Joseph Vicari

There is considerable speculation in Ocean County that Andrew Ciesla, a six-term Republican State Senator from Brick, will not seek re-election in 2011 – and some GOP sources say they wouldn’t be surprised if Ciesla stepped down before the expiration of his current term.  Apparently Ciesla, who turns 55 next week, is burnt out after nearly seventeen years in the Senate.

Ocean County Republicans will hold a screening committee meeting on Saturday morning to meet the candidates for Jim Saxton’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In Ocean County, where GOP Chairman George Gilmore rules firmly, an endorsement from the screening committee is almost tantamount to a victory at the open county GOP convention – which will be held on Monday night.

The likely Burlington County candidate, Medford Deputy Mayor and Lockheed Martin Vice President Christopher Myers, plans to screen in Ocean – sources say that former GOP State Chairman David Norcross will not appear before the screening committee, a strong indication that he has decided not to run.  Insiders

The Press of Atlantic City reported today that Ocean County Freeholder Gerry Little will not be a candidate for the GOP nomination for Congress in the third district.  Two other Freeholders, Joseph Vicari and John Kelly, are still considered possible candidates as Ocean County Republicans prepare to pick a candidate this month.  Also in the mix for the Ocean endorsement: Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Republican National Committeewoman Virginia Haines, a former Assemblywoman and state Lottery Director.

There seems to be two certainties in the race for Jim Saxton’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives:  that candidates from Burlington and Ocean counties will face off in a Republican primary, and that the GOP nominee will face a tough general election against State Senator John Adler, the likely Democratic nominee.

The GOP front runner is Diane Allen, a four-term GOP State Senator from Burlington and former TV news anchorwoman for the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia.  But Allen must first establish some form of détente with Burlington GOP leader Glenn Paulsen, with whom she is engaged in a fairly vicious intra-party battle, before she can expect to win a big plurality in her home county. 

Republican Jim Saxton won re-election to a 12th term with 58% of the vote in 2006 in a district that George W. Bush carried with 51% in 2004. The open seat could be competitive in 2008. The GOP has a huge field of potential candidates; the Democrats will run State Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Adler, who had said in September that he would challenge Saxton.