No shortage of GOP hopefuls interested in Saxton seat

U.S. Rep. James Saxton's retirement has opened the floodgates, with over a dozen names pouring out as potential successors to the dozen-term Congressman. And many of those names hail from Ocean County, a solidly Republican locale that has never had a Congressman who called it home.

Ocean County politicians see this as a great opportunity to a long-deserved seat. But while they appear to have more aspirants than Burlington County, which makes up a roughly equal chunk of the district, so far no potential candidate has appeared from Ocean with the name recognition or draw of Diane Allen, who bobs to the surface of congressional hopefuls.

Short of drafting a celebrity to run, the best hope for any Ocean County Republican to win the nomination is an internal battle in Burlington County - a real possibility. Allen's current nemesis, GOP boss Glenn Paulsen, could make things more complicated for her as long as their two party factions are warring. Or former GOP State Chairman David Norcross, a veteran political player who has reportedly expressed interest in running for the seat, could wage a strong challenge as well.

To Paulsen, Allen's status as the favorite to run in Saxton's place is a bit of a sore spot. Allen's mention that she received calls from Tom Wilson and the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (NRCC) was a way to give the impression that she was the frontrunner, he said.

"For people to come out and say I'm entitled and I should be the candidate is a prescription to lose," said Paulsen. "The impression has been created by her, on her behalf, that she's the sole person under consideration."

But Allen said that she mentioned receiving the phone calls in response to a reporter's question about how she found out about Saxton's retirement, not to secure her place as the frontrunner to replace him.

"Someone asked me how I learned about things. I told them about the phone calls about what was going on - that's all. I simply answered some questions," said Allen.

Paulsen said he wasn't likely to field a primary challenger against Allen, although he wouldn't explicitly rule it out (doing so could cause a split that might open the door to an Ocean County candidate). Instead, he questioned whether the NRCC would actually want to fully fund a moderate, pro-choice candidate like Allen, who doesn't mesh with some of the national party's core social values.

Over the weekend, Paulsen exclaimed the merits of Rev. Aubrey Fenton, a Burlington County Freeholder, as a potential candidate to reporters - an opportunity, he said, for the GOP to reach out to minority voters with an African-American candidate. But some insiders wonder whether Paulsen is truly excited about the prospect, or whether he's trying to dampen enthusiasm for an Allen run. (Fenton could not be reached for comment - in fact, it's unclear whether he's interested in running).

For now, the field of potential Saxton successors remains plentiful and the outlook remains murky.

So far, only a couple names can be taken out of the mix. Ocean County Clerk Carl Block said today that he's interested in running for the seat someday, but not in 2008. Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield told the Courier-Post over the weekend that she wouldn't seek the seat, while Burlington County Clerk and State Senator Elect Phil Haines today downplayed the likelihood of running.

"I was just elected by the people here to do a job, and I plan on completing the four year term," said Haines.

In Burlington County, that leaves Norcross, a former U.S. Senate candidate, state party chairman, experienced fundraiser and long-time political player, as the most formidable candidate against Allen.

While Allen has the name recognition that comes with her spending decades as a news anchor on Philadelphia television - the media market for most, if not all of the district -- Norcross has the fundraising ability that Allen lacks. But while Norcross's name rings a bell with political insiders, it doesn't have the type of cross-county cachet that Allen's does.

Fenton and Bill Haines, a cranberry farmer and four-term Freeholder, remain as potential candidates as well.

Camden County also makes up a small portion of the district, with Democratic-leaning Cherry Hill -- hometown of likely Democratic nominee John Adler -- as its only town. County Chairman Rick DeMichele would not name any potential candidates from that town, but acknowledged that he's looking into it. He's also been approached by several Ocean and Burlington County hopefuls about the running on his organization's line come primary day.

"(Cherry Hill) can play a significant role in the primary," said DeMichele.

Meanwhile in Ocean County, many more names have been floated: Assemblyman/state Senator Elect Chris Connors; Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Jim Holzapfel; Freeholders Jack Kelly, Joe Vicari and Gerry little; and former Assemblywoman Virginia Haines.

"It's absolutely something Ocean County really wants, there's no doubt about that," said Kelly. "What you don't want to turn this into is an ‘us against them'. We need to assure them that the needs of the district come first."

Ocean County politicians are careful not to disparage its representation by Saxton or U.S. Rep. Chris Smith -- but the desire to have one of its own serve in the body is clearly present. The closest they came was 1983, when Dean Haines was narrowly defeated in the primary by Saxton.

Virginia Haines, who was married to him at the time, is now trying to figure out whether she has the support to make a run for it.

"Of course we would love to have the person who represents our congressional district be from Ocean County," said Virginia Haines. "I think we have people who are just as qualified to run to be a congressman representing the district as well as Burlington and/or Camden."

With so much interest, the possibility of a primary is real. On Friday, Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore said that the parties of the three counties that comprise the district will try to work out a candidate they can get behind.

But right now it's too early.

"We're trying to digest the news of the Congressman's retirement," said Rumpf, who said he's "tremendously interested" in running for the seat. "I don't think there's been any dialogue in those who have interest in who best should step forward from Ocean County."

There is, however, one potential Republican dream candidate who originally comes from Ocean County: Al Leiter, a retired major league baseball pitcher who's played for the Yankees and Mets during his 18-year carrer. Leiter doesn't live in the district, but grew up in Toms River - Ocean County's largest municipality. He is also an active Republican.

Neither Leiter nor Gilmore could be reached for comment.