George Gilmore

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex): Politicker Photo

Republicans on Wednesday night at the Princeton Hyatt unanimously elected Essex County Republican Chairman Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) as leader of the GOP county chair people.

The chairs also unanimously elected Warren County Chair Doug Steinhardt as vice chair; Atlantic Chairman Keith Davis as treasurer, and Camden Chair Rick DeMichele as secretary.

"Kevin brings an interesting perspective," said outgoing Chairman George Gilmore, the Ocean County GOP chairman. "He serves in the Legislature and the Senate, and is in a unique position to build the party with the State Committee.

"Bergen's going to be a key county to look at," Gilmore added. "It used to be Republican. It's a county we need to work, to improve the party in this election and beyond, but there are a lot of opportunities across the state."

Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore told fellow Ocean County GOP Chairman George GilmoreRepublicans this evening that he would not seek another term as chair of the Republican county chairmen.

The powerful Republican Party leader has served in that capacity for eight years.

Gilmore sent a letter to his fellow party chairmen of the 21 counties indicating his intentions in advance of a meeting the GOP leaders anticipate having before the end of the month, sources say.

It has been a tough year for Gilmore at the national, and local levels.

He was the lead Jersey organizer for the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign, and took that loss after personally campaigning for Giuliani in the lead-up to the Florida primary.

JACKSON - An Election Day sweep by a bipartisan ticket led by Jackson Mayor Mark SedaDemocrat Michael Kafton propelled citizens to the microphone at a Thursday night council meeting to complain about Mayor Mark Seda’s efforts to privatize the city’s building department.

At the head of the charge was the newly victorious Kafton, who called on Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate Seda’s efforts even as the mayor’s father faces a $30,000 building department fine.

He also chastised the council for failing to join him.

"The council is either closing their eyes or not strong enough to stand up to him (Seda)," said the councilman-elect and former mayor. "I demanded the council get to the attorney general’s office."

The moment Medford Mayor Chris Myers stepped into the third district congressional primary, most insiders picked himas the favorite Republican to continue retiring Rep. Jim Saxton’s legacy.

Even after Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly entered the GOP race with the support of his large Republican county’s powerful organization support , Myers managed to maintain the mantle of frontrunner, winning the coveted line in his native Burlington County, along with neighboring Camden County -- which only has one town in the district, albeit a large one: Cherry Hill.

But fundraising totals reported by the Press of Atlantic City on Wednesday suggest a race much closer than initially expected.

According to the report, Myers has raised $334,786.77 and has $288,000 on hand. Meanwhile, Kelly has raised approximately $306,000, and has $281,000 on hand.

TOMS RIVER - If you came to the Ocean County Republican convention hoping for a floor fight tonight for the party nod for U.S. Senate, you were disappointed.

In typical Ocean County Republican fashion, the party awarded its line with efficiency and brevity – easily selecting Goya Foods heir Andy Unanue as its choice for a U.S. Senate candidate. Unanue already had the backing of powerful Republican Chairman George Gilmore, and had won the hearts and minds of the screening committee from his vacation spot in Vail, Colo. via telephone conference.

The committee voted by voice, overwhelmingly ratifying the decision of the screening committee to endorse the man who’s come to be the establishment’s candidate over his two Republican rivals: state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and Ramapo Finance Professor Murray Sabrin.

Pennacchio and Sabrin did not attend.

In Ocean County, things are looking up for Andy Unanue, even if he won’t attend Thursday’s convention in person.

The local party’s screening committee met Saturday – before Unanue had even officially announced his candidacy – and voted to back him 14-0, with one abstention. He’s also got the powerful Republican Chairman George Gilmore in his corner.

“Historically, the screening committee’s recommendation is generally followed,” said Gilmore.

Rival Joe Pennacchio has one thing going for him – he’s backed by all three of the county’s Republican state Senators: Bob Singer, Andrew Ciesla and Chris Connors.

Republican Joe Buckalew says he won't run for the U.S. SenateCount Joe Buckalew out of the mix for potential U.S. Senate candidates.

“I feel like somebody must be crazy,” joked Buckalew.

Although Buckalew, the former Chairman of the New Jersey Highway Authority and current Chairman of the Board at Commerce Bancorp, received a call from Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore about the possibility of running, he said he never gave it too much thought.

“It’s very flattering, and my county chairman and some other people had called me, but that’s not for me. It’s passed me by,” Buckalew, 78, told PolitickerNJ today. “You can count me out. I’ve been doing things all my life. It’s time for me to relax.”

Buckalew’s name was one of several that surfaced after businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook suddenly dropped out of the race last week.

Although three Ocean County state Senators had already thrown their support behind state Sen. Joe Pennacchio prior to Anne Evans Estabrook’s departure from the U.S. Senate race, the county’s Republican chairman, George Gilmore, has not yet committed to a candidate.

“We’re going to wait for the smoke to clear, see who the potential viable candidates are, then have our screening process,” said Gilmore.

The county committee will hold its nominating convention on March 27th. 

An elevator-full of Rudy Giuliani supporters looked at the ceiling when confronted with today’s Monmouth University/Gannett poll numbers that show the former New York mayor in a statistical dead heat with Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.

They were riding down from the fourth floor of the Toms River law office of Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore, who also serves as state chairman of Giuliani’s campaign in New Jersey.

Gilmore wasn’t in town today.

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.