Tom Roughneen

Roughneen, above, endorses Scaglione

BRIDGEWATER - It is Election Day in Somerville, where members of the Somerset County Republican Committee have less than an hour to record their votes for either Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter or Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione.

Seeking the support of their party to run on the line here with incumbent Republican Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli, Scaglione and Carpenter deadlocked with an equal number of votes at last Thursday’s Somerset County Republican Convention at the Elk’s Lodge.

The pair beat former prosecutor Thomas Roughneen, who endorsed Scaglione on Friday. Carpenter runs with the support of Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio.

Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter makes his pitch Tuesday night.

NORTH PLAINFIELD - It’s down to three men in the contest to succeed Somerset County Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, who sat in the audience at a local Republican Party screening here last night and observed the unfolding low-key drama.

On April 2nd, the full Somerset County Republican Committee will assess Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter, former prosecutor Tom Roughneen of Watchung, and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione and decide who to back for the party nomination. Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire dropped out of the race earlier this week.

Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire

BRIDGEWATER - Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire has dropped his freeholder bid, according to Somerset County GOP sources.

Caliguire had hoped to secure his party's backing to run for a seat vacated by retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana, but he told Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio tonight that he does not intend to stay in the contest. 

That leaves the following candidates to screen before the GOP County Committee on April 2: Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter, former prosecutor Tom Roughneen, and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione. 

Victor Sordillo

Warren Deputy Mayor Victor Sordillo this afternoon said he would not enter the GOP race for Somerset County Freeholder, denying claims by sources that he was poised to enter the contest.

Sordillo, an unsuccessful candidate for freeholder in 2007, who failed last year in his 7th District Congressional bid, said he won't run this year. 

That leaves the following candidates, who will screen before the GOP County Committee on April 2 for a seat being vacated by Freeholder Director Rick Fontant: Bernards Committeeman John Carpenter, Montgomery Township Committeeman Mark Caliguire, former prosecutor Tom Roughneen, and Bridgewater Council President Pat Scaglione. 

Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) in Summit on Friday.: Politicker photoSUMMIT - Coming off a train station rally here for presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer and state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) convened a town hall meeting at the high school, where they brandished their fiscally conservative credentials in a room of about 50 voters.

Now in a race with Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) to represent the 7th Congressional District, Lance the veteran legislator underscored his tenacity fighting bloated government, including the administration of disgraced former Gov. Jim McGreevey.Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer addresses voters in the Summit High School Library as GOP organizer Kelly Hatfield looks on: Politicker photo

"I am the ‘Lance’ of Lance versus McGreevey," the senator said of his suit against the former administration to curb borrowing to balance the state budget.

The New Jersey Supreme Court in 2004 allowed McGreevey to borrow $1.9 billion, or nearly 7 percent of what was then a $28 billion budget, but forbade the governor from borrowing in the future.

Talking to Summit voters Friday evening in the high school library, Lance took pride too in noting how his proposed Constitutional amendment to ban borrowing without voter approval will appear on the Nov. 4th ballot.

Can’t wait until tomorrow night to see who wins the major U.S. Senate and Congressional primary contests?

Below are some predictions from pollsters, political science professors and observers who track Garden State politics.

The observers were unanimous in their predictions for the Democratic Senate primary, foreseeing a relatively easy victory for incumbent Frank Lautenberg. On the Republican end, the outlook was not so clear cut, with observers split between state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and former Rep. Dick Zimmer. Ramapo College Finance Professor Murray Sabrin will have the support of presidential candidate Ron Paul’s fans, and could take some conservative voters away from Pennacchio.

In the heated Republican primary in the 7th congressional district, state Sen. Leonard Lance is the clear favorite. The 3rd district congressional primary, however, is a toss-up. In what has been perhaps the nastiest race of the election cycle, it was tough decide who had the edge between Medford Mayor Chris Myers and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly.

These races will likely be determined by a very small number of voters. Even the most optimistic of outlooks puts voter turnout at approximately 30%, and most say they expect significantly less than that.

Tom Roughneen became the first ccongressional andidate in NJ's 7th district to declare his support of the Fair Tax.

Conservative, constitutional approach vs. liberal views

Ideologically P. Kelly Hatfield isn't much different from her two most high profile opponents in the 7th Congressional District's Republican primary.

Like state Sen. Leonard Lance and former first-daughter Kate Whitman, Kelly considers herself conservative, but with moderate stances on social issues like abortion (all three are pro-choice, with exceptions).

It can be hard to stick out in a field of seven candidates when she doesn't have a 17-year record as a highly visible member of the state legislature, like Lance, or a political lineage going back 100 years, like Whitman. Nor has Hatfield staked a place out well to the right of her opponents, as Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks.

State Sen. Leonard Lance is the front-runner in his bid for the GOP nomination for Congress in the 7th district
Leonard Lance doesn’t like to use the F-word, but some pundits say it applies to him in his bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district.

“I never use the word ‘frontrunner’,” said Lance, a veteran State Senator from Hunterdon County. “I think it’s a dangerous word, and I campaign as vigorously as I can.”

While Kate Whitman, the daughter of former Gov.Christine Todd Whitman, has raised the most money in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Mike Ferguson, Lance appears to have raised enough to assuage doubts about his fundraising prowess. And he has secured the organization lines in two counties where 67% of Republican primary voters live.

As of the end of last month, Lance had raised $294,130 – which includes a $100,000 personal loan -- and has $255,654 on hand for the primary. Whitman has taken in $444,433 and has $307,260 on hand, although about $50,000 of that is from maxed out donations and must be set aside for the general election.