Rodney Frelinghuysen

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- At 62, Rodney Frelinghuysen is already three years older than his father, Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen, Jr., was when he retired from Congress in 1975.

Frelinghuysen said his father left office in 1975 – when he was in his late 50s -- to spend more time with his family.

“I think it was in large part that he had five children, and I think he wanted time with family,” he said. “I grew up for 22 years of my life with my father as a member of congress, and I’m not singling out myself, but I don’t remember my father ever coming to a game or any sporting event.”

MINNEAPOLIS - The breakfast gathering welcomes U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding) to the podium as a friend of military veterans and longtime supporter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Frelinghuysen stands between the flags of the Untied States and New Jersey and exhorts the small crowd to support congressional candidates Medford Mayor Chris Myers in the 3rd District and state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) in the 7th.

"We need to keep Republicans in the House from New Jersey," he says. "These are tough races. Democrats in those races have raised a considerable amount of money. ...We need to work toward a Republican majority in both the House and Senate."

Applause.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech last night is still bringing smiles to the faces of those in this room, and the congressman seizes on the mood.

This election season, there are hotly contested races in the 3rd and 7th Congressional Districts. Then, one tier down, there are a couple of races in which challengers have some inkling of hope against a well-entrenched incumbent and may count on a bit of national party support.

And then there are the challengers to whom national parties don’t even bother paying lip service, like Tom Wyka in the 11th District, Vince Micco in the 9th District and Robert McLeod in the 6th District, among others.

Chris Christie and Jon Corzine as The HoneymoonersRead PolitickerNJ.com's The Year in Review 2007, our annual lists of Winners & Losers of the Year, Politician of the Year, Best & Worst Campaigns, People to Watch, Rising Stars, and much more.

The list of Best Operatives of 2007 is headed by Raiyan Sayed, who managed Jim Whelan's Senate race, and Tom Fitzsimmons, who ran the campaigns of Jennifer Beck for State Senate and Caroline Casagrande and Declan O'Scanlon for Assembly.

Find out why Rodney Frelinghuysen is tougher than he looks, why Don DiFrancesco doesn't shock us, how Joe Roberts made the worst prediction of 2007, and what Jim Devine, Gerald Lange, Malik Cupid, Chris Daul and Chris Thieme have in common.

To view this must-read feature, click here to subscribe to the PolitickerNJ.com Wake-Up Call, a daily e-mail of the best and most important news stories of the day.

If you are already a Wake-Up Call subscriber, click here and simply enter your e-mail address.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM POLITICKERNJ.COM

You can’t get anyone on the record about it, but some prominent Republicans aren’t exactly happy about their U.S. Senate choices

“Ambivalent is probably the most charitable word you can use for what people say about the choices,” said one Republican elected official who wished to remain anonymous.

Although two factions of the Republican Party are represented in the upcoming U.S. Senate race – Anne Evans Estabrook as the moneyed moderate and Dr. Joseph Pennacchio as the risen-through-the-ranks former Reagan Democrat who will run on the right – some in the party feel that neither has the combination of deep pockets, name recognition and charisma that it will take to beat U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in 2008.   

Multiple Republican sources also say that some county chairs are continuing the search and calling around to find new candidates. 

Two U.S. representatives from separate parties today issued statements explaining their votes on the state Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

GOP Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen issued the following statement in explanation of his vote to sustain President George W. Bush's veto of SCHIP:

Sussex County GOP Chairman Richard Zeoli says that he would not consider supporting Sparta resident Peter Cavicchia II for Congress next year.

"Contributing money to John Kerry makes him a non-starter in a Republican primary, and we could not support anyone who was for Kerry before he was against him," Zeoli told PoliticsNJ.com.

Mulling a possible GOP primary challenge to Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen in district 11 Peter Cavicchia II acknowledged today that he gave $1,000 to John Kerry’s campaign in 2004, but says he’s contributed more heavily to the Republican National Committee.

The retired U.S. Secret Service agent says he also ended up voting a second time for George W. Bush in 2004, not Kerry.

Once lampooned in a Michael Moore movie for serving in a district so safe that he never had to face significant opposition, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen might face a challenge in the GOP primary from a retired U.S. Secret Service Agent.

Peter A. Cavicchia II of Sparta, the former Special Agent In-Charge of the New Jersey office of the U.S. Secret Service, said today that he is mulling a challenge to Frelinghuysen in the 2008 GOP primary.

U.S. House of Representatives PhotoRep. Rodney Frelinghuysen helped D.C. police officers arrest a man who stole his wallet, according to a local television station report. NBC4 in Washington said that Frelinghuysen "was walking in the Georgetown section of the city about 9:30 p.m. when he was approached by a group of young men. The congressman told officers he felt someone grab at his wallet. But when he turned, the person started running away. Frelinghuysen began chasing the man and was joined by two D.C. police officers who happened to be driving by." An 18-year-old man was arrested, and police are searching for the ssecond suspect.