Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani now has the support of more than half the Republicans in the New Jersey State Senate.  James "Sonny" McCullough yesterday became the tenth Senator to back Giuliani's bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.  McCullough joins Diane Allen, Nicholas Asselta, Martha Bark, Anthony Bucco, Andrew Cisela, Walter Kavanaugh, Thomas Kean, Jr., Robert Martin and Robert Singer.

State Senator James “Sonny” McCullough and his Assembly running mates Vince Polistina and John Amodeo endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President today.

Giuliani was in the area to campaign for the first district Republican legislative candidates, but stopped by the Ram's Head Inn in Galloway Township to campaign for McCullough's slate.

McCullough,Amodeo,& Polistina Endorse Rudy Giuliani for President  

(Atlantic County, NJ) Atlantic County’s Republican legislative candidates today  endorsed Rudy Giuliani for the GOP nomination for President in 2008.

Republicans today basked in the afterglow of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the candidate they like to point to as Mr. Accountability, who raised money in New Jersey yesterday for his presidential campaign.

"The mayor doesn’t just say ‘I was tough on crime over my eight years in office,’" says Giuliani campaign spokesman Jeff Barker. "He’s out there with the record. Crime was reduced by 56%; murder reduced by 66%. He doesn’t just say, ‘I’m tough on taxes.’ He reduced or eliminated taxes by 23 times."

If Gov. Jon Corzine is a manager with a heart who’s depicted by Republicans as ultimately too crumble-prone in the presence of old hands Senate President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, Giuliani, says the GOP, comes across as a results-oriented tough guy who doesn’t get pushed around. According to yesterday's Quinnipiac University poll, it’s not just Republicans who see Giuliani as morally strong. New Jersey voters say 56 - 27% that Giuliani "makes decisions based on his principles rather than on what the voters think is best."

As Rudy Giuliani slowly made his way past the media crush to the entrance of the Redwood Inn in Bridgewater, a reporter asked him if he had seen the Quinnipiac poll released today that had him running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in New Jersey.

“You know what I look at?  The one that has me ahead by about 35 percent in the Republican primary,” said Giuliani.  “I think that all the polls in Democratic states demonstrate one thing very clearly: that I’m the most competitive Republican candidate.  I’m the only Republican candidate that can win in all 50 states.”

Giuliani made a brief stop over at a $75-a-head fundraiser in Bridgewater to say thank you to the Somerset County Republican Organization, who, in January, became the first county organization in the state to throw their support behind him.  Afterwards, he was off to raise money for himself at a private house party simulcast across the country. 

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to be in a statistical dead heat for New Jersey’s fifteen electoral votes, with Giuliani leading 45%-44%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Clinton and Giuliani continue to hold huge leads in the February 5, 2008 presidential primaries.

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-15% margin, with 11% for Al Gore and 7% for John Edwards. In the GOP primary, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson, 45%-12%, with John McCain at 8% and Mitt Romney at 6%.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has picked up some more New Jersey endorsements, including Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, Assemblymen James Holzapfel and Samuel Thompson, Passaic County GOP Chairman Scott Rumana, Gloucester County GOP Chairwoman Loren Oglesby, and Republican State Committee Vice Chairwoman Lynda Pagliughi.

GOP presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have both won races where Democrats dominate: Getty Images Photo
There may have been a time when Mitt Romney would have appealed to New Jersey voters, even potentially carrying the state against a Democrat in the presidential election.

Not any more, says a group of academics who monitor New Jersey campaigns.

While the pundits say Rudy Giuliani has a good chance to carry New Jersey – two independent polls have him leading all of the Democratic contenders -- they say that Romney can't win a state that has gone Democratic in the last four presidential elections.

GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will visit Cape May County on October 1 to campaign for Republican legislative and county candidates.  He'll be at Congress Hall, which was the Summer White House when Benjamin Harrison was President from 1889 to 1893.  Giuliani's decision to visit Cape May, which features one of the most competitive State Senate and Assembly races of the cycle, is a feather in the cap of GOP County Chairman David Von Savage, an early Giuliani supporter and a driving force in the state GOP's decision to make New Jersey a winner-take-all county -- something that appears to strongly benefit Giuliani.

Rudy Giuliani won 66% of the vote at the Passaic County GOP convention today. Mitt Romney came in second with 17%.: Getty Images Photo
In New Jersey's first open convention of the 2008 campaign, the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization has endorsed Rudy Giulani for President.

Giuliani won 66% of the vote, garnering 77 out of the 117 votes cast. Mitt Romney came in second with 19 votes, followed by John McCain and Fred Thompson with seven each, Ron Paul with four and Mike Huckabee with three. Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo failed to receive any votes.