Tom Wilson

Fred Hall, who has spent the last decade working on New Jersey GOP campaigns, is the new Communications Director for embattled Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. Hall has his work cut out for him: Fletcher's approval ratings (38%-54%) have been McGreeveyish lately amidst a series of scandals that led to the Governor issuing pardons to nine members of his administration. Hall managed campaigns for State Senator Peter Inverso and congressional candidate Buster Soaries, and most recently worked on John Murphy's campaign for Governor. He once worked for The Strategy Group, the lobbying firm formerly headed by GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson. Hall is Fletcher's fifth Communications Director since the Governor took office in January 2004.

Former Evesham Councilwoman Jamie Montgomery is not contesting allegations that she moved out of town before her September 19th resignation, paving the way for a November special election for her Council seat. Evesham has non-partisan May elections, even though both political parties tend to play heavily in this key Burlington County municipality. A Democrat victory in November would place two Democrats on the five member Council, along with a Republican who ran with the successful Democratic-backed ticket in May 2005.

Montgomery, whose day job is as a prominent Republican fundraiser (she works with the wife of GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson), denied that her resignation was timed to avoid a special election until next May. Montgomery sold her home in June and said that she was staying with her mother until her September wedding to a local police officer. The newlyweds now live in Gloucester County. Montgomery has retained John Eastlack, a well-known South Jersey criminal defense attorney, and his letter is carefully worded so as not to admit the vacancy occurred at the time she sold her home. According to one attorney, there is likely less harm if she simply stayed in office an extra week with no official business being conducted than an extra three months where she voted on pressing issues in the meantime. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ATTORNEY LETTER.

Day 2: Corzine's Silence on Dem Congressmen Who Put Politics First
Corzine Still Refuses to Condemn Menendez, Pallone, and Andrews for Skipping Vote on Katrina Aid to Campaign for Him

The lede for this paragraph was a choice between "if a tree falls in the woods" and "Johnny, We hardly knew 'ye": political newcomers Jonathan Mangel and Isabelita "Lita" Abele withdrew as a Republican candidate for Gloucester County Freeholder today. Mangel says he dropped out "due to a sudden and unexpected increase in personal and business obligations," but Abele blamed her exit on the newly-elected Republican County Chairwoman, Loren Oglesby. Mangel says he continues "to support [former Clayton Councilman] Phil Tartaglione, who even during his recent health crisis, has worked tirelessly on the campaign. Mr. Tartaglione is a man of high morals, ethics and values and has great ideas for the people of Gloucester County." The Gloucester GOP organization, who must now hold a special convention to replace Mangel on the ballot, has been sharply divided since the election of a new County Chair last June. In Cherry Hill, Richard Ambosino, a State Street lobbyist (he's with GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson's old firm) who worked for the Republican State Committee and the Whitman for Governor campaign, dropped out of the race for the Cherry Hill Township Council. 27-year-old Evesham Councilwoman Jamie Montgomery resigned because she is moving out of town. Montgomery, a political fundraiser at a GOP firm headed by Wilson's wife, says she didn't know the timing of her resignation just after yesterday's 4PM deadline, allows the GOP to fill her seat without holding a special election until 2006.

Labor Day marks the unofficial kick off of the campaign season and with it comes an increase in activity by the candidates. They become more visible in person and on the air, get more serious about the issues, and increase the attacks on their opponents. This is what's happening in the New Jersey governor's race, with one important qualification. Jon Corzine is still talking more about the issues, and in more detail, than Republican Doug Forrester. Forrester needs to change that if he wants to convince voters that he has what it takes to be governor and that New Jersey needs to prevent another Democrat from assuming the state's top spot.