Mark Peck

Dick Zimmer’s campaign for the United States Senate suffered a setback last night when he lost a bid for the organization line in his home county.  Hunterdon County Republicans voted 34-40 to keep Joe Pennacchio as their endorsed candidate, rather than switch to Zimmer, who represented Hunterdon as an Assemblyman, State Senator and Congressman from 1981 to 1996.  Some insiders suggest that Zimmer’s defeat last night was more of a problem for longtime GOP County Chairman Henry Kuhl, who is expected to face a challenge for re-election in June against Mark Peck, the Mayor of Bloomsbury.

Dorothy Tirpok, the Hunterdon County Clerk since 1981, has announced that he will not run for re-election to a fifth term in 2006. Tirpok's successor is likely to be picked in the Republican primary; Freeholder Director Nancy Palladino is considered a leading candidate, along with former Freeholder Frank Fuzo, and Bloomsbury Mayor Mark Peck. Fuzo gave up his Freeholder seat in 2005 to run for State Assembly, and Peck, who ran a strong campaign against Fuzo and the winner, Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow, recently joined the law firm headed by former Governor Jim Florio and Warren County Democratic boss Michael Perrucci.