Thomas Roughneen

At the end of this GOP convention cycle - a process that has been mostly public agony for those gubernatorial candidates not named Chris Christie - the Somerset County Republican Committee will back the former U.S. Attorney.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan showed he has some legs left here as the candidates head beyond the county committee processes (with the sole convention of Hunterdon remaining next Tuesday) on their way to connect with voters prior to the June Primary. 

But Christie still dusted him.

At the organization's convention in Bridgewater tonight, Christie received 204 votes, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan received 56 votes, Assemblyman Richard Merkt got 28, Franklin Mayor Brian D. Levine 10, and inventor David Brown 1.

In a contested freeholder race, the committee will go to a second ballot vote to decide between Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione.

Either Carpenter or Scaglione will run with incumbent Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli. 

Former prosecutor Thomas Roughneen is out.

Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione says he'll seek the Republican nomination for Somerset County Freeholder.

BRIDGEWATER – Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione earlier today talked to Dale Florio and notified the Somerset County Republican chair of his intentions to pursue a seat on the Freeholder Board.

“I’m a 12-year council veteran and I’m in the race,” Scaglione told PolitickerNJ.com tonight, at a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Bridgewater Republican Committee, where Scaglione and his fellow competitors made their respective cases.

Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire, Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter and former prosecutor Thomas Roughneen are also vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana.

“The Democrats have made such a mess of the state budget, that our budgets are really hurting,” said Caliguire, who pledged if elected to examine greater shared and regional services.

Kate Whitman, the daughter of former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, says she won't seek the Republican nomination for Somerset County Freeholder in 2009.

After considering running for a seat left vacant on the Somerset County Freeholder Board, Kate Whitman of Peapack-Gladstone today announced that she has decided not to screen for the position before the Republican Committee here, she wrote in a letter to supporters.

“While I was heartened by the level of support and encouragement that I was receiving, this is simply not the right time for me personally and professionally,” said Whitman, the daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, who placed second behind Leonard Lance in a run for Congress in the 7th District last year and screened unsuccessfully for freeholder in 2007. 

Mark Caliguire

In a letter he sent today to Somerset County Republican Committee members, second-term Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire announced he intends to seek their support to replace retiring Freeholder Rick Fontana.

“The current financial crisis requires leaders with innovative solutions that lower taxes.  I’ve been on the front line of the effort to do that in Montgomery and I’m eager to add my energy, ideas and business experience to the considerable talents already assembled on our Freeholder Board,” said Caliguire, a former New Jersey deputy attorney general who owns a privately held specialty paper company with 100 employees.   

“In Montgomery, I implemented a groundbreaking program that incentivizes municipal employees to develop and present ideas that produce real and recurring savings,” he added.

Thomas Roughneen

Attorney and Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen says he'll seek the Republican nomination for an open seat on the Somerset County Freeholder Board.  

“I came to the decision on Monday and made some calls yesterday,” said Roughneen, who subsequently submitted a letter to the municipal party chairs and to Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio.

“It would be a privilege to serve the people,” said the candidate, who is one of three Roughneen brothers who have either served or are serving in Iraq. 

Roughneen, a Watchung resident, is the first of last year’s unsuccessful 7th Congressional District GOP candidates to formally submit a letter of interest to party members. 

Kate Whitman

FRANKLIN - Kate Whitman, Republican Party municipal chair from Peapack-Gladstone and a veteran of last year's Republican Primary in the 7th Congressional District, is mulling a bid for Somerset County Freeholder, she told PolitickerNJ.com tonight at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Imperia Banquet Hall. 

Whitman, who last year ran a hard-charging campaign in losing to eventual general election winner U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), would vie to replace retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana of Bridgewater Township.

But she hasn't yet discussed the issue with her husband, and she will do that before either talking to Chairman Dale Florio or deciding against another run.

"It would mean three screenings in three years," said Whitman, who had tried to land a freeholder seat in 2007 when Denise Coyle moved up to run successfully for the Assembly.

Thomas Roughneen in GOP HQ Tuesday: Politicker photo 

SOMERVILLE - Led by Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen, Republicans kicked off a concentrated nightly phone-banking effort here today on behalf of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Every night for 18 nights we will have people from a different town in Somerset County in here making calls for Sen. McCain, supplemented by women making targeted calls on Wednesdays and veterans calling people on Tuesdays," said Roughneen, who serves as the McCain campaign’s coordinator for Somerset County.

Roughneen, a Watchung lawyer who ran for Congress unsuccessfully in the 7th District earlier this year, is a longtime McCain supporter.

Clockwise from lower left: Leonard Lance, AD Amar, Martin Marks, Darren Young, Kelly Hatfield, Thomas Roughneen, Kate Whitman. 

MOUNTAINSIDE - The seven Republican candidates for Congress in the 7th District debated at Town Hall here on Thursday night in a one-hour forum moderated by Fred Rossi of the Westfield Leader and Scotch Plains Fanwood Times.

As expected, most of the criticism flew in the direction of state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), who in turn directed his ire at the $10 trillion national debt.

Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen of Watchung attacked Lance’s environmental advocacy, while Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks and businesswoman Kate Whitman of Peapack-Gladstone blasted him for not being a more effective fighter in state government for property tax relief.

MOUNTAINSIDE - Martin Marks, mayor of Scotch Plains for the past nine years and a candidate for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, spent mush of the evening targeting presumed front-runner state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).

"I am unafraid to stand up to members of my own party when they don't act, when they should have," he said.

But when Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen and busineswoman Kate Whitman went after Marks on taxes, the mayor chastised both of them.

MOUNTAINSIDE - Kelly Hatfield gets the crowd in Town Hall here toFormer Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield clap for the "great Republican farm team we have," while Martin Marks takes verbal slaps at Kate Whitman and Thomas Roughneen and praises Hatfield.

"You two are the probably the youngest people on this dais," Marks tells Whitman and Roughneen, seated to his right and left.

"Why don’t you walk a mile in our shoes?" he asks, referring them to local elected officials.