Linda Stender

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl said this morning that the sheer amount of votes his county will deliver for Republican congressional candidate Leonard Lance will easily trump Democrat Linda Stender’s huge fundraising advantage.

“I don’t know the actual number of votes, but we’ll deliver about 70% of the number of votes for Leonard,” said Kuhl, who expects Hunterdon to vote about 65% for both Senate candidate Dick Zimmer and presidential candidate John McCain.

The 7th district is comprised of Hunterdon, Union, Somerset and Middlesex Counties – the last of which makes up just a small portion of the district.

“Fundraising is very difficult whatever you are: a candidate, county organization or municipal organization. Everybody has fundraising problems,” said Kuhl.

BRANCHBURG- Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) helped the Somerset County Democratic Party raise about $50,000 at a private fundraiser here on Saturday.

"Bob Menendez came up from Washington because he believes in the potential to turn this county blue," said Zenon Christodoulou, vice chair of the party.

Christodoulou and his fellow Democrats are fighting a long tradition of Republican rule in Somerset.

State Sen. Leonard Lance’s congressional campaign yesterday questioned why his Democratic rival, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, was so quick to give her campaign donations back to former Assemblyman Neil Cohen, but has kept larger donations from U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Rangel has faced scrutiny for leasing four rent stabilized apartments in his Harlem home district—one of which he uses as a campaign office and pays for with campaign funds. Cohen resigned from his Assembly seat on Monday amid allegations that he had child pornography on a legislative office computer.

Linda Stender’s campaign has returned all of the donations it received from former Assemblyman Neil Cohen, according to Stender Chief of Staff Ed Oatman.

“We cut the check on Monday,” he said.

Cohen is under investigation for possessing child pornography on his legislative office computer. He resigned on Monday, which led the campaign to immediately give back the donations.

The Stender campaign returned a total of about $6,000 in Cohen donations from both the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.

"Whatever he's given us total, it's all given back," said Oatman.

Update: Lance campaign response now included.

The Bridgewater Courier-News recently got wind of an overlooked story.

Bridgewater Councilman Michael Hsing, who cast his lot in with many other candidates in the 7th District Republican congressional primary, is running in the general election as an independent. And as of the last Federal Election Commission filing, he had more cash-on-hand than the Republican nominee, State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington).

Hsing, who’s served on the Bridgewater council for seven years, failed to make a dent in the primary, and decided to forego the nominating convention of his home county of Somerset. Lance, now the Republican nominee, won. Back then, PolitickerNJ’s Max Pizarro reported on rumors swirling about an independent Hsing bid, since he refused to endorse any of the other candidates. At the time, Hsing said “that will be determined and disclosed later."

Senate Minority Leader Ton Kean, Jr. (R-Union), and Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).: Politicker photo

State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., (R-Union) became minority leader just as a new band of hungry Republican legislators came up from the General Assembly to assume their Senate seats.

Another under 40 senator with statewide aspirations might send out at least back channel messages of panic in the face of a baseball roster's worth of new GOP talent.

And indeed there have been some nose-to-nose moments in the last few months since Kean made caucus boss, notably between the patrician leader and the headstrong state Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex).

But according to his colleagues, the stoic Kean has generally met the onrush by embracing it; and has assumed a statesmanlike stance while tapping the scrappy skills honed by his freshmen senators in the lower house.

As today marks the filing deadline for FEC reports, PolitickerNJ.com has reported totals as the numbers have become available. Below are links to our complete coverage, broken down by races.

Sen. Leonard Lance and his wife, Heidi.: Politicker photo

Tonight, state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) reported "about $100,000" in the bank as he faces the $1.5 million cash juggernaut of Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) in the 7th Congressional District. 

"We're spending the summer raising money," an upbeat Lance told PolitickerNJ.com. "We have a serious fundraising operation ongoing."

Asked if he is optimistic, the Republican nominee said, "Very much so. I'm getting a good reception."

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) website Tuesday evening showed Lance with $80,792.90 on hand for the period ending on June 30.

Stender's team today celebrated their lopsided cash advantage.

Voters of the 3rd and 7th Congressional Districts: meet Captain B.J. Hunnicutt.

Blue Jersey reports that a several liberal bloggers have commissioned a retaliatory robocall aimed at two congressional districts in New Jersey that were targeted with calls by Freedom’s Watch, a conservative advocacy group.

The call by Freedom’s Watch blames Democratic congressional candidates John Adler and Linda Stender, both state legislators, for doing nothing to repeal the state’s 14 cent gas tax.

New Jersey has the third lowest gas tax in the country.

The blogger-commissioned call stars actor Mike Farrell, who played the character B.J. Hunnicutt in M*A*S*H, associated the group with the Bush Administration.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) 

Republican State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson today joined the GOP chorus demanding that Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) return contributions from U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) following publication of a New York Times story this week detailing sweetheart deals the congressman received on four Harlem apartments.

"Linda Stender has filled her campaign coffers with over $20,000 in contributions from Charlie Rangel and plans to accept even more as a recipient of his annual birthday fund-raiser at New York’s swank Tavern on the Green restaurant scheduled for August 6th," Wilson said.

"Stender likes to tell everyone how she's not a typical politician and that she will stand up to Washington corruption but unless she returns the $21,000 from Rangel and his political action committee that's fueling her campaign and remove her name for his up coming fund-raiser, she just proves that she is another typical double-talking politician that's incapable of changing Washington," added the GOP chairman.