As I noted late last week, the woman who was believed to be the frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination for New Jersey’s Senate seat currently held by the aging Frank Lautenberg withdrew from the race due to health issues.
Now, at least one county chairman is proposing that the Republican Party bring in a candidate known to be popular in the Garden State:
In the aftermath of news that Anne Evans Estabrook would not run for the U.S. Senate, Monmouth county GOP Chairman Adam Puharic today said he was calling for an emergency meeting of Republican county chairmen to discuss the party’s options in nominating a candidate.
As for his own personal choice for a GOP senate candidate now that Estabrooks is out, Puharic said he would be happy joining a coalition of New Jersey Republicans calling on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to enter the race, or “other talented Republicans.”
But in the meantime, “Everybody needs to freeze until we have a chance to talk,” said Puharic. “If a majority of the county chairs believe we should rally around state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, fine, but if a majority are not happy with the choices they have now, I beseech everyone not to rush to judgement.”
Estabrook’s departure for the moment consolidates state Sen. Joe Pennacchio (D-Morris) as the frontrunner in a field that also includes economics Prof. Murray Sabrin.
The Giuliani idea seems like a red herring. Unlike New York, New Jersey doesn’t have a tradition of electing outsiders like Hillary Clinton or Robert Kennedy to statewide office.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Giuliani isn’t even conservative! Since when is there something wrong running a republican who’s pro life and pro second amendment, like Sabrin?
March 11th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
JerseyGirl,
I lived in New Jersey for 20+ years and was involved in NJ politics from High School until the time that I left the state to go to Grad School.
New Jersey is not going to elect a conservative, pro-life Republican on a statewide level. The electorate is too liberal to allow that to happen. The last time the state GOP tried that was in the early 90’s, when Jim Courter, a conservative Republican Congressman ran against Florio and got creamed.
The fact that Christie Todd Whitman was the last Republican to win on a statewide level and the fact that she was moderate and pro-life are not coincidental. I like Sabrin, but he’s got no chance even against Lautenberg.