Free Republic

Glenn Youngkin has clinched the governor's race in Virginia. In fact, the GOP dominated the Old Dominion, sweeping all three major statewide races. Republicans won the lieutenant governor and attorney general races. They're poised to flip the House of Delegates. It's over in Virginia—but up the road on I-95, we have another close race in New Jersey. Yes, you read that right. The state has been a graveyard for Republicans, except for Chris Christie, Tom Kean, and Christine Todd Whitman. No one thought Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was in danger. No one thought this was going to be a competitive...

The death, at age 89, of Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg has put a wrinkle in the reelection plans of New Jersey governor Chris Christie. The cantankerous Republican enjoys high approval ratings and a chasmic lead over Barbara Buono, a Democratic rival so weak that former governor Brendan Byrne, now the Garden State’s Democratic elder statesman, has hinted she should think about dropping out. But the need to appoint an interim replacement for Lautenberg, and to schedule a special election to fill out his term through 2014, has created a pair of new challenges. First, does Christie hold the special election...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s options for appointing a replacement for the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg include Tom Kean Jr., minority leader of the state senate and son of the former governor.

And now that he’s 77 years old, and the election is over, he felt free last week to administer an unvarnished scolding to the modern Republican Party. He describes a party that has lost its way, that is beholden to the wealthy, and that will keep losing elections until it recaptures the populist centrism of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, the two most successful Republican presidents in our history.

If you follow new GOP chief Michael Steele around these days, you can bet you’ll hear him bring up New Jersey’s gubernatorial race this year. He wants that blue state red again. From top to bottom, the GOP is talking about New Jersey. Here at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reminded the crowds that the last time New Jersey had a conservative candidate for governor, he won with 70% of the vote (Tom Kean, 1984). That’s 70% — in New Jersey. After that victory it is inexplicable that New Jersey’s Republican intelligentsia determined...

With two polls released this morning showing Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain in the Garden State by between 17 and 23 points, former Gov. Tom Kean acknowledged that winning this state is a long-shot, and that Vice-Presidential Sarah Palin hasn't helped. "I think one of the problems is there hasn't been much of a campaign in New Jersey, if any. That's always a problem. It's uphill for any Republican to win in New Jersey, and the ones who have won are those who have spent a great deal of time here," he told PolitickerNJ.com from California in a...

Rep. Mike Ferguson will announce today that he will not seek re-election to a fifth term in 2008. The 37-year-old Republican, who won re-election last year by just 1% against Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Stender, wants to spend more time with his four young children.Senate Minority Leader-designate Thomas Kean, Jr. becomes one of the most likely GOP candidates for the seat. Kean, the Republican U.S. Senate in 2006, was among the candidates who ran against Ferguson in the 7th district Republican primary in 2000, when Bob Franks gave up the seat to run for the Senate.Stender has been raising money for...

UNION CITY, N.J.—In his 30-plus years as a player in New Jersey politics, Senator Robert Menendez has cultivated dozens of friends and allies in positions of influence. But recently, on Sept. 5, one of his allies, a New Jersey business owner and a major fund-raiser for Mr. Menendez, showed up in a curious place: in front of a grand jury in Newark, where he was questioned about the financing of terror bombings in Cuba during the 1990’s. Also appearing in front of the grand jury was the former accountant of a deceased ally and donor for the Senator. The fund-raiser,...

IF YOU SUPPORT PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION, stay home on Election Day, or vote for a third-party candidate. This will help Bob Menendez get elected to the United States Senate, where he states he will block any judges who do not commit to abortion on demand. Indeed, his winning will result in viable, healthy babies continuing to be killed in the womb. IF YOU OPPOSE PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION, vote for Tom Kean on Election Day. He has said that he will support President Bush's judicial appointments as long as they commit not to legislate from the bench. This will result in...

Some people get mad at me when I tell them not to vote. But I believe there is a right time to abstain from casting a ballot – particularly if the only choice is a Democrat or Republican who are indistinguishable on the major issues of the day. A good example of a race where a protest vote for a third party candidate or a non-vote would be the right thing to do on Election Day is the New Jersey Senate race between incumbent Robert Menendez, the Democrat, and Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr. (Column continues below) Pollsters say the...

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I want to talk to you for just a second about Republican Senate candidate Thomas Kean, Jr. in New Jersey. This is a brave man. This is a man who deserves your attention and your support. This is a man who in the midst of the war on terror and the war in Iraq, has demanded the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. That's so courageous! I was so moved when I heard this demand from this Republican. It's not many Republicans that have this kind of courage and have these guts -- and he wasn't through there!...

TUCKERTON, N.J. (AP) - For Dale Parsons, the truth about the U.S. Senate race is as hard to crack as the clams he has in his bayside seafood store. "I'm ticked off," said Parsons, a registered Republican who's not greatly impressed with either Tom Kean Jr. or Robert Menendez. "There's just so much negativity, you don't know who to believe anymore. You can't trust any of them." In interviews across the state, a common theme emerged among voters: They're sick of the mudslinging, name-calling and finger-pointing, and want to hear what the candidates will actually do for them. In a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate race in New Jersey, which a Republican hasn't won in 34 years, remains virtually tied with less than two months before Election Day, a poll released Wednesday shows. Among likely voters, including those leaning toward a candidate, Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr. holds a 48-45 percent edge over Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, the Quinnipiac University poll showed. Six percent remain undecided. This survey of 688 likely voters has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Among the 1,233 registered voters surveyed, Menendez has a 41-38 percent edge. This survey has an error...

Weekend Talk Show Preview - Analysis for August 12th and 13th, 2006On the shows this weekend I'm most interested by Vali Nasr, on CNN, and Ken Mehlman, on Meet The Press.  I think we'll learn more about the events in the Middle East from Nasr and more about the coming campaign from Mehlman than all of the other guests, combined.  Nasr is an expert, from Iran, on the issues of conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.  I actually view this as our best hope of winning the coming world war.  Just as Communists and Nazis joined forces to start World...

New Jersey, dominated by Democrats in recent elections, has become the best Republican prospect for winning a Democratic-held Senate seat this year. New polls last week indicated appointive Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez falling back to an even race with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Quinnipiac University's poll showed Kean gaining nine percentage points in one month to take a two-point lead. The Monmouth University/Gannett poll's first Senate survey had Kean trailing Menendez by one point, but enjoying a 15-point lead among key independent voters. Kean's edge in the Quinnipiac survey marked the first time a New Jersey...

The Republican candidate for the United States Senate in New Jersey, Thomas H. Kean Jr., intends to make a campaign film that accuses his Democratic opponent, Robert Menendez, of "being wrapped up in the rackets for 30 years" despite public records and statements by former federal prosecutors that contradict Mr. Kean's most serious charges. Mr. Kean's chief campaign consultant, Matt Leonardo, a strategist for Republican candidates, disclosed the plans in an interview and said the film would be "very similar" in purpose to the commercials used to attack the military record of John Kerry during the 2004 presidential race. Kean...

JUNE 6 - For the most part, millions upon millions of dollars have been spent, the television and radio commercials have been aired, the strategy has been laid out and excuted, the doors have been knocked on, all of the mail has hit voters' households – and subsequently hit the voters' trashcans. Now, the candidates have little else to do but cross their fingers and continue their get out the vote efforts, hoping that enough of their voters will show up at the polls, and enough of their opponent's voters will stay home. There are a number of competitive races...

Tom Kean's Amnesty Statement at Liberty State Park in Jersey City (05/17/06): "I am pleased to be here today at Liberty State Park, one of New Jersey’s most inspiring historical sites. Standing here less than two thousand feet from the Statue of Liberty, I cannot think of a more poignant setting to remind New Jerseyans of our country's strong immigrant tradition. But while we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. Over the last several weeks, I have spoken about the need for immigration reform. I have talked about the problems with our porous borders...

Disclosure reports: Corzine gave cash gifts to top aides The Associated Press Published: Saturday, May 6, 2006 Updated: Saturday, May 6, 2006 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey's multimillionaire governor dipped into his personal fortune to give nearly $100,000 cash gifts to top aides late last year, just weeks before his Jan. 17 swearing in, according to recently released financial disclosure reports. Officials in Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration acknowledged that each gift was kept under $11,000 so that neither the staffers or Corzine would have to pay taxes. "A gift is just that, and a number of Jon Corzine's...

The son of former Governor Tom Kean (R) now has a seven percentage point advantage in New Jersey's U.S. Senate campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in the Garden State shows Republican Tom Kean, Jr. leading Senator Robert Menendez (D) 43% to 36%. Seven percent (7%) of voters say that they will vote for some other candidate and 14% remain undecided in this Democratic leaning state. A month ago, Kean held a two-point advantage, 41% to 39%. Kean has solidified support among Republicans since our last poll while Menendez has lost ground among Democrats. From an ideological perspective, Kean...