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Mayor Steve LoneganPoliticsNJ.com is pleased to welcome Steve Lonegan as a featured blogger. A leader of the conservative wing of New Jersey's Republican Party, Lonegan was elected Mayor of Bogota in 1995 and re-elected in 1999 and 2003.  His last re-election bid was chronicled in the documentary film Anytown, USA.  He is the Executive Director of Americans for Prosperty-New Jersey and sought the Republican nomination for Governor in 2005.  Lonegan announced last year that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term as Mayor.  Lonegan joins former U.S. Senator Bob Torricelli, former Governor Christie Whitman, Rider University professor David Rebovich and former New York Times reporter Terry Golway as featured PoliticsNJ.com bloggers.  Watch for Mayor Lonegan's first blogpost soon.

Remember how Forrest Gump was composited into historical clips? That's how several Republican leaders view lobbyist Steven Some, who made his way onto the set of an NJN "On the Record" taping of a presidential campaign panel as Rudy Giuliani's representative. Some's appearance on NJN last weekend has angered several key Giuliani supporters, who felt that the lobbyist should not be pro-actively spinning for their candidate on television, or representing himself as a player on their campaign.

New Jersey Network invited Some, who had identified himself to them as Giuliani's New Jersey "Coordinator" -- but the campaign told PoliticsNJ.com that Some is just a "supporter" and has no formal title with them. Some has contacted other media outlets in recent weeks to let them know that he is available for comment on presidential politics. His quotes in news stories that have appeared in the Star-Ledger, the New York Times and the New York Sun came as a result of his self-promotion. Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore is chairing the Giuliani campaign in New Jersey.

Still, Some is considered by the campaign as a "thoughtful, intelligent supporter, whose opinions are welcome and valued."

Evan Kozlow, who managed the 2006 U.S. Senate campaign of Thomas Kean, Jr., has joined the National Republican Congressional Committee as the Director of Member Services. Kozlow is a former Chief of Staff to Congressman Scott Garrett, and managed Garrett's 2002 campaign for the open fifth district seat. He previously served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee and as Political Director of Bret Schundler's campaign for Governor. He has appeared on PoliticsNJ.com's list of best campaign operatives.

GOP Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck has decided to run for State Senate against Democratic incumbent Ellen Karcher, setting up one of the premier legislative contests of the 2007 mid-term elections. Beck will give up the Assembly seat she won in 2005 to challenge Karcher, who upset Co-Senate President John Bennett in 2003.

Update: Beck says that the announcement of her Senate candidacy is premature. ""I have not yet made a decision or any type of announcement regarding which seat I will be running for in 2007," she told PoliticsNJ.com. But Senate Republicans say she is running against Karcher.

Republican State Chairman Thomas Wilson could lose his job following the guilty plea of his former business partner, according to four different Republican County Chairmen who say party leaders are actively discussing Wilson's political future. Wilson's term expires in June.

Robert Stears, a former GOP operative who worked with Wilson at The Strategy Group, a Trenton lobbying firm, admitted on Friday that he overbilled the Burlington County Bridge Commission as much as $1 million. He faces up to 25 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion.

Wilson told PoliticsNJ.com that he knows of no move to oust him: "I'm not getting any of that from any of them. In fact, just the opposite."

Virginia McCabe told NJ101.5's The Jersey Guys this afternoon at her attorney has advised her not to release a video showing Atlantic City Councilman Eugene Robinson allegedly engaging in oral sex with a prostitute. McCabe also said that she received a phone call at her home from a computerized voice asking that a copy of the video be sent to PoliticsNJ.com at our Hoboken address. But this website does not use computerized voices to communicate and has made no contact with McCabe, who is respectfully urged to not to forward (or offer to sell) any videotapes to us.

Robert Meyner was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1953 when 38-year-old John R. Kerfoot became involved in Camden County politics. He became the Audubon Park Democratic Municipal Chairman in 1965 -- a position he continues to hold. He is a former Councilman, State Senate Sergeant-At-Arms, and had perfect attendance at County Committee meetings for over fifty years.

Kerfoot, an avid PoliticsNJ.com reader, passed away this weekend. He was 91.

When a vacancy occurred on the Camden County Freeholder Board in 2000, Democrats decided to pay tribute to the Kerfoot's long service by appointing him Freeholder. He completed the five weeks remaining in the term of Patricia Egan Jones, who was elected Surrogate.

Under Kerfoot's leadership, Audubon Park has been reliably Democratic. In his first general election as a member of the Camden Democratic machine, he helped delivered his town to Meyner, then former one-term State Senator from Warren with little chance to defeat Republican Paul Troast. Audubon Park went 595-94 for Meyner, who scored an upset victory to win the governorship.

And in 1985, Kerfoot was one of just three Democratic Municipal Chairman in the state to deliver his town for Peter Shapiro in his race against Governor Thomas Kean. Earlier this month, Kerfoot's organization delivered a huge plurality for Robert Menendez over Thomas Kean, Jr.
For the true political junkies, Kerfoot began his career as a lieutenant under the legendary Camden County Democratic boss, George Brunner, who served as Mayor of Camden and as the Democratic State Chairman.

His viewing will be held at Henry Funeral Home in Audubon on Tuesday from 6PM to 9PM and on Wednesday 9AM to 11AM. The funeral services are private.

If four-term Assemblyman Herbert Conaway, Jr. wants to stay in the Legislature, it may have to be as a Senator. Sources say that South Jersey Democrats are prepared to drop Conaway from their seventh district ticket next year and replace him with Troy Singleton, the Deputy Executive Director of the Assembly Majority Office and a rising star in Democratic politics. Conaway has had considerable problems getting along with local Democrats over the last few years.

Democrats say Conaway can have the organization line to run against GOP State Senator Diane Allen -- something he declined to do in 2001 and 2003. Don't look for Democrats to shell out any real money behind a Conaway for Senate campaign -- Allen is too popular in her district to face any real threat of losing.

Could Conaway rescue his career by switching parties and running for re-election as a Republican on Allen's ticket? Not likely -- the GOP says they don't want him.

Editor's Note: After this item was posted, Burlington County Democratic Chairman Richard Perr told PoliticsNJ.com: "The Burlington County Democratic Committee supports his re-election, and, if he intends to run for re-election, he will have the line." Still, and with much respect, this website stands by our post.

Embattled New Jersey Turnpike Authority Chairman Joseph Simunovich, one of many state and local officials facing ethics complains, doesn't seem quite sure about his status with Bob Menendez's campaign for the United States Senate. The former Hudson County Freeholder began the year as Menendez's Finance Chairman, and told a Bergen Record reporter recently that he was "not very active" because of his wife's illness. But a Menendez campaign official told PoliticsNJ.com today that Simunovich has been out since August when he resigned.

Monmouth University Polling Director Patrick Murray says that pollster Joel Benenson has a history of "smearing" polls that have his candidate ahead and defended the methodology used in a Gannett New Jersey poll released yesterday that shows Tom Kean, Jr. leading Bob Menendez by six points.

"Benenson's critique of the latest Monmouth University poll on the Senate race is based on inaccurate assumptions about the poll's methodology, specifically the demographic composition of the final voter sample," Murray said in an e-mail to PoliticsNJ.com. "My poll releases always indicate the 'unweighted' number of respondents in each demographic group so that informed poll observers can make their own assessment of the margin of error within each group. I do worry that unsophisticated poll watchers may misinterpret these numbers, and this appears to be the case here."

"The weighted demographic distributions for party identification in Sunday's poll -- the distribution upon which the final horse race numbers are based -- is 33% Dem, 26% Rep, and 41% Ind, which is slightly more Democratic than Benenson claims it 'should' be," said Murray. "As to race, my voter sample is 12% African-American and 10% Hispanic, which is also higher than Benenson claims it should be."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Benenson has a history of smearing public polls when they don't benefit his client. Four years ago, he blasted the Star-Ledger/Eagleton Poll for numbers which showed Doug Forrester taking a commanding lead over his client, Bob Torricelli. Two days after that poll was released, Torricelli pulled out of the race. I doubt very much that this would have happened if the internal campaign poll numbers did not match the public poll," said Murray.