House

Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney endorsed fifth district Democratic congressional candidate Dennis Shulman today.

Shulman, a blind rabbi and psychologist, is running against primary opponent Camille Abate to take on conservative Republican incumbent E. Scott Garrett.   

“Dennis Shulman, unlike Scott Garrett, understands the challenges facing the hardworking men and women of Northern New Jersey,” said McNerney.

Representative Frank Pallone acknowledged today that Hillary Clinton is the underdog for the Democratic presidential nomination, but said that he will continue supporting her until she either wins or decides to end her run.

“I’m sticking with her. I think it’s her decision to decide what she wants to do,” he said. “As long as she’s running I’m supporting her.”

Pallone disputed the conventional wisdom that Barack Obama is virtually sure to win the nomination, saying that it’s “still possible for (Clinton) to win”

“You still have some primaries, you still have the superdelegates and you still have Florida and Michigan,” he said.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood)

The Sierra Club plans to highlight what the group sees as Assemblywoman Linda Stender's (D-Fanwood) environmental record with a primary season endorsement of the 7th Congressional District candidate.

"It's very specifically a primary endorsement," said the organization's executive director Jeff Tittel, a day before his press conference with Stender in Flemington. "We'll wait to endorse for the general election."

Although the assemblywoman has the full organizational backing of her party and is not in a primary contest, "We felt Linda deserved recognition now," Tittel said. 

TRENTON - Three Republican state legislators stepped into the heated primary contest in the 3rd Congressional District between fellow Republicans Chris Myers and Jack Kelly.

The 8th Legislative District's contingent stood with Myers to announce that, at his request, they were drafting a bill that would ban employees of two or more taxpayer funded jobs from accepting cash payments in lieu of health coverage if one of the jobs already provides health insurance - a practice Myers referred to as "health care double dipping."

The proposal comes just days after a campaign attack Myers made on Kelly on the same topic.

Democrats are almost giddy over the increasingly divisive primary in New Jersey’s third congressional district, where Republicans Christopher Myers and Jack Kelly – each with the support of one major county GOP organization and with virtually the same amount of money – are likely increasing their negatives as they beat up on their opponents.  That’s good news for Democrat John Adler, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, who has no primary opponent and over $1 million in his warchest as he seeks to win a seat the Republicans have held continuously since Thomas Ferrell lost re-election in 1884.

Democratic congressional candidate David KurkowskiNational Democrats had pinned their hopes on recruiting state Sen. Jeff Van Drew to take out Republican incumbent Frank LoBiondo in the 2nd Congressional District. When Van Drew declined to run, Democrats settled on Cape May's only Democratic councilman as their candidate.  But the national party opted out of funding his campaign.

Despite the lack of support, Kurkowski insists that he's more than just a warm body.

With little name recognition, few upfront financial resources and a base in one of the less populated areas of New Jersey's geographically largest congressional district, Kurkowski is - for now at least - a long shot.

Lautenberg and Andrews took to the streets.

Andrews wanted to see Lautenberg’s returns.

The two camps sparred over debates.

Lance avoided the F-word.

Kelly and Myers had a street fight.

Where in the world was Smith?

Paul stumped for Sabrin.

Inclan walked away.

Ward 2 candidates tussled in Paterson.

Jackson candidates were told to respect their elders.

Democratic congressional candidate John AdlerJohn Adler is the richest open seat congressional candidate in the nation, according to a report from Congressional Quarterly.

Adler, a Democrat, has approximately $1 million on hand in his quest for the open seat of retiring Republican Rep. Jim Saxton. Adler is unchallenged in the June 3rd Democratic primary, while three Republicans are enmeshed in a tough primary fight to take him on.

Meanwhile, 7th district Democratic candidate Linda Stender is the fourth richest open seat challenger, with about $845,000 on hand. Stender also faces no opposition in the primary, but there are seven Republicans competing for that party’s nomination, the richest of whom has amassed a little over one-third of Stender’s war chest.

Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks won the endorsement of New Jersey Right to Life for his 7th district congressional run.

Marks, a dentist who is running to the right of six other candidates in the hotly contested Republican primary, used the pro-life endorsement to bolster his conservative credentials. 

“This endorsement will provide a strong base of voters in both the primary and general election from which he can build for victory.  NRTL-PAC will utilize its various resources to help elect Martin Marks to Congress,” said the group’s director, Marie Tasy.

Medford Mayor Chris Myers 

TOMS RIVER: Two Republican Primary candidates in the 3rd Congressional District engaged in a verbal sidewalk scuffle after Medford Mayor Chris Myers took his frustration over opponent Jack Kelly’s public work record into the heart of Kelly’s home county.

It was a shift in strategy for Myers, who has mostly played defense for the past few weeks as Kelly hurled pointed critiques of Myers’s record across county lines. Today, Kelly, an Ocean County freeholder, was the object of his Burlington opponent’s counter-attack.

Trying to strike a contrasting pose to what he has described as Myers’s propensity to shrink behind surrogates, Kelly went to the Ocean County Courthouse to directly take on Myers’s complaints.

Myers had plenty of them.