Marcia Karrow

A supporter of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) going back to his 2000 presidential primary and back before that, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Flemington) liked the line in McCain’s speech last week about pulling the plug on funds for countries antipathetic to America.

"What he says is the way a lot of people feel," said Karrow, who’s serving as the McCain’s campaign’s chief coordinator in Hunterdon County. "We’re not going to fund people against us overseas. We give 100s of millions of dollars to countries where people want us dead, and that’s wrong."

Asked about the $10-12 billion the United States spends on the war in Iraq, Karrow said the people of Iraq like America’s effort on their behalf.

"We’re trying to make a country into a true democracy, and it’s all about that cost-benefit analysis," Karrow said. "The people there do like us. I hear from soldiers who come back home. They tell me stories about warmth and love. They do like us. The people of Iraq are not our enemies.

Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow today demanded that state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy resign from her post for not trying to recoup misspent money from Abbott school districts. 

Responding to questions at a hearing last week, where auditors questioned the use of $83 million in state funds for the predominantly low-income, inner city schools, Davy said “We are not going backward to collect money.”

Davy also said that the state would not withhold funds for districts with questionable expenditures.  In all, over half of the state’s education budget goes to Abbot districts.

Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, state chairman of the DeAssemblyman Joseph Cryanmocratic Party, today derided the reaction of Republican leaders to Gov. Jon Corzine's budget as "all over the map."

"Too many of the Republicans are resorting to the political rhetoric of the past about budget cuts but they want  to exempt their own pet projects," said Cryan in a press release. "They aren't just contradicting each other, they are contradicting themselves. Their budget  numbers don't add up and their ideas don't add  up."

The governor described his budget as a "turning point"  away from the irresponsible practices of the past. "But the Republicans' want to do a u-turn back to the same politics of the past," Cryan said.

After standing alongside his state legislative running mate, State Sen. Leonard Lance, to endorse his congressional bid, Assemblyman Mike Doherty made it clear that, if Lance goes to Washington, he’d like to succeed him in the state Senate.

But the district’s other Assembly member, Marcia Karrow, would like to move up to the as well – and she has the advantage of being from the Hunterdon County, which dominates the 23rd legislative district.  Doherty is from neighboring Warren County.

If Lance is sworn into Congress next January, the county committees from Warren and Hunterdon would hold a special election convention to replace him.  That could mean that Karrow gets the nod, although Doherty insists that he would win a primary against Karrow, just like he did for an open seat in 2001.

Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow will serve on the Mike Doherty for U.S. Senate Exploratory Committee.  Lonegan, a former gubernatorial candidate, is the de facto leader of the state GOP's most conservative wing.  Karrow, a moderate, represents the same northwestern New Jersey legislative district as Doherty.