Frank Blee

If Atlantic County Republicans picked seven-term Assemblyman Frank Blee for the State Senate last February, instead of Sonny McCullough, would Jim Whelan still have won?

A casualty of Francis Blee’s loss in February’s Special Election Convention for State Senate: longtime Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz.

Sources say that the appointment of a new Prosecutor is imminent, and that Blitz will not get the reappointment he wanted.  Blitz is a close ally of former State Senator Bill Gormely, which put him on a different side of the new Senator, Republican James “Sonny” McCullough.  McCullough, a Gormley foe, beat Blee by a 61%-39% margin.

Republican Frank Blee will step down as the Assembly Minority Whip -- the number three post in the GOP leadership -- and Jon Bramnick of Union County appears to be the favorite to succeed him.  Blee, who won just 39% of the vote in his bid for State Senate at a Special Election Convention in February, has decided not to seek re-election to an eighth term in the lower house.  Some Republican legislators had privately urged Blee's ouster after the Atlantic County Republican said he would back Democratic Assemblyman James Whelan for State Senate against GOP incumbent James "Sonny" McCullough.

Frank Blee, who took a beating in a Special Election Convention for State Senate yesterday, will not seek re-election to an eighth term in the State Assembly. That means the second district will have two open seats in 2007: Democrat James Whelan, the former Mayor of Atlantic City who was elected to the Assembly in 2005, is running for State Senator against the new GOP incumbent, James "Sonny" McCullough.

Some insiders say there will be pressure on Blee to resign early, as Bill Gormley did, so that Republicans will have a chance to appoint a new Assemblyman, who could seek re-election as an incumbent.

State Senator Nicholas Asselta has endorsed Sonny McCullough for State Senate in the second district against Frank Blee because he wants someone to join him as a conservative vote in the upper house. That didn't sit well with one Republican elected official, who asked that his name be withheld in the interest of party unity:

"Let me get this straight: Asselta endorses a candidate on the grounds that he, Asselta, needs another conservative voice in the Senate? Does Asselta possess even so much as one conservative molecule in his body? I mean, Blee's certainly no conservative, and virtually any real Republican would be an improvement. But Asselta is every bit as bad. Is there a tax increase he hasn't supported, a boneheaded Democratic proposal against which he has led the charge? I guess, if you're running for office, you take such support, even out of district, as you can muster. But I can't imagine a single conservative who would give an Asselta endorsement the slightest credence."

If Frank Blee loses the suddenly competitive contest for State Senate, there is strong speculation that he will not seek re-election to the State Assembly this year. With the strong support of Congressman Frank LoBiondo, Egg Harbor Township Mayor James "Sonny" McCullough has emerged as a potent challenger to Blee at the Special Election Convention this month for Bill Gormley's Assembly seat.

With his longtime rival Gormley retiring, LoBiondo has wasted no time making a move to enhance his political clout in Atlantic County. LoBiondo, then an Assemblyman from Cumberland County, defeated Gormley in an especially bitter congressional primary in 1994. The Congressman now lives in Atlantic.

Democrats remain optimistic about their chances to pick up the second district Senate and Assembly seats. Their Senate candidate is James Whelan, a first term Assemblyman and the former Mayor of Atlantic City.

Atlantic County Republicans have called a Special Election Convention to fill Bill Gormley's State Senate seat on Tuesday, February 20, according to a report filed by radio personality Harry Hurley. The vote is set for five days after Gormley's resignation is effective. State law requires these Special Election Conventions to be held seven to 35 days after the vacancy occurs, but like many election laws, those dates appear to be flexible. In 2006, Essex County Democrats filled Evelyn Williams' vacant Assembly seat just a few days after she resigned, and there was no challenge to Oadline Truitt's election.

Gormley is backing Assembly Minority Whip Frank Blee as his successor. Egg Harbor Township Mayor Sonny McCullough has announced that he will run in the June Senate primary, but has not yet said if he will compete at the Special Election Convention.

If Blee wins, the Atlantic County Republican Committee will need to return for a future vote to fill his Assembly seat.

Assemblyman Samuel Thompson is testing the waters to see if he has enough support with in the Republican caucus to run for Minority Whip. The post is expected to become vacant next month, assuming Frank Blee prevails at a Special Election Convention to succeed Bill Gormley in the State Senate. Statehouse insiders say that Assemblyman Jon Bramnick has emerged as the leading candidate for the #3 GOP leadership post.

If Bramnick wins Blee's job, Republicans will then need another election to replace Bramnick as the Assistant Minority Whip. There will be several leadership posts available if the Republicans retain the minority in the 2007 mid-term election. Policy Committee Chairman Steve Corodemus is not seeing re-election, and Assistant Minority Whip Sean Kean and Republican Appropriations Officer Joseph Pennacchio are running for the State Senate.

To put contested legislative leadership contests into a proper context, it should be noted that fourteen of the 31 Republicans in the State Assembly are in leadership. 26 of 49 Assembly Democrats are in leadership.