BILL SPADEA

Republican operative Mark Duffy took his name out of the running for Republican State Chairman today.

“I prefer to work on the frontlines of the campaign, and I have no desire for an elected position in the party,” said Duffy, 34, who managed former Rep. Dick Zimmer’s U.S. Senate run against incumbent Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park). 

Duffy’s name surfaced as a potential successor to current chair Tom Wilson, who may not seek another two year term.  But he said he hadn’t been told of the speculation. 

“It was news to me,” he said.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio’s (R-Montville) call for Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson to resign will not likely be answered in the affirmative, but whether Wilson will serve another two-year term is uncertain.

After Wilson’s term expires in June, tradition dictates that the Republican gubernatorial nominee gets to pick the next chairman. That choice will be ratified by the 42-member Republican State Committee, which will likely accede to the nominee’s pick.

“We have a tradition in the Republican Party that the successful gubernatorial nominee is the one who gets to decide who his or her state chair will be,” said Wilson, who said he did not want to respond to Pennacchio’s press release. “I expect that not to be any different. If there’s a nominee who wants to ask me if I’m interested in staying, that will be a discussion between that nominee and I.”

However, multiple Republican sources say that Wilson has never intended to seek another term as state chairman. In fact, there was talk of him stepping down before the primary, although he said today that he will serve until at least June.

Wilson, for his part, said that his decision in June will depend on “who that nominee is and what kind of vision they have going forward.”

"I will defer completely to the nominee, and if that person wants someone different that’s what they’re entitled to. If they want me to stick around for some period of time, we’ll have a discussion about that.”

John Crowley entertains the New Jersey GOP on the Mississippi River at the Republican National Convention this summer.

Biotech businessman John Crowley of Princeton hasn’t yet made a decision about whether he will run for governor, but his chief political confidante makes it clear that Crowley will make a decision as his own man and not based on party politics. 

“I will say that any decision John makes has nothing to do with Chris Christie,” said Bill Spadea, president of Building a New Majority, a grassroots GOP organization Spadea started with Crowley earlier this year. 

The core of the Republican establishment in New Jersey wants Christie, the retiring U.S. Attorney, to go against Gov. Jon Corzine in 2009.

Building the New Majority Gains Momentum Down the Stretch Grassroots Organization Focusing on Municipal and County Races across New Jersey

When biotech executive John Crowley was thinking about running for Senate, it was Bill Spadea who notified party leaders and started laying the groundwork for a campaign.

And when Crowley decided that he couldn’t run for Senate, it was again Spadea who notified party leaders and started disassembling the groundwork for a campaign.

Now, Crowley is starting up the Building a New Majority PAC in a joint brain-trust with Spadea, who’s the group’s president.

“We’re lacking as a party a couple things. One, we’re lacking an organized process of identifying candidates and supporting those candidates. It’s got to be ground up instead of top down. The Republican Party has taken the approach for years that if we just have somebody strong at the top, you can pull all these local seats up,” said Spadea. “So we almost have to take a page out of the Democratic book, which is start at the school board, city council, mayor’s office, and build it up. That’s what we do.”

Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), campaigning last year with Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon.: Politicker file photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Identifying in her hockey mom, small town mayor’s story the features of a universal American life, and exhilarated by her willingness to put her head down and charge after their rivals, members of New Jersey’s GOP delegation praised the acceptance speech delivered tonight by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, their vice presidential nominee.

"I know my constituents will be able to identify with her, a working mother whose family depends on two incomes," said state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union).

Since he first declared his hope two or three weeks ago that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would choose Palin as his running mate as a way of reaching base conservative voters, women, and blue collar America, Kean has consistently emphasized as a strength Palin’s distance from the ambitious political culture of Washington, D.C.

"This was someone who was picked because of her competence as governor, as opposed to her going out and seeking the office," the senator added.

John Crowley is interviewed on the Mississippi river boat by NJN's Jim Hooker.: Politicker photo

MINNEAPOLIS - It started like a scene in a movie where guests receive a mysterious invitation from a powerful benefactor. On the bus trip out to the Mississippi River, a lot of Republicans were wondering, "Who is John Crowley?"

There was another less flashy, more intimate New Jersey political meeting going on simultaneously in another corner of the sprawling Minnesota town where Republicans had converged for their national convention, but for the moment this boat covered with red, white and blue bunting was a captivating focal point for the New Jersey GOP procession answering their invitations to see Crowley.

Crowley. Princeton businessman. Owner of a biotech company engaged in finding a cure for a disease Crowley’s children have fought since birth. Millionaire. Navy intelligence officer. Presumptive GOP political star.

Republicans knew the lineaments of the story; still, everyone was speaking the name without knowing the why beyond the boat trip and the vague possibility that Crowley would challenge Gov. Jon Corzine for governor next year.

Coming off the bus, former Gov. Thomas Kean led the way down the gangplank as the jug band started in on a tune and a paranoid Jersey guy told the governor, "As long as you’re here, I know I’m not too far from home."

If the GOP’s long march of self-combusting U.S. Senate candidates failed to inspire a lot of rank and file Republicans, the brief flirtation Princeton businessman John Crowley had with a June Senate primary run held for some the more lasting promise of an "it" factor party champion.

The lineaments of the Crowley narrative were indeed compelling for Republicans.

Son of a cop who died in the line of duty; Naval Intelligence officer; Successful CEO; Young and devoted father who founded a biotech business to create a disease cure to save his children; Hollywood movie subject with a movie apparently due out next year, according to Republican sources.

Crowley’s would-be entry into the race had come under the radar, as Andy Unanue prepared for his return to New Jersey from the ski slopes of Colorado intent on claiming his party’s in absentia nomination.

A Republican group calling itself "Building the New Majority" has formed with former Congressional candidate Bill Spadea serving as president and John Crowley serving as the organization's honorary chairman.

A Princeton businessman, Crowley was a dream U.S. Senate candidate for a small, dedicated group of Republicans who with Spadea’s help sought to recruit him as a replacement for crackup GOP Senate candidate Andy Unanue.

Crowley backed out of contention hours before the state deadline for primary candidates, citing concerns about how his small business could proceed were he to pursue a full-time Senate campaign.