before winning an open State Senate seat in 2007.  The appointment, which would be made by Gov. Jon Corzine, is not subject to senatorial courtesy and would likely win swift approval.  Because the mandatory retirement age is 70, new Judges are typically not appointed after age 60.

Possible successors to Haines include: retiring Freeholder William Haines (who is not related to the Senator), Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego (R-Evesham), Assemblyman Scott Rudder (R-Medford), and former Medford Mayor Christopher Myers, who won 48% of the vote in his 2008 race for Congress against Democrat John Adler.  South Jersey Democrats are already mounting a serious challenge to Addiego and Rudder, who are freshman legislators. 

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole, the Essex County GOP Chairman, could be the next ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

When Leonard Lance resigns his State Senate seat sometime over the next three weeks to take his seat in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr. will need to designate a new ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.  Republicans close to Kean suggest that he will pick Kevin O’Toole to succeed Lance. 

The other Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee are: Anthony Bucco, who served as Majority Leader in 2002 and 2003; and Steven Oroho and Philip Haines, who are both completing their first year in the Legislature.

SMITH-HAINES MEASURE TO CALL FOR STOP-GAP OPEN SPACE BONDING INTRODUCED

TRENTON – A bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Bob Smith and Philip E. Haines which would ask voters to approve $300 million in stop-gap open space funding for the next two years was introduced and referred to the Senate Environment Committee today.

“As we continue discussions on a permanent funding mechanism for open space acquisition in New Jersey, we need to be constantly aware that the clock’s running out on the current pot of open space funding,” said Senator Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, and the Chairman of the Environment Committee. “If we allow funding to lapse, Green Acres, farmland and historic preservation are going to come to a screeching halt, and we’ll be forced to start from scratch in protecting open space from overdevelopment and suburban sprawl. Voters have consistently supported open space bonding at the ballot box, and we need to ask for their support again, to ensure that the progress we’ve made over the last four decades in protecting open space is not undone.”

The Republican Party on Thursday united behind state Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., as its new Senate Minority Leader, while state Sen. Leonard Lance stepped aside in the face of a torrent of young blood.

Descendent of the state's first governor, son of a former two-term governor, and with a failed U.S. Senate run behind him and still only in his late 30s, Kean sees last Tuesday's election results as a rejection of Democratic leadership over the course of the last six years.

"Today there are more Republicans in the State Legislature, more Republican freeholders than before, more mayors than there were and more council seats," says Kean.