Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider is the second Monmouth County Democratic mayor to publicly declare support for Republican Governor Chris Christie’s reelection.
Schneider told The Star Ledger that he will formally endorse Christie on Monday.
“He understands New Jersey and there’s no doubt in my mind is right now the last thing we need to do is reinvent the wheel,” Schneider said.
Long and Schneider are among a long and growing list of Democrats who are supporting Christie over the Democratic nominee, State Senator Barbara Buono. Earlier this week State Senator Brian Stack of Hudson County and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo formally endorsed Christie.
Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal issued the following statement about Schneider endorsing Christie:
“Adam Schenider is the Mayor of a nonpartisan town. He has endorsed numerous Republicans and Democrats in the past – as recently as 2011 when he endorsed a Republican Assemblywoman. As the mayor of a town which has nonpartisan form of governing, Mayor Schneider has said numerous times that he is not involved in either of the two major political parties in the county. Congressman Frank Pallone, the Democratic Municipal Chairman in Long Branch and his Democratic municipal committee is aggressively supporting Senator Barbara Buono’s campaign for Governor. Senator Buono opposed the cuts in UEZ funding in Governor Christie’s budget and she will also support an increase in the minimum wage – two issues which are important to Long Branch. I am confident that Long Branch residents will overwhelmingly support Senator Buono in November”
When Long endorsed Christie, Gopal issued a statement promising political retribution against the Sea Bright mayor, prompting Christie to say that “Vin represents the politics of yesterday.”
Lawrence Luttrell, a Holmdel attorney, has filed suit against Monmouth County on behalf of a new non-profit corporation, Residents Against Government Exploitation (RAGE), over the government purchase of the development rights to Manalapan Township Committee Member Andrew Lucas’ farm for $1.152 million.
The plaintiff non-profit could be called LAGE, Luttrells Against Government Exploitation. The trustees of the entity are Luttrell, his wife and his mother.
Luttrell is a Democratic candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder.
The all Republican Monmouth County Board of Freeholders passed a resolution by a 3-2 vote on February 28 to join the Township of Manalapan and the State of New Jersey in purchasing the development rights to the Lucas property for farmland preservation. The county contributed $277,920, Manalapan paid $186,969 and the State picked up $687,111 of the purchase. Freeholders Lillian Burry, Gary Rich and Serena DiMaso voted in favor of funding the purchase. John Curley and Freeholder Director Tom Arnone voted no.
In poll conducted over the weekend before Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver got into the U.S. Senate race, the Quinnipiac Polling Institute reports that Newark Mayor Cory Booker has leads of over 40% against Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt for the Democratic Special Election nomination for U.S. Senate.
In the gubernatorial race, Governor Chris Christie is maintaining his 30 point lead over State Senator Barbara Buono, the Democratic nominee. Buono’s name recognition as risen from the high twenties to the low forties, but as voters get to know her, they don’t like her. Buono’s favorability rating is negative 18-23 percent, with 56% not knowing enough about her to express an opinion.
Presumptive GOP nominee for Senate, Steve Lonegan, trails Booker by 54%-27%. Independents favor Booker over Lonegan 50%-25%.
Lonegan is within 10 points of Frank Pallone, and is virtually tied with the Monmouth County Democrat among Independents, leading by 29%-28%.
Lonegan loses to Holt by only 5% and is also tied with Independents against Holt.
If he really wants to be a U.S. Senator, Steve Lonegan should eliminate the words ‘Obama’ and ‘Obamacare’ from his stump speech and talking points. He should never say the phrase ‘Republican backbone” in public again.
Despite the recent scandals in the IRS, State Department and Justice Department, the president remains popular. 48% of American voters still approve of the president according to the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll released Sunday. It is a safe bet that New Jersey voters, who reelected President Obama by 18% only 8 months ago, have a higher regard for the president than rest of the country.
Running against Barack Obama in New Jersey is a losing strategy. Running against ‘Washington’ works. Running against the IRS, government eavesdropping, rising healthcare costs and the anemic economy works. Running forliberty and prosperity works. Running forjobs, better education, better healthcare and less government intrusion into our personal lives works.
The Democratic Special Primary for U.S. Senate just got a whole lot more interesting and a whole lot more competitive.
The Star Ledger is reporting that Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has collected 1500 signatures and will file as a candidate on Monday. She will compete with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Congressman Frank Pallone and Congressman Rush Holt in the August 13 primary for the Democratic nomination to fill the Senate vacancy cause by Frank Lautenberg’s death.
Oliver, of East Orange, cuts into Booker’s base of African-American and urban voters far more powerfully than the suburban congressmen, Pallone and Holt.
In the Republican Special Primary, former GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan and newcomer Dr. Aleita Eck of Piscataway are expected to file their petitions in Trenton tomorrow.
Bayshore Tea Party co-flounders Barbara Gonzalez and Bob Gordon, former State Senate candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew and former Assembly candidate Edna Walsh announced their endorsement of Eck on Sunday evening. Bellew and Walsh lost the GOP primary in the 13th Legislative District last week by a 80-20 margin, with the support of the Bayshore Tea Party.
Somerset County Democratic Chairwoman Peg Schaffer filed an emergency lawsuit yesterday with the NJ Superior Court Appellate Division to stop the Special Primary and Election that Governor Chris Christie called on Tuesday, according to a report on PolitickerNJ.
The Special Primary is scheduled for August 13. The Special Election is scheduled for October 16. Democratic and Republican Primary candidates must submit petitions with 1000 valid signatures by 4pm on Monday June 10 in order to get on the ballot. Independent or third party candidates must file petitions with 1000 valid signatures by August 13.
NorthJersey.com reports that the Appellate Court has ruled that the suit can proceed.
The plaintiffs are Marie Corfield, Joe Grillo and Joseph Danielson.
PolitickerNJ is reporting that “several Republican sources” told them that Governor Chris Christie could appoint former State Attorney General David Samson to New Jersey’s vacant U.S. Senate seat as early as today.
Samson would be a placeholder, meaning that he would not run in the Special Election Christie called for October 16 to retain the seat.
Samson was Attorney General during the first year of the McGreevey administration. He served in Governor Tom Kean’s administration as General Counsel to the NJ Turnpike Authority and as Chairman of the Governor’s Commission on the Laws Governing the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ). In the Florio administration, Samson was a member of the Governor’s Commission on Health Care Costs.
Samson was counsel to Christie’s 2009 gubernatorial campaign and Chairman of Christie’s Transition Team. Christie nominated Samson to Chair the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, a position he has held since February of 2011.
Christie was U.S. Attorney while Samson was State Attorney General. Both of their lives were threatened by the Latin Kings street gang.
Samson is a founding member of the Wolf and Samson law firm. The firm has offices in West Orange, New York and Trenton.
Steven Lonegan and Bayshore Tea Party Group Founders Barbara Gonzalez and Bob Gordan, 2010. facebook photo.
Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez blames her candidates’ landslide defeat in the GOP primary on Steve Lonegan.
In a post on faceback early Wednesday morning Gonzalez said that Lonegan, the former Bogota Mayor, former gubernatorial candidate and former Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity-NJ, promised financial support to Leigh-Ann Bellew and her team, only to renege.
“Steve Lonegan turned his back on Bayshore’s candidates after promising to help. He left us in the lurch and reneged….think about that before you get his petitions signed. Another blowhard. We would have won if we had the money/donations that he promised would come. We went on and did it ourselves and got 20% with NO money.! He can forget about our support!”
Wednesday afternoon Gonzalez wrote,
“Lonegan could have had some hard ass worker bees if he didn’t screw
Bayshore TPG. Oh well.”
Lonegan is so far the only Republican candidate of note to announce an intention to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the Special Primary on August 13.
It’s not even close to her turn and she’s not a white male. That’s only two good reasons that Governor Chris Christie should appoint one of New Jersey’s Rising Stars to the U.S. Senate.
Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande is smart, articulate, conservative and happy. Voters love happy conservatives. Angry conservatives are scary to moderates and Independent voters. Happy conservatives appeal to moderates and Independent voters.
Casagrande’s pro-growth, pro-family, pro-women conservative policy positions belong on the national stage. She could help rebrand the Republican Party with her fellow Penn State alumnus Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. Imagine that. Two Northeast female Republican U.S. Senators.
Steve Lonegan, a scary angry conservative, has declared he’s running in the Special Republican Primary for U.S. Senate. Lonegan could win a primary against a moderate Jon Bramnick, Tom Kean Jr or Joe Kyrillos. He can’t beat Cory Booker, Frank Pallone or Rush Holt in October.
Bramnick, Kean or Kyrillos are not likely to be able to gear up fast enough to beat Booker in October either.
If Caroline Casagrande were the temporary U.S. Senator, Lonegan would have no philosophical justification to challenge her. None. Republicans best chance of winning the Senate seat in October, and again next November, is if we coalesce behind a conservative woman now.
Casagrande has already caught the eye of many national leaders. Earlier this year she was asked to be on the national leadership team of the Susan B. Anthony List. In 2010 she traveled to Nepal as a delegate of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, a State Department sponsored organization that creates opportunities for the next generation of political leaders. She’s been invited to travel to Israel this summer by the American Jewish Council.
Casagrande would be an out of the box choice. She would appeal to both the conservative and moderate wings of the Party. She would appeal to Independent voters, Reagan Democrats, women and small business owners and employees, i.e., most of the New Jersey electorate. She would be a fresh face that the local and national media would appreciate and cover.
Who else but Chris Christie could pull off an October surprise in June?
When the Governor’s announcement of a Special U.S. Senate election in October prompted knee-jerk angry responses from national Republicans, New Jersey Democrats and New Jersey wingnuts, I figured he must be onto something good.
As my young friend, New Jersey Rising Star Matt Rooney pointed out this morning, there was a better than even risk that the NJ Supreme Court would side with Trenton Democrats and overrule Christie if he appointed a temporary Senator to serve until November of 2014. The NJ Supremes could then overreach their authority and dictate that the special election be held in November of this year.
I once heard an honest Judge congratulate litigants for settling their differences, for keeping their destinies in their own hands, rather than turn their fates over to unpredictable third parties. By choosing the route to fill the late Senator Frank Lautenberg’s seat that he did, Christie limited the possibility that his gubernatorial power would be taken over by the Court.
The conventional punditry seems to assume that whichever Republican Christie chooses to temporally fill the seat until the special election will inevitably lose to Newark Mayor Cory Booker in October. I’m not convinced that is the case.
Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider is the second Monmouth County Democratic mayor to publicly declare support for Republican Governor Chris Christie’s reelection.
