Rush Holt

It looks like a GOP primary in the 12th Congressional District. 

Republican Alan Bateman of Holmdel, who ran for Congress in the 12th last year and lost, said Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre's decision to pursue the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell) alters nothing.

"I did plan on running and I filed my papers a couple of months ago," said Bateman, a former deputy mayor in Holmdel and hospital administration consultant who lost to Holt last year, 62% to 36%.  

"This doesn't change my plans, not at all," added Bateman of Halfacre's announcement, scheduled tomorrow, that he intends to run.

Bateman said today's news about Halfacre created a surge of telephone calls from supporters, who told the Holmdel resident that he can count on them. 

Read More >

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre will hold two press conferences tomorrow to announce his decision to challenge U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell).  

“In his 10 years in Congress, Rush Holt has been ineffective on matters big and small throughout the 12th Congressional District and has compiled a voting record which is not representative of the district he represents," Halfacre said in a statement. “At a time when Americans of all political stripes are growing increasingly concerned about record federal spending and ever expanding government involvement in the private sector, I believe my record as a tax cutting fiscal conservative will be an attractive alternative.”

Read More >

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre is expected to enter the race for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey's 12th district.  He wants toun against six-term U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell). 

Holt, 60, was elected to Congress in 1998 in a 51%-48% upset victory that took advantage of incumbent Michael Pappas' weaknesses.  He defied pundits two years later by holding the seat against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, winning by just 651 votes.  Boosted by some adjustments to his district after the 2000 Census, Holt won 61% against former N.J. Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries in 2002, 59% against GOP activist Bill Spadea in 2004, 65% against former Helmetta Councilman Joseph Sinagra in 2006, and 62% against Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman in 2008.

Read More >

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell) will face an opponent in the 2010 Democratic primary: Lawrenceville resident Scott Baier, a 28-year-old former Mercer County Republican Committeeman who was a Socialist Party candidate for State Assembly in 2005. His platform includes putting George W. Bush, Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld on trial for war crimes, abolishing the U.S. Department of Defense, the nationalization of the media, legalization of all drugs, a constitutional amendment banning all guns, and a "total ban" on pornography.

Attendance is also a big issue for Baier: "I pledge to you that I'll work hard and be present for every vote that I can make it to and hope it'll be every vote.  I'm nowhere near perfect, but I'll try to be present for every House vote."

Baier has endorsed former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson for the Democratic nomination for Governor, and says he's backing U.S. Senator Roland Burris in the 2010 Illinois Senate race.
Read More >

There is some speculation that Franklin Mayor Brian Levine will drop his bid for the GOP nomination for Governor before the April 2 Somerset County Republican Convention.  While the buzz from party events is that Levine is smart and likeable, he has not been doing well in early contests and, sources say, is unlikely to raise the $340,000 to qualify for matching funds.   Out of more than 1600 votes cast in local Republican conventions and screening committees so far, just six have been cast for Levine. 

Franklin Township has 94 delegates to the Somerset GOP convention, and if Levine gets less votes from his hometown than the total number of delegates it sends, the gubernatorial campaign could be viewed as a net loss for  him as he looks toward a potentially competitive 2011 re-election campaign.

Read More >

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre is considering a bid for Congress against Democrat Rush Holt in 2010 and spent some time on last week's Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington making some early fundraising connections.  Holt is a heavy favorite to win a seventh term, but in a hypothetical situation where President Barack Obama's approval ratings during his midterm election were in decline, New Jersey 12 is the type of district that could be on the bubble of competitiveness.

Holt, 60, was elected to Congress in 1998 in a 51%-48% upset victory that took advantage of incumbent Michael Pappas' weaknesses.  He defied pundits two years later by holding the seat against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, winning by just 651 votes.  Boosted by some adjustments to his district after the 2000 Census, Holt won 61% against former N.J. Secretary of State DeForest "Buster" Soaries in 2002, 59% against GOP activist Bill Spadea in 2004, 65% against former Helmetta Councilman Joseph Sinagra in 2006, and 62% against Holmdel Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman in 2008.

Read More >

Joshua DuBois, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell), will run the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The 26-year-old Minister, who completed graduate school at Princeton University, directed the religious outreach program for the Obama campaign during the 2008 cycle.

Read More >

The New Jersey House delegation voted along party lines in support of President Barack Obama’s $89 billion economic stimulus package.  New Jersey’s eight Democratic Congressmen voted yes, while the five Republicans voted no.

 

Read More >

From our first year, the Best & Worst Campaigns of 2000:

Read More >

Today, in his first major vote as an incoming member of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Adler is expected to support Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) for Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to sources with close ties to Camden County Democrat.  Waxman is challenging longtime chairman John Dingell, an 82-year-old Michigan Democrat who has served in Congress since 1955. 

Read More >