Vince Polistina

From left: Folsom Mayor Tom Ballistreri, Assemblyman John Amodeo (R-Atlantic) and Egg Harbor Township Mayor James McCullough.

GALLOWAY - Businessman Andy Unanue bested the field of GOP candidates for U.S. Senate at the Atlantic County Republican Convention here tonight, winning yet another line as part of an in absensia candidacy that is not even a week old.

Vacationing out of the state, Unanue beat state Sen. Joe Pennacchio and economist Murray Sabrin, who both spoke at the event held in the Renault Winery.

A Zogby poll conducted for the Press of Atlantic City and Richard Stockton State College shows Democrat James Whelan leading GOP State Sen. Sonny McCullough by a 50%-37% margin, and the race between Republican State Sen. Nicholas Asselta and Democrat Jeff Van Drew to be a statistical dead heat.

Van Drew, a three-term Assemblyman, leads Asselta by a 45%-42% margin. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5%.

Gov. Jon Corzine campaigns in Atlantic City for Team Whelan on Sunday.

The Absecon Channel separates Brigantine from Atlantic City in this world of salt water and low-slung housing broken up by tragicomic human silos with names like Taj and Showboat.

But it’s all the same battlefield here in the 2nd district, where forces are mobilizing for Sen. (and Egg Harbor Township Mayor) James "Sonny" McCullough or Assemblyman James Whelan.

In Atlantic City, a second tall and bearded politician joins Team Whelan today in a senior citizens complex on Atlantic Avenue. It’s Gov. Jon Corzine, who knows seniors are a critical voting block, particularly in an off-election year like this, and he’s working the older crowd overtime with his best up-close-and-personal demeanor.

Driving in the rain in Atlantic County, Democratic Assemblyman Jim Whelan says he knows it’s going to be close on Election Day when all these long months of arguing and talking and walking and pounding and fund-raising and driving come to a head in his challenge of GOP Sen. James "Sonny" McCullough.

"A win by one point is still a win," says Whelan. "Boston won the first game of the World Series the other night, 13-1. They won the second game, 2-1. The result of the second game is still the same as the first. They won."

Whelan has the strong arm reliever coming into the game in the form of Senate President Richard Codey, who’s got an $800,000 fast ball, and on Sunday, Gov. Jon Corzine will campaign with Whelan.

In the 2nd district, the Democratic candidates for the Assembly have clearly identified Republican engineer Vince Polistina as their chief target, whom they're trying to define as a taxpayer bilking machine.

The Dems are running an ad on FOX television that slams Assembly candidate Polistina for fulfilling public contracts - some of them no-bid contracts, according to the ad.

"Oh, yeah," the ad says. "Vince Polistina has been donating to Republicans for years."

The Press of Atlantic City has endorsed Republican Vince Polistina and Democrat Blondell Spellman for State Assembly in the hotly contested second district race. "Polistina is a fresh, welcome newcomer to the political scene whom we can endorse without reservation. With reservation ... Blondell Spellman is our second choice," the editorial said. READ

The District 2 Democratic Assembly candidates today challenged their Republican opponents to a minimum of five debates before Election Day.

Joe Wilkins and Blondell Spellman proposed 45 minute, one-on-one debates in front of an audience of voters, with questions posed by moderators, the audience, and the candidates themselves. They said the forums must be hosted by a non-biased, independent organization or media outlet, suggesting as possibilities the Press of Atlantic City, the League of Women Voters, Richard Stockton State College, New Jersey Network, or Pinky's Corner.

State Senator James “Sonny” McCullough and his Assembly running mates Vince Polistina and John Amodeo endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President today.

Giuliani was in the area to campaign for the first district Republican legislative candidates, but stopped by the Ram's Head Inn in Galloway Township to campaign for McCullough's slate.

The presence of labor leader Joe Wilkins on the District 2 Democratic ticket prompted Team Whelan to march out of their huddle at party headquarters in Linwood Friday with an eye-of-the-tiger demeanor not lost on some of the charged-up labor reps in the room.

But over in Egg Harbor Township, engineer Vince Polistina was hardly impressed with news about the candidacy of a former assistant commissioner of labor who resigned his post last week to run for the Assembly. Polistina, a Republican candidate for the Assembly in District 2, said, "We need new faces in Trenton. We keep sending the same old people back there. We’re one of two states in the nation that are in the red. We need to put controls on spending and rein in the culture of corruption in Trenton."

Atlantic County Republicans didn't waste any time going after their brand new Assembly opponent on monetization, but the new candidate had already fielded a question on the issue in his kick-off press conference.

"I am opposed to any leasing of toll roads," Democratic Assembly candidate Joe Wilkins said emphatically.