Ron Paul

Gloria Leustek, who sought the Republican nomination for Somerset County Freeholder on Steve Lonegan's ticket in the June primary, will run for Lt. Governor on a ticket with Jason Cullen, a conservative running for Governor as an independent.  Leustek lost the Freeholder primary by about 3,000 votes. A Peapack-Gladstone resident, Leustek is a sales representative in the metals industry and is a member of Gun Owners of America and Citizens Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  She was a supporter of Ron Paul's bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

Economist Peter Schiff of Connecticut is scheduled to endorse GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan at a press conference this afternoon at the Statehouse.

“He likes Steve’s flax tax plan,” said Lonegan campaign strategist Rick Shaftan.

Schiff served as an economic advisor to U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) presidential campaign last year, and endorsed Prof. Murray Sabrin for U.S. Senate in the 2008 Republican Primary.

Ron Paul, who endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan today, also urged his New Jersey supporters to vote for Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Oxford) for state Senate.

Doherty was the only member of the New Jersey legislature (and perhaps the only elected official in the state) to endorse Paul for president.  Doherty is now running against incumbent Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan Twp), who beat Doherty in a special convention to succeed U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance in the state Senate, on Lonegan’s slate. 

Texas Rep. and former presidential candidate Ron Paul has endorsed Steve Lonegan for governor.  

“I was very impressed by Steve Lonegan’s record of budget restraint as Mayor of Bogota, NJ. Steve has been a vocal critic of runaway spending and taxpayer funded bailouts, and he understands that we must reject the nanny state and return government to its proper, restrained role,” wrote Paul in an email to New Jersey supporters.  “Sending Steve Lonegan to Trenton would be a tremendous victory for the people of New Jersey.”

The endorsement comes just a few days after Murray Sabrin, an ally of Paul’s who chaired his presidential campaign in New Jersey, endorsed Lonegan rival Chris Christie.  Sabrin, a former Libertarian candidate for Governor, won 14% in his bid for the GOP U.S. Senate nod last year.

With the release of an audio tape from Osama bin Laden on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, did the most wanted fugitive on the planet signal that another Al Qaeda attack on America is imminent?   

There has been a pattern to the attacks on America by Al Qaeda since the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.  Although the attack injured more than a one thousand Americans and killed six, newly elected president Bill Clinton did not launch a global "war on terror" in his first year in office.  Instead, U.S. law enforcement authorities successfully hunted down the perpetrators who were then tried, convicted and jailed. 

U.S. Rep. Matthew Rinaldo, who passed away last year, was known for passing up chances to run for higher office.

Michael Doherty might have said that wild horses could not keep him out of the June GOP primary for State Senate, but his fear of being out of office completely might.  Doherty, according to a few of his friends, could back out because he's not quite ready to gamble his $50,000-a-year seat in the State Assembly.  He can threaten a primary challenge to State Sen.-elect Marcia Karrow, but in the end he could also back out and cut a deal to keep his Assembly seat.

Without blatantly challenging the testicular fortitude of the West Pointer, Doherty hasn't exactly shown a willingness to take huge risks in the past.  Indeed, he could be the Matthew Rinaldo of his generation, a reference to the late ten-term Congressman from Union County who was frequently touted as a statewide candidate but never pulled the trigger.

Today is Election Day in parts of Hunterdon and Warren counties, where members of the Republican County Committee from the 23rd legislative district will hold a special election convention to replace Leonard Lance in the State Senate.  Lance resigned from the Senate on January 3 to take his seat in Congress.

Two Republicans are seeking to replace Lance: four-term Assemblyman Michael Doherty, 45, a former Warren County Freeholder and West Point graduate; and Marcia Karrow, 49, a two-term Assemblywoman who has served as a Hunterdon County Freeholder and as Mayor of Raritan Township.

 Doherty is viewed as one of the most conservative members of the Legislature and has mulled bids for higher office in recent years, including an exploratory committee for the 2008 U.S. Senate nomination.  He was he only legislator to back Ron Paul for President in the last election.  Karrow, a graduate of Smith College, has masters degrees from the University of Michigan and CUNY.  She  is viewed as a moderate and has the backing of the Hunterdon County Republican organization and eight mayors from Warren County.

The winner will get sworn in to the Senate at their next session, now scheduled for February 23.  The Senate contest will trigger another special election convention to fill the soon-to-be vacant Assembly seat.

Dr. Murray Sabrin is a new PolitickerNJ.com contributor

Steve Lonegan has been an unpaid PolitickerNJ.com columnist since March 2007.  As he begins his campaign for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, his column will go on hiatus.  We are grateful for his willingness to use PolitickerNJ.com as a forum to express his views and for his contribution to the political debate in New Jersey.  We look forward to Mayor Lonegan's return next year, win or lose.

Joining our list of contributors today is Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin, a former candidate for Governor and U.S. Senator.  We welcome Dr. Sabrin and look forward to hearing his views.

CLICK HERE TO READ DR. SABRIN'S FIRST COLUMN

As New Jerseyans get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving the nation's economic outlook is indeed bleak, and there doesn't seem much to be thankful for after eight years of the neoconservative Bush administration and seven years of the McGreevey, Codey, and Corzine regimes.

From Peter F. Boyce, Constitution Party Candidate for Congress NJ-2:

First of all, thank you one and all for helping with our Constitution Party campaign for Congress. Catherine and I appreciate all the sacrifices and donations but most of all, we were encouraged by your friendship and support.