Did Senator Kean Miss An Opportunity?

 By Tommy DeSeno

Have you ever seen a news wave?  It’s a real phenomenon in journalism.  One outlet says something, then outlet after outlet says the same thing, never verifying if the first outlet was right.  And you can’t stop a wave, even if it’s wrong.
 
As soon as the new 30th district was announced, immediately the word got out that Senator Singer would have the advantage over Senator Kean.  I guess Senator Kean concurred, having agreed to move down to the Assembly.
 
I like Singer.  But his comments in the Press yesterday that Sean Kean would be primaried even if Singer retired has me angry.  It’s as if Bob is throwing down the gauntlet and declaring that the rest of us will be governed by Lakewood for the next 10 years.
 
Well, as a Howell boy, I’m pretty upset that I had to be governed by Lakewood the last 10 years.  So I’m calling bullshit on Singer, which I can do even though we are friends, because I’m a journalist first.
 
Howell and Wall combined are larger than Lakewood, so if Howell and Wall got behind Kean, that could be a fair fight against Lakewood.
 
As for the rest of the district, those little Monmouth shore towns are larger than the 2 Pt. Pleasants, and Sean has name recognition there while Singer does not.
 
I know what the road block would have been – Howell Republicans.  They rarely get along.  But John Costigan is a strong Municipal Chair.  He could have pulled the Howell Republicans together (which would be a nice thing all by itself) to back Kean.  The rallying cry would have been provincial but effective –  Monmouth needs to keep a Senator.
 
I really wish Sean decided to stay Senator.  I’m not reading next week’s triCityNews, because I don’t want to know what Dan Jacobson will call Sean now.

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Singer Is Running

By Art Gallagher

While not exactly news, Senator Robert Singer of Lakewood told Gannett’s Michael Symons that he is definitely running for the Senate seat in the new 30th legislative district that includes Wall Township, the home of Senator Sean Kean.

Singer had nice things to say about Kean who he called a friend and a great legislator. Singer said he hadn’t spoken to Kean.  Symons said Kean didn’t return a message seeking comment.  What a relief!  I was beginning to take Kean’s lack of availability personally.

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Dem Map Would Pit Kean Against Singer

By Art Gallagher

Senator Sean Kean could have a bigger problem than Dan Jacobson in his quest for renomination to the State Senate.

According to a report on Politickernj the proposed legislative map favored by the Democrats on the redistricting commission puts Kean of Wall Township in the same district as Senator Robert Singer of Lakewood.

Without knowing the composition of the entire proposed district assessing each senator’s prospects in a head to head primary would be purely speculative.  However Singer would start with a decided advantage based upon the size of the two senators’ home towns.  Lakewood has 12,636 registered Republicans. 3813 Lakewood Republicans voted in the 2009 primary and 873 voted in the 2007 primary.  Wall has 6,171 Republicans. 2507 voted in the 2009 primary, 457 in 2007.

Neither Kean nor Singer are favorites of Governor Christie.  Kean was uninvited from Christie’s Monmouth County press conference after the December blizzard.  Until recently, Singer was a “double dipper,” serving both in the Senate and on the Lakewood Township Committee.  

As the horse trading escalates in New Brunswick through Sunday, trading Kean or Singer for a more competive district elsewhere in the state, perhaps moving Atlantic City into an Ocean County dominated district, thereby putting Senator Jim Whelan’s Democratic seat at risk could be considered a good trade by the Christie loyalists on the commission.

Politickernj and The Star Ledger have both reported that the final map will be adopted on Sunday at noon.

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