Virginia Haines

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Former NFL star Jon Runyan is a possible candidate for Congress against Jon Adler next year.

Now that the gubernatorial election is over, Republicans in Burlington, Ocean and Camden Counties are starting to focus on recruiting someone to take on freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) next year. 

There is a deep bench of potential candidates, but some Republicans have one in mind who could clear the field: Philadelphia Eagles legend Jon Runyan, a Mount Laurel resident.

Sources tell PolitickerNJ.com that Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego (R-Evesham) - who knows Runyan because their children attend school together - has talked to him about running.  Runyan, who is not currently active in the NFL but has not retired, has not ruled out a run.  It is unclear, however, how serious the prospect is.

Reached for comment by PolitickerNJ.com, Addiego said "I don't think I'm at liberty to discuss that right now."

The leading contender of the more conventional candidates to take on Adler is state Sen. Christopher Connors (R-Lacey Twp.).  A little further down the shortlist is Assemblyman Scott Rudder (R-Medford), Assemblyman Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor), Toms River Councilman Moe Hill and former Assemblywoman Virginia "Ginny" Haines.  One source said Lumberton Committeeman Patrick Delany has expressed interest.

DiAnne Gove, who is expected to replace Daniel Van Pelt in the ninth district State Assembly seat, would become the sixth woman to represent Ocean County in the Legislature, and the first since Virginia Haines left in 1994.  Under the current State Constitution, Ocean County has elected 22 men and 4 women. 

The first Assemblywoman from Ocean County was Lila Thompson, who was elected in 1923 and re-elected in 1924.  Thompson gave up her Assembly seat in 1925 to run for the State Senate, challenging incumbent Thomas Mathis in the Republican primary.  Mathis was one of the most venerable politicians in Ocean County history.  Known as Cap'n Tom because he commanded J. Pierpont Morgan's America's Cup yacht for eleven years,

Starting his career as a Tuckerton Councilman, Mathis won a special election for an unexpired term in the State Senate in 1910.  He lost re-election in the 1911 primary, won his seat back in 1913, and lost it again in the 1915 primary.  Mathis returned to the Senate in 1923 and became Chairman of the Joint Appropriations Committee.

Thompson's campaign against Mathis was dominated by a process story: the Assemblywoman's husband, a state employee, was sent to Massachusetts for several weeks during the primary to conduct a survey of correctional institutions there.  The problem for Thompson was that at night, her husband was her driver; in those days, women did not drive alone at night, especially in a county that was then sparsely populated and without major roads.

Thompson decided to drive alone anyway, and accused the Ocean County Republican organization of engineering her husband's exile out of state.  Her husband, according to local lore, was offered a deal to return to New Jersey if he would sign a document exonerating two Department of Institutions and Agencies employees for their role in the exile.  He refused, and after several newspaper editorials slammed the GOP organization, he came home.

A Republican National Committee resolution rebranding Democrats as the "Democrat Socialist Party" has the support of at least one of New Jersey's RNC members.

The RNC will meet in a special session to consider the resolution next week, and David Norcross, who has been New Jersey's Republican National Committeeman since 1988, said that he will "more than likely" vote for it.

GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson is one of two New Jersey votes for Republican National Chairman candidate Saul Anuzis.

In the old days, New Jersey politicians used to cut deals with candidates for national party office, trading votes for commitments of campaign dollars.  But that kind of thing doesn’t happen here anymore.   A pair of reformers, GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson and Republican National Committeewoman Virginia Haines, have put their principles first and endorsed a candidate for Republican National Chairman without making national party funds for the gubernatorial and State Assembly races a condition of their support.   Wilson and Haines are supporting Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP Chairman in the January 30 election.  The two New Jerseyans were early Anuzis backers, and according to sources, offered their votes without the encumbrances of any backroom deals. 

N.J. GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson is backing Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP State Chairman, for Republican National Chairman.

Michigan Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis announced the suport of five state GOP chairs this week, including New Jersey's Tom Wilson, in his bid for Republican National Chairman.  The incumbent, Mike Duncan, has not yet said if he will seek re-election to a second term.  Other candidates include: former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, White House OMB Director Jim Nussle, a former Iowa Congressman; Florida GOP State Chairman Jim Greer; and Chip Saltsman, who managed Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign

Joining Wilson in his support of Anuzis are the Republican State Chairmen from Connecticut, Nebraska, Nevada and the Virgin Islands.

There is considerable speculation in Ocean County that Andrew Ciesla, a six-term Republican State Senator from Brick, will not seek re-election in 2011 – and some GOP sources say they wouldn’t be surprised if Ciesla stepped down before the expiration of his current term.  Apparently Ciesla, who turns 55 next week, is burnt out after nearly seventeen years in the Senate.

David Norcross was re-elected to a sixth four-year term as the Republican National Committeeman from New Jersey: Getty Images Photo
The GOP State Committee today voted to re-elect David Norcross and Virginia Haines to the Republican National Committee. They were unopposed. Norcross, a former GOP State Chairman and the 1976 U.S. Senate candidate, has served as a National Committeeman since 1988. Haines, who served as an Assemblywoman and state Lottery Director, won the National Committeewoman seat in 2004, defeating longtime incumbent Judith Stanley.

Ocean County Republicans will hold a screening committee meeting on Saturday morning to meet the candidates for Jim Saxton’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In Ocean County, where GOP Chairman George Gilmore rules firmly, an endorsement from the screening committee is almost tantamount to a victory at the open county GOP convention – which will be held on Monday night.

The likely Burlington County candidate, Medford Deputy Mayor and Lockheed Martin Vice President Christopher Myers, plans to screen in Ocean – sources say that former GOP State Chairman David Norcross will not appear before the screening committee, a strong indication that he has decided not to run.  Insiders

The Press of Atlantic City reported today that Ocean County Freeholder Gerry Little will not be a candidate for the GOP nomination for Congress in the third district.  Two other Freeholders, Joseph Vicari and John Kelly, are still considered possible candidates as Ocean County Republicans prepare to pick a candidate this month.  Also in the mix for the Ocean endorsement: Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Republican National Committeewoman Virginia Haines, a former Assemblywoman and state Lottery Director.