U.S. Senate

Jim McQueeny, a lobbyist who hosts News 12 New Jersey’s Power & Politics, was one of the organizers of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s now controversial plan to buy 40 premium seats to a Bruce Springsteen concert for $108 and resell them to campaign contributors for $1,500. Lautenberg cancelled the fundraiser yesterday after The Record broke a story detailing the event, which involved a deal with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, a state agency, to obtain concert tickets set aside for VIP’s and political insiders. McQueeny, who served on Lautenberg’s staff in the 1980’s, worked on the event with Dan Katz, the Senator’s Chief of Staff, and Samantha Maltzman, the campaign finance director.

ZIMMER RESPONDS TO SENATOR LAUTENBERG’S CANCELLATION OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FUNDRAISER

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.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has cancelled a fundraiser at a Bruce Springsteen concert on Sunday evening after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority decided not to seek his campaign premium seats at face value, according to a report from The Record’s Charles Stile.  Lautenberg had asked for a block of 40 tickets the sports authority reserves from VIP’s and political insiders, which he planned to but for $108 each and resell them to donors for $1,500 per ticket. 

Frank Lautenberg wants to buy 40 premium seats for Bruce Springsteen's concert for $108/EA and sell them to donors for $1,500/EA: Getty ImagesCalling a published report that Democrat Frank Lautenberg used political connections to buy 40 premium tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert for $108 and resell them to campaign donors for $1,500 “an outrage”, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer wants the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to give him forty equivalent seats to distribute to “real Springsteen fans at face value, rather than fat cat political contributors.”

--Senator Supported Flawed Legislation; Then Did Nothing As Mortgage Crisis Loomed--

LINDEN, NJ -- At a press conference today in front of a vacant house in Linden, U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer criticized Frank Lautenberg for his failure to protect New Jersey taxpayers from the current mortgage crisis. 

Dick Zimmer has some catching up to do.

Across the board, fundraising figures for New Jersey’s Republican candidates for federal office look bleak, and Zimmer’s are no exception: he has about $411,000 cash on hand to go up against Frank Lautenberg, who has $1.3 million after a primary fight with Rep. Rob Andrews.

Already, Zimmer has put $300,000 of his own money into the race. After a press conference today on an unrelated topic, Zimmer wouldn’t say whether he plans to put any more of his own money in.

“I have no comment on that,” Zimmer said. “What I have said is that I can’t self-fund.”

Lautenberg can, however.

Standing in front of a vacant, foreclosed house in Linden that was in possession of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer blamed incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg for complicity in allowing the mortgage crisis to get this far.

The troubled Fannie Mae, he said, a “hybrid” mortgage company --- part private and part government owned -- suffered from lack of regulation and oversight.

Zimmer said that he was one of a handful of Congressman who opposed a 1992 bill that set up the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight because he saw the potential of a bailout crisis under the law’s weak oversight powers. The lax regulation allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to engage in risky business practices, he said.

Lawrenceville, NJ - Today the Zimmer for Senate campaign launched a new web ad which highlights how Senator Frank Lautenberg’s inability to effectively lead in Washington has resulted in New Jersey coming in dead last among all 50 states on the rate of return it receives from its federal tax dollars.

 -- Time And Again New Jersey's Senior Senator Has Voted To Deny Funds For Our Soldiers Fighting In Iraq --

Lawrenceville, NJ - U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer today pointed out the discrepancies between Senator Frank Lautenberg's support for the Stop Loss Compensation Act and his record of voting against funding U.S. combat troops during a time of war.