U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) wants to be a U.S. Senator.

The news today of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-N.J.) decision not to seek re-election reconfirmed that, although Holt was not ready tonight to say he is definitely running.

"There's no point in being coy," Holt said. "I've made no secret in previous years that I would consider the Senate at the right time. But an expression of interest should not be taken as a campaign announcement."

WASHINGTON – Several members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation have written a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of Amtrak’s requested funding for components of a new trans-Hudson tunnel.

LEGISLATION HONORS THE MEMORY OF RUTGERS UNIVERSITY STUDENT TYLER CLEMENTI

State Republicans scored two major victories Tuesday as the GOP took control of the 3^rd District Congressional seat and the Bergen County Executive’s office.

Republican Jon Runyan rode the anti-incumbent wave to victory in his 3^rd District race, defeating incumbent Democrat John Adler.  Runyan won the district by just two points over Adler in what was the most closely watched race in the state.

Runyan won big in Ocean County though not as big as hoped, while Adler supporters did not come to the polls in Camden County.  The ex-NFL lineman’s victory narrows the Democratic edge in the New Jersey Congressional delegation to 7 to 6.

In Bergen County, Republican Kathe Donovan defeated incumbent Democrat Dennis McNerney by 8 points, delivering the state’s largest county into the hands of the GOP.  Donovan’s campaign had been called unorthodox by some pundits as she embraced organized labor and environmental groups, but the coalition was enough to drive her to victory.

Gov. Chris Christie has scoured the country over the past month stumping for Republican candidates in far flung locales, both taking advantage of and expanding his national profile.

Here at home the governor has also leapt into the congressional fray, campaigning for Republicans in the 3^rd , 6^th and 12^th Districts, including appearances Monday with 12^th District Republican Scott Sipprelle and 6^th District Tea Party candidate Anna Little.

With all of the time spent campaigning at home and abroad, does Christie face any risk if his chosen candidates go down?

“I think the governor has lot riding on the election,” said Ben Dworkin of the Rebovich Institute  for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “ if Republicans are able to flip a couple of these Democratic congressional seats the governor further expands his image nationally as someone who can deliver congressional  seats in the northeast.”

By contrast, Dworkin said, if the Democrats hold onto all three competitive seats tonight, Christie’s shine could be tarnished.

But Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University disagrees. Win or lose his chosen races,  Baker said, Christie has made the right moves politically.

MONROE - U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.) said three outside groups have run radio against him this cycle - Americans for Prosperity, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Energy Committee for Israel, but the Democrat exuded pre-Election Day confidence in his 12th District war with GOP challenger Scott Sipprelle. 

"I realized I could verbalize what I hadn't verbalized, and it wasn't a personal attack against Mr. Sipprelle, but a recognition that his work as a hedge fund manager on Wall Street is very private work that is not directed to the public good," said the congressman, who over the past two or three weeks has defined his message as public interest against Sipprelle, who he says represents a private interest brand.

A very brief weekend look at some of the key Nov. 2nd races around the state...

The 3rd Congressional District

Former Obama State Campaign Director Mark Alexander noted that U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) was the first elected official to endorse President Barack Obama in the 2008 election. But he was also the only member of the congressional delegation among Democrats to oppose both versions of the president's healthcare reform. As Adler tries to defend against former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan, Democrats worry that he has a base problem, but throughout he has argued his independence from lockstep Democratic polices. The raw registration numbers illusorily show Democrats in charge: 122,456 D's to 107,881 R's. Endorsements by the PBA and VFW underscore his ability to appeal to groups that often break for the GOP, and his preparedness landed him the bulk of newspaper endorsements, but Adler is on tough terrain in a district with 185,771 undeclareds; a district long held by Republicans before he rode Obama's change message to victory. Adler also spent a chunk of the campaign in damage control after the Courier-Post fingered third party candidate Peter DeStefano as an Adler campaign plant. Most of the latest polls show a dead heat, but Runyan trending upwards.

EAST BRUNSWICK - In the sprawling, bumper-to-bumper 12th Congressional District, the paths of U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.) and GOP challenger Scott Sipprelle of Princeton Twp. crossed at a Chinese school today, where men practicing Kung Fu in silent harmony belied a political warzone. 

"Why are you following around an ex-congressman?" cracked Sipprelle as he boarded a mini-bus with his own name splashed across the side. 

"We've made contact in the Chinese community and have built ties for three months," he added of a group number 10,307 of 400,810 registered 12th District voters, en route to a harvest festival in Lawrenceville.

TRENTON - U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.) said he absolutely stands by his radio ad that chastises GOP opponent Scott Sipprelle for serving on an advisory committee during a revaluation year that resulted in Sipprelle's home value increasing while the property taxes he pays on his Princeton home lowered. 

"Look at it on the face of it," said Holt, moments after convening a Statehouse press conference where he received the endorsements of the Sierra Club and the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

"The maps are drawn so neighborhoods have consistency and character and his home was removed from the neighborhood where it belonged and put in a neighborhood where there was a different multiplier." 

Venture capitalist Sipprelle told the Trenton Times that the charge was "slanderous," and doubled down today in a conversation with PolitickerNJ.com.

A new internet advertisement out of the Rush Holt campaign features the parents of a deceased veteran advocating for improved mental health care for veterans.

Greg and Linda Bean appear in the ad to talk about their son, Staff Sgt. Coleman Bean, who committed suicide while a member of the Individual Ready Reserve after serving two tours in Iraq.  The couple has known Holt since the Democrat approached them an offered to sponsor a bill in Coleman's name that would require increased mental health follow-up for members of the IRR.

“What we are really talking about is legislation that will save someone’s life,” said Linda Bean in the 30-second spot. 

This is not the Beans’ first exposure to the 12^th District campaign, which has heated up in recent weeks as a recent poll showed Holt, a Democratic incumbent, holding only a slim lead.

Greg Bean has accused Republican challenger Scott Sipprelle of dirty tricks in the campaign after a Sipprelle staffer called he and his wife in July and tried to coax them into bad mouthing the bill.