Tom Wilson

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg sought to end a brewing political firestorm today cancelling a campaign fundraiser at Bruce Springsteen’s Giant Stadium concert on Friday – just one day after The Record broke the story that the Senator’s re-election campaign had cut a deal with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to buy forty premium tickets held back by the state agency for VIP’s and political insiders for $108 per ticket and reselling them to donors at $1,500 each.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) 

Republican State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson today joined the GOP chorus demanding that Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) return contributions from U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) following publication of a New York Times story this week detailing sweetheart deals the congressman received on four Harlem apartments.

"Linda Stender has filled her campaign coffers with over $20,000 in contributions from Charlie Rangel and plans to accept even more as a recipient of his annual birthday fund-raiser at New York’s swank Tavern on the Green restaurant scheduled for August 6th," Wilson said.

"Stender likes to tell everyone how she's not a typical politician and that she will stand up to Washington corruption but unless she returns the $21,000 from Rangel and his political action committee that's fueling her campaign and remove her name for his up coming fund-raiser, she just proves that she is another typical double-talking politician that's incapable of changing Washington," added the GOP chairman.

Republicans last week honored Larry Pepper for his 33 years of service as chair of the Cumberland County GOP.

Marking the occasion of his retirement as chairman, over 400 of Pepper’s friends, family and elected officials throughout the state attended a gala at the Centerton Country Club on June 30.

Guests included U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2), New Jersey State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson, state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr., Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, and former state Senator and personal friend James R. Hurley.

LoBiondo and new county Chairman Douglas Sorantino awarded Pepper with a plaque honoring him for his "unprecedented" service.

Former Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz has landed as the Republican State Committee’s new finance chairman.

Ortiz, who was ousted two weeks ago as the Republican chairman in Bergen County, wrote an email to his friends and supporters announcing the news, and said that he would make Bergen County one of his fundraising priorities.

“As the largest county with the largest number of registered Republicans in the state, Bergen is crucial not only to reinvigorating the GOP from the grassroots up and identifying future candidates, but is also a crucial must-win county in any statewide campaign effort,” he wrote. “As such, Bergen will remain a key concern for me — as it should for every Republican around the state.”

Claiming to have nailed down the likely identity of someone who pretended to be him in email correspondence at the height of the Republican Primary, State GOP Chairman Tom Wilson today sent out a message to Republicans fingering a key supporter of Senate candidate Murray Sabrin.

"Efforts to trace the source of the emails were hampered by the inability of the Internet service providers to provide the details necessary," Wilson told Republicans in his email message sent today.

"However, the account was re-opened at some later point and was successfully traced to the former residence of Patrick Donohue, who owns Max Consulting in New York City," Wilson said of the early April transmissions.

Max Consulting is listed on Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports as having received more than $123,000 from the underdog campaign of Sabrin, who confirmed Donohue was the campaign’s fund-raiser.

If the GOP’s long march of self-combusting U.S. Senate candidates failed to inspire a lot of rank and file Republicans, the brief flirtation Princeton businessman John Crowley had with a June Senate primary run held for some the more lasting promise of an "it" factor party champion.

The lineaments of the Crowley narrative were indeed compelling for Republicans.

Son of a cop who died in the line of duty; Naval Intelligence officer; Successful CEO; Young and devoted father who founded a biotech business to create a disease cure to save his children; Hollywood movie subject with a movie apparently due out next year, according to Republican sources.

Crowley’s would-be entry into the race had come under the radar, as Andy Unanue prepared for his return to New Jersey from the ski slopes of Colorado intent on claiming his party’s in absentia nomination.

Speculation about who would run for lieutenant governor on a ticketGOP State Chair Tom Wilson with potential GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie amounts to a parlor room game, according to State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson.

U.S. Attorney Christie has not said publicly that he intends to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine in 2009, but the lawman who has a sterling record cracking down on public corruption remains the party’s superstar.

Gender. Geography. Ethnicity. All of these factors come into play when Republicans consider who could strongly stand with Christie as a candidate for lieutenant governor.

But ultimately, said Wilson, "If Chris is the nominee, his running mate for lieutenant governor has to be someone who shares his priorities and his sense of ethics."

After being defeated in his reelection bid for Bergen County Republican Chairman, sources say that Rob Ortiz is likely to be the Republican State Committee’s next finance chairman.

Ortiz, an attorney from Ridgewood, raised about $200,000 for the Bergen County Republican Party, helping it emerge from $40,000 in debt. But his support for the candidacy of his friend and client Andy Unanue, along with several other missteps, cost him that job.

State Sen. Bill Baroni will chair the New Jersey Delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis
Republicans tonight elected State Sen. Bill Baroni to serve as Chairman of the New Jersey Delegation to the Republican National Convention. Baroni is the Chairman of John McCain’s New Jersey campaign. Atlantic County GOP Chairman Keith Davis and Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose were named to the Platform Committee.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Gov. Jon Corzine with upside-down approval numbers: Getty Images Photo
Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan said that the Governor’s 38% approval rating in the Quinnipiac poll released today was “not unexpected.”

Corzine is undertaking some tough but necessary reforms in the state budget, Cryan said.

“The Governor has been dealing with the economic problems in the state. He’s not doling money out. We think that people ultimately are going to respect what we’re doing and it will put us in a positive position next year,” he said.

Nor was Cryan surprised by that the email controversy between Gov. Corzine and union leader Carla Katz, an ex-girlfriend, hasn’t stoked the public fury – despite GOP Chairman Tom Wilson’s push to make the emails public.