Free Republic

NEWARK, N.J. -- Sen. Jon Corzine, the New Jersey Democrat, brings his characteristic grandiosity even to his buyer's remorse. In 2000, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs pulled $60.2 million from his wallet to buy a U.S. Senate seat. But just four years after the most expensive Senate campaign in American history, he decided to escape from that seat -- for which he paid $27,489.03 a day, prorated over six years -- and try to become governor. His Senate colleagues, their feelings injured, may wonder, ``Was it something we said?'' New Jersey should wonder whether some future Corzine whim might...

Unlike Democratic voters in New Jersey, Republicans have a genuine choice on Tuesday when they select their party's nominee for governor. Bret Schundler, the former mayor of Jersey City, and Douglas Forrester, the former mayor of the small township of West Windsor, are leading a field of seven candidates. The winner will face Democratic Senator Jon Corzine, whose considerable wealth helped frighten off any real Democratic competition. Mr. Schundler is the livelier of the two. He is also far more conservative, veering at some distance from the moderate model that has worked for New Jersey Republicans in the past. Mr....

<p>The next race for governor may be two years away, but Republican Douglas Forrester of West Windsor is already talking to campaign consultants, funneling money to other GOP candidates through his political action committee and speaking to Republican groups around the state.</p>

<p>EDISON, May 30 - Douglas R. Forrester wants to help shape the future of the state. He's just not sure how he wants to accomplish it.</p> <p>During a taping of News 12 New Jersey's Power and Politics Friday, the 2002 Republican candidate for United States Senator said it's too early to say if he'll be a candidate for governor in 2005, but refused to rule out the possibility.</p>

New Jersey Democratic senatorial candidate former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, left, debates with New Jersey Republican senatorial candidate Douglas Forrester at a street fair where both met campaigning Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002 Metuchen, N.J. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)

Fellow Freeper, hchutch, has been trying for weeks to get me to set the wheels in motion for Douglas Forrester to call in to the Howard Stern show. And for weeks, I've been putting him off with the explanation that since Forrester was so far ahead in the polls against that crook, Torricelli, that this would be unnecessary. Then hchutch contacted me again last week when it appeared that Frank Lautenberg would be replacing the Crooked Torch on the ballot. Again I put him off with the explanation that if SCOTUS overturned the NJ Supreme Court that this would also...

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Chip Casto is a reliable Democrat, unable to recall ever voting for a Republican. When he considered registering as an independent years ago, said Mr. Casto, 36, his parents would not hear of it. But his party affiliation is not making his choice in the United States Senate race in New Jersey an easy one. Mr. Casto, a teacher, cites "the incident" — the Senate Ethics Committee's rebuke of Senator Robert G. Torricelli for improperly accepting gifts — and says "that initial impression is hard to get over." He is still deciding whether to vote for Mr....

<p>TRENTON -- Removed from popular incumbent to trailing a political newcomer, U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, in the second debate of a bitter campaign, again warded off claims he is a dishonest candidate unfit for office.</p> <p>Thursday's face-off came the same day Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Republican Douglas Forrester leading Torricelli 48 to 44 percent among 1,341 New Jerseyans surveyed. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.</p>

<p>U.S. Senate candidate Douglas Forrester has pulled out to a clear lead in the Republican June 4 primary election, according to a KYW/Courier-Post poll released Wednesday.</p> <p>Forrester, a self-made millionaire who heads an employee benefits company, leads the three-candidate field with 33 percent of the likely Republican voters polled by SurveyUSA. State Sen. Diane Allen, R-Burlington, has 25 percent. State Sen. John Matheussen, R-Gloucester, trails with 14 percent.</p>

With the primary a month away, the three Republican U.S. Senate candidates are poised for a competitive stretch run with the winner possibly being determined during the last weekend of the race. It won't be an easy sprint: Political observers say the candidates, who have been on the stump for months, are still trying to get Republican voter attention in a race that's being ignored by many party members. The candidates must now concentrate on the difficult task of attracting support not just from inattentive party members, but party members who regularly vote in primaries. The battle for the votes...