Giuliani

So far it's a hard luck state here for any Republican who wants to be President whose name isn't Rudy Giuliani.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, who supports Giuliani for President, said Republicans raised $100,000 for the former New York Mayor's campaign at a mixer at Bramnick's house in Westfield last Sunday.

Bramnick had no problem mustering support for his own candidacy at Thursday night's Somerset County Republican Convention.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

State Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr. and Republican National Committeeman David A. Norcross believe they discovered the second coming of Ronald Reagan in Mitt Romney, a lantern-jawed former governor of Massachusetts, whom the two New Jersey Republicans herald as a tax-cutting, pro-business nice guy straight out of central casting.

But a lot of ultra-conservatives aren’t sold on Romney yet, which may account for why the telegenic governor is limping badly in the polls with eleven months to go before the Republican Presidential Primary. In New Jersey, Romney faces another, bigger problem than just the skeptics on the starboard side of his party, as the shadow of 9-11 hero Rudy Giuliani looms over the political harbor like a modern colossus of Rhodes.

“This is an obvious and comfortable and natural place for Rudy to be,� admits Kyrillos, chair of the Romney campaign in New Jersey. “He has the stature and star power.�

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a conservative Congressman from South Jersey, has endorsed Rudy Giuliani for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco has also endorsed Giuliani, whose poll numbers and organizational endorsements make him the clear front runner in New Jersey's February 2008 Republican primary. Former National League President Leonard Coleman, State Sen. Joseph Palaia, Assemblyman Steven Corodemus, former Republican National Committeewoman Judith Stanley, former Republican Leadership Council President Stephen Distler, Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, former Mercer County Chairman Phil Angarone, and former Mercer County Executive Bob Prunetti have also announced their support of Giuliani.