Frank LoBiondo

Republicans last week honored Larry Pepper for his 33 years of service as chair of the Cumberland County GOP.

Marking the occasion of his retirement as chairman, over 400 of Pepper’s friends, family and elected officials throughout the state attended a gala at the Centerton Country Club on June 30.

Guests included U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2), New Jersey State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson, state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr., Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, and former state Senator and personal friend James R. Hurley.

LoBiondo and new county Chairman Douglas Sorantino awarded Pepper with a plaque honoring him for his "unprecedented" service.

Less than a week after entering the Republican U.S. Senate race, former Rep. Dick Zimmer has won the endorsement of half of the state’s GOP congressional delegation.

Representatives Frank LoBiondo, Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson all announced their support for Zimmer today, citing his fiscal conservatism. 

TRENTON - As Democrats gear up for a bruising senate primary season, unofficial congressional filing results with the state Division of Elections show no same-party challengers to incumbent Democratic congressmen.      

Only in the 1st District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews is vacating his seat to challenge U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the primary, are there several hopefuls battling for what Andrews leaves behind.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics this summer, Rep. Chris Smith wants to take it further – a complete boycott of the games.

In an interview with PolitickerNJ.com last week, Smith renewed his call to boycott the Olympics, in part because of the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on Tibetan dissent. But Smith has been a long-time advocate of such a protest, stemming from the Chinese regime’s long record of human rights violations.

“I’ve called for it very aggressively,” said Smith, the former chairman of the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on Human Rights and Law. “We’re calling it the ‘genocide Olympics’ because of their enabling of the genocide in Darfur.”

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew still hasn’t made a decision about whether he’s running for Congress, but as the April filing deadline approaches, he’s leaning towards sitting this one out.

“I will say that I do have an interest in being a representative for the second congressional district ,but I’m very aware and mindful of the fact that I just won a senate race and we’re in a uniquely challenging time in the state of New Jersey,” he said.  “I have to weigh that very, very seriously.” 

Rep. Frank LoBiondo will endorse John McCain for the GOP presidential nomination today. LoBiondo had been backing Rudy Giuliani.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tomorrow will debut a television ad on Fox News that refocuses the campaign narrative on Sept. 11, 2001.

The former New York mayor remains New Jersey's Republican frontrunner in the race for president, with 38% support among GOP voters, or 26% more than the number two man in the Republican field here, Sen. John McCain, according to a Dec. 13th Quinnipiac University poll.

The new class of legislators isn’t even seated yet, but that won’t stop us from speculating about the Assembly election in 2009.

Granted, two years is a political eternity, and which party will hold an advantage in that time depends most heavily on who’s at the top of the ticket. But when the new Assemblymen and women take their places in Trenton early next year, there will be 25 freshmen – several from competitive districts. Those represent the best opportunity for each party to knock off some incumbents.

Right now, however, from this great distance, it doesn’t appear as though any new districts will come into the fold, or that control of either legislative body is likely to shift. Indeed, it’s more likely that 2009 will see a smaller number of districts in play.

Gov. Jon Corzine campaigns in Atlantic City for Team Whelan on Sunday.

The Absecon Channel separates Brigantine from Atlantic City in this world of salt water and low-slung housing broken up by tragicomic human silos with names like Taj and Showboat.

But it’s all the same battlefield here in the 2nd district, where forces are mobilizing for Sen. (and Egg Harbor Township Mayor) James "Sonny" McCullough or Assemblyman James Whelan.

In Atlantic City, a second tall and bearded politician joins Team Whelan today in a senior citizens complex on Atlantic Avenue. It’s Gov. Jon Corzine, who knows seniors are a critical voting block, particularly in an off-election year like this, and he’s working the older crowd overtime with his best up-close-and-personal demeanor.