DOUGLAS PALMER

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Five-term Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer could face a challenge in 2010 from Keith Hamilton, a longtime Mercer County Freeholder

Mercer County Freeholder Keith Hamilton met with members of his political team yesterday to tell them that he will soon form an exploratory committee to run for Mayor of Trenton in May 2010.  The incumbent, Douglas Palmer, has not yet announced his plans.

The 53-year-old Hamilton, who moved to Trenton from Hamilton Township earlier this year, was first elected Freeholder in 1995 after three years on the Hamilton school board.  He has sought to become the Democratic candidate for State Senator and Assemblyman in the 14th district, always without success.

Palmer has been mayor since 1990, when he defeated interim Mayor Carmen Armenti for the post.  He was re-elected in 2006 by a 53%-22% margin over Freeholder Tony Mack.  This year, he helped Democrats dump Mack from the Freeholder Board.

If Gov. Jon Corzine picks Bonnie Watson Coleman to run for Lt. Governor in 2009, it would spawn two new campaigns: one to replace her on the Democratic ticket for State Assembly in the fifteenth legislative district, and one to pick a new Assembly Majority Leader.   While Watson Coleman lives in Ewing, her seat is widely viewed as the Trenton seat; her brother, Bill Watson, is a top political insider there, and her late father, John Watson, served many years as a City Councilman and Assemblyman.

Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer may be so excited about Nancy Pelosi’s visit to our state capital on Friday that he may be a little off on his history. “I don’t know if a speaker of the House has ever come to Trenton before but this is a major honor for our city,” Palmer told the Trentonian. Palmer has forgotten William Pennington, a New Jerseyan who served as Speaker of the House during the Buchanan administration and almost certainly visited Trenton.

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean has picked three New Jerseyans to serve on key committees for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver: M.

Eldridge Hawkins was first elected to the State Assembly in 1971
Veteran African American leaders backing Sen. Hillary Clinton admit that while she doesn't have great speech-making abilities, she and her husband presided personably over a White House attentive to important issues like urban crime and children's healthcare.

But those who support newcomer Sen. Barack Obama can't forget Clinton's affirmative vote on the war in Iraq, and say their man is better poised to inspire a beleaguered nation.

Either way, each side concedes it's an historic time for the Democratic Party and the 256,059 registered African American voters here, and a chance for New Jersey to play a vital role in its first ever early primary on Feb. 5th.