Christopher Bateman

Is a lawsuit – settled out of court last month – against Donald DiFrancesco’s law firm alleging that the former Governor sexually harassed an attorney at this firm and then fired her the reason why against DiFrancesco Bateman Coley Yospin Kunzman Davis & Lehrer has a low percentage of women lawyers?  Of the nineteen partners at the firm, which includes State Senator Christopher Bateman, only one is a woman; the other eighteen are white men.  Of the eleven associates, eight are men; and three of the four Of Counsel are white men

The buzz among Republican insiders over the last two days is that party leaders seem genuinely excited by the prospects of millionaire businessman Andy Unanue entering the race for United States Senator.  The former Chief Operating Officer of Goya Foods, one of the largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, makes an interesting candidate: a self-funder who his 44 years younger than the incumbent and can compete for Latino votes.

With just twenty days to go before the April 7 filing deadline, a group of New Jersey Republican leaders are actively searching for another United States Senate candidate to challenge State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin in the June GOP primary.  The race changed considerably two weeks ago when millionaire Anne Evans Estabrook abruptly quit the Senate race after suffering a minor stroke, and with the public disclosure yesterday of Pennacchio’s 1991 nationalist manifesto that has some party leaders in a panic.

Sources say that several GOP leaders approached State Sen. Diane Allen to run; Allen has been recovering from pneumonia and has reportedly declined. 

U.S. Marshal James Plousis has decided against seeking the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, becoming the third candidate promoted by party leaders to decline since Anne Evans Estabrook left the race last week.  Plousis, a former Cape May County Sheriff, told County Chairmen yesterday that he wants to continue as the federal marshal.

State Senate Christopher Bateman will not seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

State Sen. Christopher Bateman is leaning toward entering the U.S. Senate race and will make a final decision by Friday, according to sources close to the Somerset County legislator.  Bateman’s father, former Senate President (and 1977 GOP gubernatorial candidate) Raymond Bateman, returned from his vacation today and is working with Somerset County Republican Chairman Dale Florio to determine whether the campaign can raise enough money to compete in the June primary, and against Democratic incumbent Frank Lautenberg in the general election.

State Sen. Christopher Bateman, on day seven of mulling a bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, still has not made a final decision. The front runner, State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, is picking up organization lines fast, and if Bateman doesn’t decide quickly, it may be too late for him to seek endorsements and money.

Pennacchio attended a GOP candidates forum in Hillsborough last night -- the second largest town in Bateman's Somerset County-based legislative district.  Bateman was not there.