Congressional candidate Kate Whitman is joined by her mother, former Gov. Christie Whitman, at a dinner in Scotch Plains
SCOTCH PLAINS - A familiar face joined 7th District Congressional candidate Kate Whitman as she trailed through diners along US-22 today, her mother former Gov. Christie Whitman.
"I thought I was done with this," the former governor said jokingly. Her public presence, only the second time in this campaign, lent a familiar face to voters who seemed to be caught off guard that today was Primary Day.
"I didn't even know she was running for anything," Cindy Soloway of Scotch Plains told PolitickerNJ.com, "What is she running for?"
When one diner asked Whitman who else was running, Whitman raised her right hand and swiftly rattled off the names of her 6 opponents, "Its me, Leonard Lance, Kelly Hatfield…" she continued, counting her finger tips.
"I usually tell people that the two front runners are Leonard and myself," Whitman says, referring to her strongest adversary, state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).
Through sighs concerning low voter turnout and interest, which Whitman's husband Craig described as a "slow trickle," the candidate is looking to her energy to set her apart from the crowded primary field.
"When we were out dropping literature and canvassing this past weekend, we didn't see any other campaign." says Whitman, "Nobody has worked harder than we have."
Still, Whitman sees her challenge to Lance as cordial. "This isn't District 3," she says, "I've known Leonard for a long time and I've told him that if I don't win tonight I would come out and work for him."
Asked about the personal affect of running against a friend, and in the case of the former governor, a colleague, the mother-daughter duo responded in sync, "it's a campaign."
For a 7th district ballot weighted by the names in the Republican column, Whitman is optimistic going into the campaign's remaining hours. "It has been tough, but I think I'm going to win."
PolitickerNJ.com's Megan Buerger and Koeun Lee contributed to this report.
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Fraud
So much for not being like "my mother"...double talk Kate at her best...BTW CTW's robo call was horrible.
Full of IT!
Katie . . . Katie . . . Katie
You're right. NJ7 wasn't like NJ3 - only because Senator Lance had the class not to answer back all of your negative charges.
From day one it has been embarrassing how you have run around in circles and what you have been saying.
Like Clarkvip1 said, having your MOTHER of all people do robo-calls for you was just plain crazy. Didn't you say you were going to run on who you are as a person, not as a Whitman.
I do appreciate the countless other robo-calls that I got from your campaign about how terrible Mr. Lance is. Too bad I voted for him any way. Your behavior was terrible . . . just plain classless.
stick a fork in Kate
She is done....not only in today's race, but probably for the foreseeable future. Above two entires are right. She said she was going to win this on her own without latching on to the Whitman name, and here she is at the very last minute attached at the hip to her mother and THE mother of all RINOs. I voted for Marks. Leonard is a nice guy, but that is his downfall. Not sure he will trade punches with Stender.
Kate
Run for Council in your home town. Then at least you can develop a record of your own if you want to run for something. This is not a monarchy, in America you have to earn it.
Kate
do the honest thing and become a lobbyist first. Mommy girl!