U.S. Senate

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s attempt at humor – he told an ABC News reporter doing a story on lobbyists, corporations and labor unions spending $50 million at the Democratic National Convention that it’s his duty to check out their food and booze – has drawn the wrath of Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson. “Now it all makes sense. Lautenberg hasn’t gotten anything done as our US Senator because for the last 25 years, he’s believed his ‘duty’ was to be wined and dined by the special interests instead of creating jobs, lowering taxes, or tackling our dependence on foreign oil,” said Wilson.  “These kinds of statements are precisely why Senator Lautenberg is being sheltered away from the public view by his handlers.”  Click here to watch.

DENVER – As unlikely as it sounds, the former Mayor of Denver has raised a campaign issue in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race.

After praising Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-Cliffside Park) help in securing funding to build the Denver International Airport in the 1990s in a speech to the New Jersey delegation yesterday morning, former Mayor Wellington Webb joked that a wing of the facility should be named after him.

That brought a harsh response yesterday from former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, who called him “Colorado’s third Senator.” Zimmer has made his anti-pork credentials central to his Senate candidacy against Lautenberg.

Democrat Frank Lautenberg has a 50%-32% lead over Republican Dick Zimmer in the race for U.S. Senate, according to a Zogby International poll released today.  A Quinnipiac University released on August 12 has Lautenberg leading 48%-41%. 

The poll was conducted for Garden State Equality, a civil rights organization that advocates marriage equality and other gay rights issues.

A move by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg to repay his own campaign debts has drawn the ire of his opponent, former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer.

Lautenberg attorney Marc Erik Elias penned a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) last month arguing that, since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the “Millionaire’s Amendment,” a provision of the law that any personal loans over $250,000 not repaid before the election should be considered nonrefundable – meaning that Lautenberg would be unable to raise funds to repay his own debt after that period.

Lautenberg loaned himself $1.65 million during his June primary campaign against U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Republican Dick Zimmer within seven points of the four-term incumbent, Democrat Frank Lautenberg (48%-41%), but it seems that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has already written off the former three-term Congressman. In an interview with Dow Jones Newswire, Rebecca Fisher, a spokeswoman for the NRSC, said that Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu is their priority and “admitted the party had no other hopes of unseating an incumbent Democrat."

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, left, leads 48%-41% in his bid for a fifth term.: Getty Images Photo
U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg has a seven-point lead over former Republican U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, 48%-41%, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

More than half of New Jersey’s registered voters – 55% -- say the 84-year-old Lautenberg is too old to effectively serve another six years in the United States Senate.  39% say he is not too old.

- Senator Lautenberg Makes New Jerseyans Pay More in Their Tax Bills and at the Checkout Line -

Frank Lautenberg has hit the magic number: he’s at 51% in a new Rasmussen Reports poll released on Wednesday. That’s the first time in Lautenberg’s 26-year political career that he has hit the fifty percent mark before Labor Day. He leads Republican Dick Zimmer 51%-33%.

- Zimmer Canvassing Garden State; Connecting with Concerned Voters; Lautenberg Absent; Ducking and Dodging -

Despite a competitive and sometimes nasty primary fight, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg seems to have had little trouble uniting the Democratic Party behind his re-election campaign.  There are no real signs that party leaders who backed Rob Andrews for the nomination are denying any support to the four-term Senator, and a poll released today by Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey shows Democratic voters solidly behind the Lautenberg.  The Republican candidate, former Rep. Dick Zimmer, seems to be having a little trouble getting the GOP behind his candidacy after defeating conservative State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Ron Paul supporter Murray Sabrin in his primary.  The poll shows that Zimmer, with 64% of the GOP vote, has not yet closed the deal on his own party.