Rodney Frelinghuysen

Most people in New Jersey politics today probably have never heard of Albert Vreeland or Frank Omsers, both young New Jersey Congressmen who placed patriotism above politics and the security of our nation ahead of their own political careers.

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.

Chatter about a conservative primary challenge to Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen is nothing new. In late 2001, attorney Paul Castronovo, who had been Morris County Coordinator for Bret Schundler's gubernatorial campaign, publicly explored a race, but eventually backed down. So far, the only Frelinghuysen opponent to get any real attention was in 2000, when Michael Moore held a news conference in Morris County to announce that he was running a Ficus plant as a write-candidate in the GOP primary.

Almost 78 years ago, Peter Angelo Cavicchia, an immigrant from the Campobasso Province of Italy, ran in a Republican primary on a slate with Joseph Frelinghuysen, a former U.S. Senator and scion of one of New Jersey's oldest and most powerful political families. Now, Peter Cavicchia's grandson is thinking about challenging Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen in the 2008 Republican primary.

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.

In Morris County, it's almost a tradition: challenge an incumbent in a primary and your political future is secure. 

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen ran against two-term incumbent James Courter in the 1982 congressional primary, and ousted incumbent Assemblyman William Bishop in the '83 primary.  Michael Patrick Carroll took on Frelinghuysen in the 1993 GOP Assembly primary, and won an Assembly seat two years later.  Richard Merkt challenged Carroll in 1995 and won in 1997.  Joseph Pennacchio ran against Dean Gallo in a 1994 primary for Congress (he did not know Gallo had cancer), and later won primaries for Freeholder, Assembly and State Senate. 

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.

Helped by Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election, Democrats picked up 36 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving them more than two-thirds of the House seats. After that election, a group of moderates challenged challenged conservatives for the top two House Republican leadership posts. Minority Leader Charles Halleck, 64, a sixteen-term Indiana conservative, lost to moderate Gerald Ford, a nine-term moderate from Michigan.

Ford then backed a fellow moderate for Minority Whip against the conservative incumbent, Leslie Arends: Peter H.B. Frelinghusyen, a 48-year-old seven-term New Jersey Congressman. Arends, who first went to Congress in 1935, beat Frelinghuysen in a 70-59 vote. Arends then used his clout to deny a seat on the House Appropriations Committee to a fellow Illinois Congressman who had been the chief strategist of the Ford/Frelinghuysen campaign: Donald Rumsfeld, then 32 and about to begin his second term in Congress.

Frelinghuysen, who turns 91 in January, spent ten more years in the House and was the Ranking Minority member of the House International Relations Committee when he retired in 1974. His son, Rodney Frelinghuysen, has represented his old district in Congress since 1995 -- and serves on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

Morris County Republicans traditionally don't hold grudges, which might make it a little easier for Jay Webber as he embarks on a bid to win a State Assembly seat in the 26th district. If he wins, Webber -- who ran a strong race for State Senate against Robert Martin in 2003 -- would join a long list of public officials who won after taking on incumbents in a GOP primary.

Rodney Frelinghuysen challenged Republican incumbent James Courter in the 1982 congressional primary and then won a State Assembly seat in 1983 after ousting Republican Assemblyman William Bishop in the primary.

Joseph Pennacchio, who is the heavy favorite to succeed Martin in the Senate next year, launched his political career by running against Congressman Dean Gallo in the 1984 primary. That was a particularly nasty race, especially since Gallo -- unbeknownst to Pennacchio -- was suffering from cancer. Pennacchio went on to win races for Freeholder and State Assembly.

Michael Patrick Carrolll took on Frelinghuysen and incumbent Arthur Albohn in a 1993 primary for State Assembly before winning the seat in 1995. Rick Merkt ran against incumbent Anthony Bucco in 1995 and won the seat in 1997. John Inglesino ran against Carroll in 1997 and later won a seat on the Morris County Board of Freeholders.