Walter Kavanaugh

Assembly Minority Whip Peter Biondi is expected to announce early next week that he will not seek the Republican nomination for Congress in the seventh district. And State Senator Leonard Lance will formally enter the race next week; he had planned to announce this week, but postponed his event following the death of longtime State Senator Walter Kavanaugh.

Walter Kavanaugh died this evening, just one day after the expiration of his State Senate term.  He spent 32 years in the New Jersey Legislature -- a considerable career,   and among the longest tenures in state history.

The former Air Force helicopter pilot first ran for office in 1963, winning a seat on the Somerville Board of Education. When Republican Victor Rizzolo announced that he would not seek re-election to the State Assembly in 1975, the 32-year-old Kavanaugh became the Somerset GOP organization candidate for the Assembly. He won his first general election with ease, finishing ahead of four-term incumbent John Ewing in his race against Democrats Edward Brady and Peter Dowling. He never had a tough race; even when Democrat Timothy Carden ran an aggressive campaign that put him within 3,000 votes of winning, Kavanaugh still won by more than 10,000.

At the end of the year, Walter Kavanaugh will have spent 32 years in the New Jersey Legislature -- a considerable career, but not necessarily the one he was hoping for.

The former Air Force helicopter pilot first ran for office in 1963, winning a seat on the Somerville Board of Education. When Republican Victor Rizzolo announced that he would not seek re-election to the State Assembly in 1975, the 32-year-old Kavanaugh became the Somerset GOP organization candidate for the Assembly. He won his first general election with ease, finishing ahead of four-term incumbent John Ewing in his race against Democrats Edward Brady and Peter Dowling. He never had a tough race; even when Democrat Timothy Carden ran an aggressive campaign that put him within 3,000 votes of winning, Kavanaugh still won by more than 10,000.

During his second year in Trenton, Kavanaugh won an Assembly leadership post. The slot became available when Thomas Kean resigned as Minority Leader to concentrate on his campaign for Governor In those days, leadership was rotated every two years, putting Kavanaugh in line to become Republican leader, or Speaker, if his party won control.

After just a few years, Kavanaugh's career began to slow down. An early supporter of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid, Kavanaugh actually sought appointment as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, though he was never seriously considered. In 1982, when Millicent Fenwick decided to to give up her fifth district House seat to run for the U.S. Senate, Kavanaugh decided to run for Congress. But when New Jersey lost a House seat after the census, mapmakers eliminated Fenwick's district, effectively ending Kavanaugh's congressional aspirations.

After the 1983 legislative elections, a group of Republican Assemblymen led by Chuck Hardwick ran a slate of candidates against most of the incumbent GOP leadership; Kavanaugh was defeated, along with Marie Muhler, Anthony "Doc" Villane, and Karl Weidel. Hardwick, who leapfrogged over Kavanaugh, became Minority Leader after Dean Gallo went to Congress in 1984, became Speaker after the Republicans won control of the Assembly in 1985 -- Kavanaugh, for at least a few hours, had been a candidate for Speaker.

Kavanaugh remained in the Assembly until 1997, waiting for octogenerian Ewing (who went to the Senate in 1977) to finally retire from the Senate.

For extreme junkies: while attending Notre Dame University (which loses both their Senators with the retirement of Bill Gormley), Kavanaugh worked the carnival circuit, guessing weights and ages. He still has the skills to do that job.

More for extreme junkies: Victor Rizzolo first ran for office at age 21 in 1944, just a few months after his discharge from the U.S. Army during World War II -- he was the Republican candidate for Hudson County Freeholder. After going to law school, he lost three more races -- bids for municipal office in Kearny in 1955, 1956 and 1957 -- and then served as an Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor.

Rizzolo then moved to Somerset County, where he became a Municipal Court Judge in Hillsborough, Millstone and Readington, and then a Somerset County Court Judge. After Fenwick resigned her Assembly seat in 1972 to become state Consumer Affairs Director, Rizzolo won a January 1973 special election to fill her seat. He defeated Michael Imbriani, the former Somerset County Prosecutor. Rizzolo won comfortably in November 1973 (Ewing won his fourth term over Imbriani by just 447 votes), and retired in 1975. He resides in Somerville.

Imbriani was later named to serve as a Superior Court Judge, and served until 1995, when he pleaded guilty to stealing $173,000 from his partners in a real estate development venture. He was placed on probation for five years. At a meeting of the State House Commission in 1998, chaired by Kavanaugh, Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto sought to protect Imbriani's pension. Assemblyman Leonard Lance, a member of the commission, attempted a compromise that would have reduced the pension, but it was defeated by a 3-2 vote, with representatives of Governor Christine Todd Whitman siding with Impreveduto. A second Democratic commission member, Senator John Lynch, recused himself.

James Dowden, a Democrat who spent twenty years as the popular Mayor of heavily-Republican Bridgewater, still shows interest in running for State Senator in the 1th district next year. Republicans are facing a possible primary between longtime incumbent Walter Kavanaugh and Assemblyman Christopher Bateman. Somerset County showed some signs of shifting toward the Democrats this week: U.S. Senator Robert Menendez won 48% of the vote in Somerset County and Democratic Freeholder candidates came within about 1,500 votes of winning. Dowden was the Mayor from 1973 until his retirement in 2003.

"Walter Kavanaugh is the senator, and I support him as senator. Kip Bateman is the assemblyman, and I support him in that job." -- Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio, saying that he is too focused on Tuesday's General Election to take sides in a possible 2007 State Senate primary (Courier-News, 11/01/06)

Chaser: "Running on the line with Amy in Monmouth County, it would be inappropriate for me to turn around and try to bang her. And in Middlesex I'm running on the line with Joe, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to bang him either." -- Assemblyman Samuel Thompson, after Joe Azzolina said he would challenge Amy Handlin in the '05 GOP Assembly primary. (PoliticsNJ.com, 04/27/05)

The Star-Ledger reported today that two powerful conservative groups that have never been huge fans of the Kean Family-- the Christian Coalition and National Right to Life -- are "sending out mailers and distributing fliers at churches" advocating the election of Thomas Kean, Jr. to the United States Senate. The newspaper says that the pro-life organization has spent nearly $80,000 to help the pro-choice Kean. This represents a change in philosophy by the conservatives, who had taken a virtual pass on Douglas Forrester when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2002 and for Governor in 2005. (Editor's Note: Kean's support comes from National Right to Life; their state organization, New Jersey Right to Life, has not endorsed a candidate.)

The Kean/Conservative coalition comes at a time when there is considerable specualtion that conservatives will mount a strong campaign to change the ideological makeup of the State Senate and Assembly GOP caucuses in next year's election. Two of the state's most conservative Assemblymen, Michael Doherty and Guy Gregg, are mulling Senate primaries against Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance and Robert Littell, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, respectively. Another conservative, Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio, seems certain to replace one of the most liberal members of the Senate Republican Caucus, Robert Martin, next year.

Conservatives have been threatening for years to recruit a candidate to run against William Gormley in the GOP Senate primary -- they came very close to ousting him in 1991 -- but there is also a good chance that Gormley won't run again in 2007. His likely replacement, Francis Blee, is viewed as a moderate, which puts him to the right of the incumbent. Burlington County Republicans are widely expected to replace Martha Bark in the eighth district, and her replacement is also likely to be more conservative -- especially if the candidate turns out to be Michael Warner, the GOP County Chairman and a retired Army Colonel.

Two GOP Assemblymen are vying for the eleventh district Senate seat, where Joseph Palaia is retiring: Sean Kean and Steven Corodemus. Kean is viewed as the front runner; Corodemus is the more conservative of the duo.

Another possible change in the Senate could come in the sixteenth district, where longtime incumbent Walter Kavanaugh could face a serious primary challenge from Assembyman Christopher Bateman. Kavanaugh began his career in 1975 as one of the Assembly's more conservative members, but he has not been viewed as an ideologue for many years. Still, observers view him as more conservative that Bateman.

In the Assembly, the race to watch for the right is in the 26th district, where former congressional aide Jay Webber faces off against Martin's Campaign Chairman, Lawrence Casha, for Pennacchio's open Assembly seat. Webber ran a challenge from the right against Martin in the 2003 primary and seems to be making some headway by tying Casha to Martin's recent voting record. Conservatives are also set to take on Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk in Bergen County; possible candidates include former gubernatorial candidate Robert Schroeder and former Waldwick Mayor James Toolen.

Assemblyman Christopher Bateman is prepared to challenge incumbent Walter Kavanaugh in the 16th district State Senate primary next year, if Kavanaugh does not retire. Several sources close to Bateman say that the decision to run for Senate in 2007 is final.

The 73-year-old Kavanaugh, who has had serious health issues in recent years, has served in the Legislature since his election to the State Assembly in 1975. He moved up to the Senate in 1997 when John Ewing retired. Bateman, 49, is the son of former Senate President (and 1977 GOP gubernatorial candidate) Raymond Bateman; he was elected to the Assembly in 1993 after serving as a Somerset County Freeholder and Township Committeeman and Mayor in Branchburg. Kip Bateman is a partner in former Governor Donald DiFrancesco's law firm.

Some insiders say Somerset County GOP Chairman Dale Florio, who has been anxious to avoid a divisive primary, will likely lean on Kavanaugh to retire gracefully.

A move by Bateman would open up an Assembly seat in this solidly Republican district for the first time in ten years. Possible candidates include Freeholder Denise Coyle, Bridgewater Mayor Patricia Flannery, and outgoing Freeholder Kenneth Scherer.

The Star-Ledger reported this weekend that Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance faces a possible GOP primary challenge from Assemblyman Michael Doherty.