Steven Lonegan

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) has no intention of running for Governor as an Independent

Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford), who is challenging incumbent Marcia Karrow in the 23rd district State Senate primary, says he has absolutely ruled out filing as an Independent candidate for Governor.  There had been some speculation among Republicans that Doherty might file petitions on primary day to enter the gubernatorial race in the event that he loses the Senate primary and his preferred candidate in the GOP primary, Steven Lonegan, loses to Christopher Christie.

"That's ridiculous. Why the heck would I do that?  I intend to support to Steve Lonegan when he's running for governor in the fall," Doherty told PolitickerNJ.com.  Doherty, a four-term Assemblyman, says he is a Republican and would not consider challenging a GOP nominee as an Independent.

Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean), who is running for re-election to a second term, will be unopposed in the Republican primary

Establishment political parties have successfully challenged several rebel primary candidates, removing them from the primary ballot.

Casualties

In the 6th District, the Camden County Regular Republican Party found enough problems with the petition signatures of state Senate candidate Joseph Welsh, a Haddonfield resident who was running on gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan's rival slate, to get him kicked off the ballot, clearing the way for Republican Joseph Adolf to take on newly elected state Sen. James Beach (D-Voorhees) in a special election. 

Also in District 6, the Democratic State Committee successfully challenged the petition signatures of Democratic primary challenger Michael Stevenson, a Voorhees resident who was running under the slogan "Bringing the Process Home."

Steve Lonegan's slate also lost a candidate in District 9, where Republican State Committee Counsel Mark Sheridan got William Maxwell, of Beachwood, ruled ineligible.  That clears the way for incumbents Daniel Van Pelt (R-Waretown) and Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor) in the primary.

Up in the 39th District, Bergen County Republicans successfully challenged the petition signatures of college student William Fenwick, a Republican who filed to run against incumbent Charlotte Vandervalk (R-Hillsdale) and Washington Township Councilman Bob Schroeder, who won the party nod to replace retiring Assemblyman John Rooney (R-Northvale) at the Northeast Republican Organization (NERO) convention.

Two things will happen today for sure: New Jerseyans will pay their federal and state income tax returns, and a multitude of local, state, and federal politicians will issue press releases talking about how taxes are too high.  Some of those offering comment will undoubtedly be elected officials who have voted to raise taxes. 

Other things to watch for today: will the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission transfer funds to Steve Lonegan's campaign for Governor? Will the jury reach a verdict in the federal corruption trial of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus)? Will Mercer County Republicans find a new State Assembly candidate to run in the fourteenth district?  After all, it's been a day since that has happened.

• Chris Christie attends fundraiser by lawyer who benefitted from no-bid contract
• GOP candidate Steve Lonegan mails dollar bills to potential donors
• Jury in Coniglio corruption trial reaches no verdict after first day of deliberations

There's a bit of drama today in New Jersey politics as the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) meets behind closed doors to discuss an issue believed to be related to delay of matching funds for GOP gubernatorial candidate Steven Lonegan.  The Lonegan campaign says no one from the campaign has been interviewed by ELEC, but has not discussed the reason for the delay in public funds.  Pundits say that the matching funds - the state contributes $2 for every $1 raised - is critical for Lonegan to compete against the front runner, former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie.

Steve Lonegan's gubernatorial campaign expects to receive a delayed check from the state with matching funds today, according to their chief strategist, Rick Shaftan.

"We're getting that check today.  That's what I was told, anyway," said Shaftan.

Lonegan has yet to see about $75,000 in donations he filed on March 24 matched.  Republican rival Chris Christie, who is the only other candidate participating in the state's public financing program, was given $376,670 in matching funds on March 31 after submitting his donations on March 24.

The state provides $2 for every $1 raised for up to $3.1 million in the primary and $7.3 million in the general election through its public financing program.

"I don't know why it was held up or it was a lot to go through," said Shaftan, who guessed that it might take the state longer to pour through Lonegan's many small donors from around the country, as opposed to Christie's fewer large donors who are mainly from in-state.

The state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) will have a meeting by telephone on Tuesday afternoon to discuss an “urgent matter of importance” concerning the gubernatorial primary.

The commission gave notice of its meeting in a press release yesterday evening, but did not specify what would be discussed.

The commission used the exact same phrase – “an urgent matter of importance and of concern to the public interest about the 2009 gubernatorial election” – regarding its meeting last month about whether Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan should be disqualified from receiving matching funds because he failed to disclose his former status as a Lobbyist for the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity.  Ultimately, ELEC decided to take no action against Lonegan.

Only two candidates for governor are taking public campaign funds from ELEC: Lonegan and former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

Afraid of facing a GOP primary challenge, Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R-Franklin) had indicated to Republican leaders that she would endorse former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie for Governor after the filing deadline - which was last Monday.  Sources say that the Christie camp, aggravated by McHose's delay, is no longer viewing her as a possible candidate for Lt. Governor.  It's possible that Christie would not have asked McHose to be his running mate anyway, but her neutrality has all but ended her hope of running statewide this year.

Rick Wright's home in Burlington County.

New Jersey Republicans can rest easy, as Assembly Republican Executive Director Rick Wright did have a John McCain sign on his front lawn this autumn after all - even if the yard space was shared with a Barack Obama sign.

The hot-button question of the contents of Wright's lawn was injected into state politics this weekend when gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, appearing on NJN's "On the Record" with host Michael Aron, responded to Wright's defense of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) by raising the issue.

"Mike, Mike, you want to ask Rick Wright a question for me?" Lonegan said to Aron.  "Ask him whose sign he had for president on his front lawn this last election.  That will tell you something about the Republican Party in New Jersey... From what I understand, and the photos I see, it was Barack Obama's." 

The Obama sign, Wright said, was put there by his Democratic wife, Susan (he prefers that her last name not be used).  The two met when she worked across the hall from him at the Assembly Democrats' office, and she now works as a Deputy Attorney General. 

"My feeling is that if Steve Lonegan's campaign is built on spying on my house and not worrying about property taxes and spending, that's the reason why Steve Lonegan is not doing so well," Wright said.  "What Lonegan failed to mention was that when they took the picture, there was a McCain sign in the front lawn."

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie had to come out and directly address issues relating to the way he awarded federal monitoring contracts, according to three non-partisan political analysts.

The question, however, is whether Christie snuffed out growing media attention that has questioned his command of the issue that is supposed to be his strong suit: ethics.

Christie yesterday opened himself up to any question reporters had about allegations of cronyism and pay-to-play from his opponents and political commentators.  At issue was his appointment of David Kelley, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to a federal monitoring contract; $23,800 in donations to his campaign from the law firm Stern & Kilcullen, which he had earlier appointed to monitor the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and the one-and-a -half year old story about awarding of a federal monitoring contract with $27 to $52 million to his former boss, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"It wasn't going to go away.  He has to tackle them head-on because he can't be seen to be ignoring them," said Peter Woolley, a pollster and political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.  "And they're still not going to go away, because the campaign tactic book dictates that you always hit somebody in their strength.  So if his strength is integrity, or at least that's what the public's perception of his strength is, then the tactic book says that's where you have to tear him down."