Frank Pallone

Representative Frank Pallone acknowledged today that Hillary Clinton is the underdog for the Democratic presidential nomination, but said that he will continue supporting her until she either wins or decides to end her run.

“I’m sticking with her. I think it’s her decision to decide what she wants to do,” he said. “As long as she’s running I’m supporting her.”

Pallone disputed the conventional wisdom that Barack Obama is virtually sure to win the nomination, saying that it’s “still possible for (Clinton) to win”

“You still have some primaries, you still have the superdelegates and you still have Florida and Michigan,” he said.

United States Rep. Frank Pallone endorsed Dennis Shulman in the fifth district Democratic congressional primary.

Shulman, a rabbi and psychologist who’s been blind since childhood, faces Camille Abate for the nomination to take on Republican incumbent E. Scott Garrett.

"I find so much to admire in Dennis's story and message," said Pallone in a press release. "Residents of Northern New Jersey deserve much better representation than what they are getting from Scott Garrett. Dennis' passionate willingness to fight for hardworking families, to end the war in Iraq and to address critical environmental issues is exactly what we need to defeat Congressman Garrett this fall."

LONG BRANCH - U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6), a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, says her 2002 war authorization vote was not the same as Andrews's. Pallone himself voted against the resolution to go to war.

U.S. Sen. Frank LautenbergLONG BRANCH - U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg today said he would debate U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) if the pair could reach agreeable terms, and in the meantime excoriated his opponent’s vigorous early support for the War in Iraq.

"He was a cheerleader for this thing. He stood with President Bush when he signed the resolution that Andrews helped create," Lautenberg said of the congressman’s role in helping to craft the 2002 war authorization resolution.

Lautenberg argued that his own early declaration of support for the resolution - made while he was retired from the U.S. Senate and before he replaced U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli - is hardly comparable to Andrews’s, and said he might have voted against it had he been privy to government intel.

"If I was in the Senate at the time I might have had the chance to have briefings, as the congressman did," Lautenberg said.

The senator hinted that he would probably not participate in as many debate encounters with the south Jersey congressman as Andrews’s suggested seven but said he foresees a face-off.

New Jersey’s Democratic Congressional delegation issued a scathing statement on Rob Andrew’s Senate candidacy today, saying that he broke his pledge to fully support incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg for reelection and that his conduct has been “both outrageous and unacceptable."

Six of the state’s seven Democratic Congressmen -- Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Steve Rothman, Rush Holt, Albio Sires and Donald Payne -- co-signed the statement, in which they called on their Democratic colleague to drop his candidacy.

"It is now clear that Congressman Rob Andrews has failed to gain thenecessary support to realistically compete in this race, and therefore, we urge Congressman Andrews to end his campaign,” they said.

The congressmen, four of whom are interested in succeeding Lautenberg some day, also argued that Andrews’s primary challenge will weaken the eventual Democratic nominee against his Republican challenger.

TRENTON - As Democrats gear up for a bruising senate primary season, unofficial congressional filing results with the state Division of Elections show no same-party challengers to incumbent Democratic congressmen.      

Only in the 1st District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews is vacating his seat to challenge U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the primary, are there several hopefuls battling for what Andrews leaves behind.

Six Democratic Congressmen have endorsed Frank Lautenberg for re-election to the U.S. Senate: Getty Images Photo
All six of Rob Andrews' New Jersey House colleagues have endorsed Frank Lautenberg for U.S. enate, and have pledged to run on his line in the June 3 Democratic primary.

"Frank Lautenberg is New Jersey's senator and we stand with him. He delivers for New Jersey in the U.S. Senate and is invaluable to our state. That is why we will run in our home counties on the same line with Senator Lautenberg in the Democratic primary," said Frank Pallone, Donald Payne, Bill Pascrell, Steve Rothman, Rush Holt and Albio Sires in a joint statement. "Senator Lautenberg's leadership is critical to New Jersey's future. We urge our colleague, Rep. Rob Andrews, not to run for U.S. Senate."

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg addresses the crowd as Gov. Jon Corzine looks on.

TRENTON -- Burnishing his blue collar roots and seniority in Washington, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg today launched his re-election bid at the Trenton Marriott, promising to lead the fight for New Jersey's working families.

"I will build on my work of the last few years, to stand strong against those who attack our values that short change our state and to deliver the results that improve people's lives," said Lautenberg, who was first elected to the Senate in 1982.

Just one day before former Attorney General John Ashcroft was set to testify in Congress about the federal oversight contract he was given by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, the Justice Department banned federal prosecutors from selecting corporate monitors, the Star-Ledger reports.

Josh Zeitz appeals to Monmouth County Democrats. 

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - After giving standing ovations to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) and U.S. Rep Frank Pallone (D-6) at the Shore Casino on Saturday, Monmouth County Democrats greeted their young contender in the 4th congressional district with a polite pitter-patter of hands.

Of the 4th, "I don’t know if its going to be contested or not but we do have someone here," Party Chairman Victor Scudiery said in his introduction of Zeitz, a 34-year old American History professor at Rutgers University from Bordentown who has taken a leave of absence this year to challenge the formidable U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4).