January 24, 2009 - 4:22pm
Inside Edge

Will Doherty give up his Assembly seat for a second shot at Karrow?

State Sen.-elect Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan) won Leonard Lance's 23rd district seat with 58% of the vote in a special elecion convention held today.

Marcia Karrow's impressive 58%-42% victory in a special election convention for Leonard Lance's State Senate seat will force Michael Doherty to choose between a Senate bid in the June Republican primary and keeping his seat in the State Assembly.   Karrow won 195-143 in a race many insiders thought would go to Doherty, one of the Legislature's most conservative members. 

Doherty's desire to move up the Senate just became considerably more difficult.  Karrow, as the incumbent, will find it easier to raise money and will enjoy organization support in Hunterdon.  But Republican primary voters in this northwestern New Jersey district are traditionally more in sync with Doherty's ideology. 

 

Wally Edge can be reached via email at politicsnj@aol.com.

Related topics: Michael Doherty, Marcia Karrow