Joseph Pennacchio

GOP presidential candidate John McCain campaigns in New Jersey last February with Sen. Joe Lieberman: Getty Images Photo
Two pro-choice names floated as potential vice-president picks for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain have caused a lot of grumbling among conservatives nationwide, but some of the most ardently pro-life members of the delegation representing New Jersey at next month's Republican National Convention were circumspect on the prospects.

While McCain has pledged to run a "pro-life administration" if elected, his campaign has floated trial balloons about U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Thomas Ridge as possible Veep picks, both of whom are pro-choice.

While some pro-life delegation members would prefer to see a fully anti-abortion ticket, none were committed to casting a protest vote against a pro-choice McCain pick.  Still, some of them cautiously suggested that McCain would be wise not to alienate the socially conservative wing of the party, including the evangelical voters who he's had trouble courting in the past.

"I don't from a tactical standpoint see the gain other than maybe he's trying to reach moderate Democrat voters and take them from Barack by putting Lieberman there," said Assemblywoman Allison Littell McHose (R-Franklin), a delegate who sits on the convention's platform committee.    "But I think when you have a Republican base that would probably not traditionally vote for a guy like Lieberman, I don't know why McCain would need to do that."

Yesterday, when veteran Republican political operative Dan Gallic announced that he was forming an organization to draft conservative activist Steve Lonegan into the Governor's race next year, he lamented the candidates Republicans typically choose for statewide races as "weak-kneed wimpy moderates who believe in nothing and are afraid to throw a punch." 

Today, Gallic said that language doesn't apply to the two other most high profile potential candidates next year: U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and biotech millionaire John Crowley.

"I was referring to the past slew of candidates who have lost by 9 or 10 points," said Gallic, who managed conservative State Sen. Joe Pennacchio's run for U.S. Senate earlier this year.  "So far what I've seen is a far better group of candidates than the Republicans have put up in quite some time, all of which have no ties to the establishment at this point."

Despite a competitive and sometimes nasty primary fight, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg seems to have had little trouble uniting the Democratic Party behind his re-election campaign.  There are no real signs that party leaders who backed Rob Andrews for the nomination are denying any support to the four-term Senator, and a poll released today by Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey shows Democratic voters solidly behind the Lautenberg.  The Republican candidate, former Rep. Dick Zimmer, seems to be having a little trouble getting the GOP behind his candidacy after defeating conservative State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Ron Paul supporter Murray Sabrin in his primary.  The poll shows that Zimmer, with 64% of the GOP vote, has not yet closed the deal on his own party.

Dick Zimmer has some catching up to do.

Across the board, fundraising figures for New Jersey’s Republican candidates for federal office look bleak, and Zimmer’s are no exception: he has about $411,000 cash on hand to go up against Frank Lautenberg, who has $1.3 million after a primary fight with Rep. Rob Andrews. 

Already, Zimmer has put $300,000 of his own money into the race.  After a press conference today on an unrelated topic, Zimmer wouldn’t say whether he plans to put any more of his own money in. 

“I have no comment on that,” Zimmer said.  “What I have said is that I can’t self-fund.”

Lautenberg can, however. 

Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin, the leader of Ron Paul’s New Jersey presidential campaign, won 14% of the vote in his bid for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination yesterday – which was nearly three times the percentage Paul received in the February 5 New Jersey primary. Sabrin is now expected to seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2009 (his fourth bid for statewide office), and will seek to harness the grass roots support of the Ron Paul wing of the New Jersey GOP.   That’s bad news for Steve Lonegan, the former Mayor of Bogota and the de facto leader of the state’s conservatives.  Lonegan endorsed Joseph Pennacchio on Monday, and will have a tough – though not impossible -- time convincing the Paul supporters to switch to him in a race where he can’t really afford to lose conservative/libertarian votes.

Four organization lines failed to produce pluralities for Republican U.S. Senate candidates: Gloucester, which had backed Murray Sabrin, went 47%-27% for Joseph Pennacchio; Hunterdon, which stuck with their endorsement of Pennacchio after favorite son Dick Zimmer joined the race late, went for Zimmer by a 60%-30% margin; Salem, which had endorsed Pennacchio, went for Zimmer, 47%-41%; and Somerset, where Pennacchio won the convention and line, went for Zimmer, who had represented part of the county in Congress, by a 46%-43% margin. Zimmer also won Warren County, which has no organization line but where the GOP County Chairman had endorsed Pennacchio.

Frank Lautenberg won absentee ballot votes in Essex and Middlesex counties.

Murray Sabrin’s campaign has never lacked self-confidence: in an e-mail earlier today, the Sabrin camp touts “internal and external polls” in predicting a 35%-34% victory over Dick Zimmer in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, with 31% for Joseph Pennacchio – if turnout stays below 175,000. If the turnout exceeds 200,000, the Sabrin campaign says, “Dr. Murray Sabrin will be running away with the victory and the percentages aren't necessary to discuss!”

SOMERVILLE - State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) neverRepublican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer as he appeared in ABC television debate on Sunday. convinced party leaders that he could be the darling of the GOP, most of whom instead backed former U.S. Rep Dick Zimmer for U.S. Senate.

Now, with a full day remaining before Election Day, maverick conservative leader Steve Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota and gubernatorial candidate, says he will vote for Pennacchio, while questioning Zimmer’s ability to generate energy among rank-and-file Republicans.

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, the leader of the conservative wing of the New Jersey Republican Party, is expected to endorse Joseph Pennacchio for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination on Monday.  Lonegan, a possible candidate for the 2009 Republican gubernatorial nomination and an unpaid PolitickerNJ.com columnist, has the ability to influence a large block of undecided voters in Tuesday’s primary election.