NORTH PLAINFIELD - It’s down to three men in the contest to succeed Somerset County Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, who sat in the audience at a local Republican Party screening here last night and observed the unfolding low-key drama.

On April 2nd, the full Somerset County Republican Committee will assess Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter, former prosecutor Tom Roughneen of Watchung, and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione and decide who to back for the party nomination. Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire dropped out of the race earlier this week.

BRIDGEWATER - Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire has dropped his freeholder bid, according to Somerset County GOP sources.

Caliguire had hoped to secure his party's backing to run for a seat vacated by retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, but he told Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio tonight that he does not intend to stay in the contest. 

That leaves the following candidates to screen before the GOP County Committee on April 2: Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter, former prosecutor Tom Roughneen, and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione. 

BRIDGEWATER – Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione earlier today talked to Dale Florio and notified the Somerset County Republican chair of his intentions to pursue a seat on the Freeholder Board.

“I’m a 12-year council veteran and I’m in the race,” Scaglione told PolitickerNJ.com tonight, at a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Bridgewater Republican Committee, where Scaglione and his fellow competitors made their respective cases.

Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire, Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter and former prosecutor Thomas Roughneen are also vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana.

“The Democrats have made such a mess of the state budget, that our budgets are really hurting,” said Caliguire, who pledged if elected to examine greater shared and regional services.

After considering running for a seat left vacant on the Somerset County Freeholder Board, Kate Whitman of Peapack-Gladstone today announced that she has decided not to screen for the position before the Republican Committee here, she wrote in a letter to supporters.

“While I was heartened by the level of support and encouragement that I was receiving, this is simply not the right time for me personally and professionally,” said Whitman, the daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, who placed second behind Leonard Lance in a run for Congress in the 7th District last year and screened unsuccessfully for freeholder in 2007. 

In a letter he sent today to Somerset County Republican Committee members, second-term Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire announced he intends to seek their support to replace retiring Freeholder Rick Fontana.

“The current financial crisis requires leaders with innovative solutions that lower taxes.  I’ve been on the front line of the effort to do that in Montgomery and I’m eager to add my energy, ideas and business experience to the considerable talents already assembled on our Freeholder Board,” said Caliguire, a former New Jersey deputy attorney general who owns a privately held specialty paper company with 100 employees.   

“In Montgomery, I implemented a groundbreaking program that incentivizes municipal employees to develop and present ideas that produce real and recurring savings,” he added.

Attorney and Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen says he'll seek the Republican nomination for an open seat on the Somerset County Freeholder Board.  

“I came to the decision on Monday and made some calls yesterday,” said Roughneen, who subsequently submitted a letter to the municipal party chairs and to Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio.

“It would be a privilege to serve the people,” said the candidate, who is one of three Roughneen brothers who have either served or are serving in Iraq. 

Roughneen, a Watchung resident, is the first of last year’s unsuccessful 7th Congressional District GOP candidates to formally submit a letter of interest to party members. 

Warren Township Deputy Mayor Victor Sordillo may pursue a run for the seat veteran Somerset County Freeholder Rick Fontana is vacating at the end of his term this year.

“I have not ruled out running at this time,” Sordillo told supporters in a Tuesday night email. 

The 2007 candidate for freeholder and 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress said he plans to meet with Somerset County Republican Party Chairman Dale Florio to determine a course of action.

“If I can add something to the field of candidates by stimulating ideas and debate, I will enter the contest,” said Sordillo. “If I believe that the choices are sufficient to ensure the strength of the party, I will become an observer and supporter this year.”

BRIDGEWATER – When Somerset County Freeholder Director Rick Fontana this week told party members he wouldn’t pursue reelection, Bernards Township Committeeman John Carpenter got out in front of the pack first.

At least as of last night, he remained the only person who has officially made his interest in the Fontana seat known to County GOP Chairman Dale Florio, while the party prepares for an April 2nd county committee screening to size-up any and all contenders for the position.

“I’ve got a great record of cutting taxes and cutting spending,” said Carpenter, 51, a Bayer Healthcare sales manager now in his second term in office, who last year served as mayor of Bernards.  “We’ve cut the municipal tax levy three years running. Our residents paid less last year than in 2005.”

FRANKLIN - Kate Whitman, Republican Party municipal chair from Peapack-Gladstone and a veteran of last year's Republican Primary in the 7th Congressional District, is mulling a bid for Somerset County Freeholder, she told PolitickerNJ.com tonight at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Imperia Banquet Hall. 

Whitman, who last year ran a hard-charging campaign in losing to eventual general election winner U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), would vie to replace retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana of Bridgewater Township.

But she hasn't yet discussed the issue with her husband, and she will do that before either talking to Chairman Dale Florio or deciding against another run.

"It would mean three screenings in three years," said Whitman, who had tried to land a freeholder seat in 2007 when Denise Coyle moved up to run successfully for the Assembly.

FRANKLIN - Bridgewater Mayor Patrica Flannery won't submit her name to the party to run for a vacated seat on the Somerset County Freeholder Board, she told PolitickerNJ.com tonight at a GOP Lincoln Day Dinner here featuring the Republican candidates for governor.

"I love being mayor of Bridgewater," said Flannery, whom party members initially tapped as a natural replacement for Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, who won't pursue reelection this year. 

Sources say Flannery got first dibs on the seat because of the Bridgewater connection. That’s Fontana’s hometown, and a vital GOP stronghold – home to the most registered Republican voters among all of Somerset County’s 21 towns at 6,757, and the second largest concentration of total voters (23,314) behind Franklin Twp.  (27,812).