Former gubernatorial daughter Kate Whitman lost her race for Peapack-Gladstone council, according to the Star-Ledger, coming in third in a race for two seats.  

Whitman, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year and for the party nod for Somerset County freeholder before then, got 302 votes to Michael Seboria’s 357 and Katherine Hoews’ 361.

After losing a convention for Somerset County Freeholder in 2007 and a congressional primary in 2008, former first daughter Kate Whitman seems poised to launch a career in public office this year.  She has become a candidate for Peapack-Gladstone Borough Councilwoman, running on the organization line in a three-way primary.  Whitman and incumbent Michael Seboria will face Kathy Howes, a local Zoning Board member.  The borough is reliably Republican - John McCain won by twenty percentage points last year - and a GOP nomination is tantamount to victory.

A Republican pundit says the run for municipal office is a good move for the 31-year-old former political operative, who once served as Communications Director for the Republican Party of New Hampshire.  When she ran for Congress, one of the gripes against Whitman was that she hadn't held local office.  And while the relatively small size of Peapack-Gladstone (pop. 2,480) may not offer Whitman much of a base, it will enable her to network among the county's local elected officials.  She'll get more press than most municipal officials from a town that size normally do.

BERNARDS – The Somerset County Federation of Republican Women (SCFRW) on Thursday night at the Bernards Inn honored state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Red Bank) with their 17th Annual Millicent Fenwick Award for Outstanding Public Service.

A packed banquet hall included “sister Senator” Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan Twp.), Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough), past award recipients Assemblywoman Denise Coyle (R-Bernards) and Somerset County Freeholder Pat Walsh, Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio (who worked as a congressional aide for Fenwick), Somerset County Freeholder Jack M. Ciattarelli, Union County GOP Finance Chair Kelly Hatfield, and many others.

After considering running for a seat left vacant on the Somerset County Freeholder Board, Kate Whitman of Peapack-Gladstone today announced that she has decided not to screen for the position before the Republican Committee here, she wrote in a letter to supporters.

“While I was heartened by the level of support and encouragement that I was receiving, this is simply not the right time for me personally and professionally,” said Whitman, the daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, who placed second behind Leonard Lance in a run for Congress in the 7th District last year and screened unsuccessfully for freeholder in 2007. 

Attorney and Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen says he'll seek the Republican nomination for an open seat on the Somerset County Freeholder Board.  

“I came to the decision on Monday and made some calls yesterday,” said Roughneen, who subsequently submitted a letter to the municipal party chairs and to Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio.

“It would be a privilege to serve the people,” said the candidate, who is one of three Roughneen brothers who have either served or are serving in Iraq. 

Roughneen, a Watchung resident, is the first of last year’s unsuccessful 7th Congressional District GOP candidates to formally submit a letter of interest to party members. 

FRANKLIN - Kate Whitman, Republican Party municipal chair from Peapack-Gladstone and a veteran of last year's Republican Primary in the 7th Congressional District, is mulling a bid for Somerset County Freeholder, she told PolitickerNJ.com tonight at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Imperia Banquet Hall. 

Whitman, who last year ran a hard-charging campaign in losing to eventual general election winner U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton), would vie to replace retiring Freeholder Director Rick Fontana of Bridgewater Township.

But she hasn't yet discussed the issue with her husband, and she will do that before either talking to Chairman Dale Florio or deciding against another run.

"It would mean three screenings in three years," said Whitman, who had tried to land a freeholder seat in 2007 when Denise Coyle moved up to run successfully for the Assembly.

 FLEMINGTON – The Stender supporters started lining up on the sidewalk in front of the old Hunterdon County Courthouse moments before state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) arrived with a contingent of women for Lance, including state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington), and his wife.

Some bitter back and forth ensued between the Stender and Lance women on the state senator’s home turf of this 7th Congressional District, where Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) and Lance are in a toss-up battle to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-New Providence).

For a few minutes it looked as though the women here thought they could settle things on their own, in Flemington’s version of “Street Fight.”

GREEN BROOK -- The idea has dogged State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) since he started his congressional campaign in the 7th District: that he's well respected as a policy wonk, but doesn't have the political wherewithal to run a federal race in a fiercely competitive district.

Lance's critics found evidence of that claim when they saw that he had only $80,000 cash on hand at the end of the last reporting period to rival Linda Stender's (D-Fanwood) $1.2 million.

Today, Lance acknowledged that some of his supporters were taken aback by the anemic war chest, but noted that he's raised a lot of money since the June 30th filing deadline - which occurred just 26 days after Lance blew his war chest against a well-funded primary campaign by Kate Whitman and five other candidates.

Lance said that he doesn't know how much he's raised since then, but that he's certain it's "more than $100,000."  He also has six fundraisers scheduled over the coming months, and will stay home to campaign and raise money during the Republican National Convention in September.

Following her loss to state Sen. Leonard Lance last week in the 7thKate Whitman Congressional District GOP primary, Kate Whitman reached out to the winner and offered her help.

Today, Lance spokesman Amanda Woloshen confirmed that his campaign has made Whitman a member of its finance committee.

"She'll be an important member of our team," Woloshen said of the daughter of former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

Whitman's congressional campaign raised more money than any of her primary opponents.

FLEMINGTON -- Facing a string of recent U.S. House special election wins for Democrats in Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi and uncomfortable reminders of nearly losing New Jersey's 7th Congressional District in 2006, Republicans gathered at state Sen. Leonard Lance's primary election night victory party on Tuesday said they were confident that the GOP would be able to hold on to the seat of retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson in November.

"Demographics are destiny," state Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington) told PolitickerNJ.com at the American Legion hall in Flemington, in the heart of Lance's Hunterdon County base. Doherty said Democrat Linda Stender would have a difficult job capturing the reliably Republican congressional district, despite Stender's near defeat of Ferguson two years ago. The 7th district "was really drawn as a Republican district."