TRENTON - Gov. Chris Christie's nominee to run the state Department of Education, Bret Schundler sits in front of a microphone in front of the Assembly Education Committee and hears Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) tell him she looks forward to working with him.

A walking red flag school choice advocate to those harder nosed defenders of public school education, Schundler appears to have an early friend in Watson Coleman.

"I very much support the concept of public choice," the veteran assemblywoman tells the former mayor of Jersey City.

Schundler affirms.

It's an exchange that reflects what is to come: a showering of bipartisan praise on the controverisal nominee, with Democrats eager to outdo the GOP in oratorically embracing Schundler.

The discussion hinges mostly at this point on platitudes buoyed by various combinations of buzzwords: schools are the future; children are the future; children in good schools are the future.

Now Assemblyman Brian Rumpf throws Schundler a question about schools consolidation and the nominee straightens.

emblyman Brian Rumpf (D-Little Egg Harbor) has never met Jon Runyan, but he said today that there is “some potential” that Ocean County Republicans could endorse the  former Eagles tackle to run against U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill).

“I see that as having some potential if Jon Runyan is able to express himself in such a way to demonstrate that he is the best candidate,” said Rumpf.

Runyan, who lives in Burlington County and has the all-but-official support of its Republican organization, will screen with Ocean County Republicans later this month, along with four other potential candidates from Ocean County, including Toms River Committeeman Maurice "Mo" Hill.

Runyan’s early entrance into the race in November – pushed by the upper echelon of Burlington County Republicans – turned off Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore.  But Runyan has kept a low-profile since returning from San Diego after finishing his football career with the Chargers, making no public appearances and raising no money.

Republicans received 52% of the total votes cast for State Assembly candidates in 2009, but won just 41% of the seats in a chamber where Democrats hold a 47-33 majority.  A total of 2,181,345 were cast for GOP Assembly candidates, compared to 2,001,772 (48%) for Democratic candidates.  Legislative candidates from both parties ran about a million votes ahead of their gubernatorial candidates.

This will help validate Republican claims that the 2001 redistricting plan benefitted Democrats; it also illustrates how much growth there has been in Republican areas of the state.

Among Assembly candidates, the top vote getter in the state was Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor) who received 54,311 votes in his Ocean County-based ninth district. Second was his running mate, DiAnne Gove (R-Long Beach), who won 52,667 votes.  As a matter of comparison, that is about two and a half times the number of votes cast for Democrats Grace Spencer (D-Newark) and Albert Coutinho (D-Newark) in District 29, the most Democratic in the state.

Indeed, the top fifteen Assembly vote getters statewide are all Republicans:

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 Maurice "Mo" Hill and former Assemblywoman Virginia "Ginny" Haines.  One source said Lumberton Committeeman Patrick Delany has expressed interest.

The Courier News is recommending the election of two Republicans seeking to unseat incumbents Linda Stender and Gerald Green in the 22nd district Assembly race.  The endorsement went to former Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks and first-time candidate Bo Vastine.

The Press of Atlantic City and the Asbury Park Press have endorsed Republicans Brian Rumpf and DiAnne Gove for State Assembly in District 9.  Rumpf is seeking his third term and Gove won a special election following the arrest and resignation of Daniel Van Pelt and his waiting to be sworn in. 

The Asbury Park Press is backing the re-election of freshman GOP incumbents Mary Pat Angelini and David Rible for State Assembly.

Now that state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) is no longer in the running for lieutenant governor, she's a top prospect to run against freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) next year - at least among Burlington County Republicans.

"The organization would whole-heartedly support Diane Allen if she decided to run for Congress," said Burlington County GOP Chairman Bill Layton.

Allen, a moderate Republican who consistently wins reelection easily in a district with a two-to-one Democratic registration advantage, has fought bitterly over the years with former chairman Glenn Paulsen and more recently Layton, his close ally.  The party divide even sunk her fledgling bid for the House in late 2007, with the Paulsen/Layton faction instead recruiting Lockheed Martin executive Chris Myers, who became the nominee.

"Now is not the time in my life that I feel prepared to again fight a Democrat opponent as well as a rogue faction of the Burlington County Republican Party simultaneously," Allen said when she announced in late 2007 that she would not seek the open House seat>

But Layton says he's intent on letting bygones be bygones.

"In politics, sometimes you have your differences, but you put them aside and try to do the best thing for the party," he said.

Myers, who lost narrowly to Adler in 2008, may be in line for a state Senate seat if state Sen. Phil Haines (R-Springfield) is appointed to a Superior Court judgeship.  He would likely have a lot of support if he decided to run for Congress again, but he is not expected to.

Allen remains non-committal about running, but she leaves the possibility open.

"It is kind of early, and truthfully it's just nothing I've given any thought to," she said.

Allen said that her decision will depend on whether Adler does a good job addressing the district's issues.

With news that freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) has raised more money than any other incumbent in a potentially competitive 2010 race during the first quarter of 2009, it is worth noting that Republicans still don't have a candidate to challenge him in a district that they held from 1884 until 2008.  Adler beat Medford Mayor Christopher Myers 52%-48% for the seat of Republican James Saxton, who retired after twelve terms in Congress.

Adler raised $464,125 last quarter and has $426,587 cash on hand. Republicans think they can beat Adler next year, but the National Republican Congressional Committee sent signals earlier this year that they want the candidate in place soon so that he or she can begin fundraising.  That's what Adler did in 2006, before Saxton had announced his intention to retire.  If the third district Republican candidate does not meet certain early fundraising goals, sources say that the NRCC might not become fully engaged in the race, according to one House Republican staffer familiar with NRCC operations.

So far, one candidate has said he expects to run: former Tabernacle Committeeman Justin Murphy, who surprised political observers last year when he won 25.2% of the vote in the Republican primary for Congress.  Murphy finished third, just 37 votes behind Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who had the powerful organization line in Ocean.

Senator Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt all voted “No” on legislation (S-2577/A-3772) recently considered by both Houses of the State Legislature that would permit the conversion of age-restricted housing units to non-age-restricted housing units and would modify laws concerning affordable housing.

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New Jersey Republicans will face some pressure from the national GOP over the next few months to settle on their candidate to challenge freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) in 2010.  Adler won the seat of retiring twelve-term Republican Jim Saxton last year with 52% -- the first Democrat to win the seat since Thomas Ferrell ousted two-term Republican George Robeson with 50.1% in 1882.

Republicans think they can beat Adler next year, but the National Republican Congressional Committee is sending signals that they want the candidate in place soon so that he or she can begin fundraising.  That's what Adler did in 2006, before Saxton had announced his intention to retire.  If the third district Republican candidate does not meet certain early fundraising goals, sources say that the NRCC might not become fully engaged in the race, according to one House Republican staffer familiar with NRCC operations.

If Republicans can't beat John Adler in 2010, chances are they never will.  If Adler wins a second term, watch for mapmakers to take take some heavily Republican Ocean County towns out of his district when new congressional districts are drawn for the 2012 elections.  Adler scored a 52%-48% victory last week over Republican Christopher Myers for the seat of retiring twelve term U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton -- a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1882.

Republican insiders say that Myers isn't likely to get a second shot at the seat, and that the favorite candidate could be former major league baseball pitcher Al Leiter.  Leiter, a Toms River native who has said he wants to run for office someday, has turned down several offers to seek U.S. Senate and House seats in recent years.  Other possible Adler opponents include: State Sen. Diane Allen (who must first heal wounds in a very fractured Burlington County Republican organization); State Sen. Phil Haines; Assemblywoman Dawn Addiego; Assemblyman Brian Rumpf; and Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, who lost the '08 GOP primary to Myers.