Briam Rumpf

November 12, 2007 - 6:58pm

No shortage of GOP hopefuls interested in Saxton seat

Will former GOP State Chairman David Norcross run for Congress?Will former GOP State Chairman David Norcross run for Congress?U.S. Rep. James Saxton's retirement has opened the floodgates, with over a dozen names pouring out as potential successors to the dozen-term Congressman. And many of those names hail from Ocean County, a solidly Republican locale that has never had a Congressman who called it home.

Ocean County politicians see this as a great opportunity to a long-deserved seat. But while they appear to have more aspirants than Burlington County, which makes up a roughly equal chunk of the district, so far no potential candidate has appeared from Ocean with the name recognition or draw of Diane Allen, who bobs to the surface of congressional hopefuls.

Short of drafting a celebrity to run, the best hope for any Ocean County Republican to win the nomination is an internal battle in Burlington County - a real possibility. Allen's current nemesis, GOP boss Glenn Paulsen, could make things more complicated for her as long as their two party factions are warring. Or former GOP State Chairman David Norcross, a veteran political player who has reportedly expressed interest in running for the seat, could wage a strong challenge as well.

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November 16, 2007 - 10:11am

Gilmore will likely field a House candidate

There seems to be two certainties in the race for Jim Saxton’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives:  that candidates from Burlington and Ocean counties will face off in a Republican primary, and that the GOP nominee will face a tough general election against State Senator John Adler, the likely Democratic nominee.

The GOP front runner is Diane Allen, a four-term GOP State Senator from Burlington and former TV news anchorwoman for the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia.  But Allen must first establish some form of détente with Burlington GOP leader Glenn Paulsen, with whom she is engaged in a fairly vicious intra-party battle, before she can expect to win a big plurality in her home county. 

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