Millicent Fenwick

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be the sixth woman to appear on a statewide ballot as a major party candidate in New Jersey.  The first was Thelma Sharp, a 32-year-old Democratic State Committeewoman from Vineland who was nominated to run for a two-month unexpired term in the United States Senate in 1930.  Millicent Fenwick, a four-term Congresswoman, ran for the Senate in 1982 (she lost to Frank Lautenberg), and Montclair Mayor Mary Mochary unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Senator Bill Bradley in 1984.  Christine Todd Whitman narrowly lost a bid for U.S. Senate in 1990 (to Bradley), and was elected Governor in 1993 and 1997.  In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro lost New Jersey as the Democratic candidate for Vice President.

Leonard Lance has spent his entire life around the political arena: by the time he was born in 1952, his father, Wesley Lance, had already served as an Assemblyman and State Senator (he returned to the Senate for another two terms in 1953).  Now that Lance is running for Congress, PolitickerNJ.com’s Matt Friedman asked him to name his all-time favorite Congressmen.  Lance listed three: Charles Eaton, Robert Winthrop Kean, and Millicent Fenwick.

If Frank Lautenberg wins the Democratic primary, he will become the oldest person to ever win a major party nomination for statewide office in New Jersey.  The record is currently held by Republican Millicent Fenwick, who was defeated by Lautenberg in the 1982 general election.  Fenwick was 72 years and 103 days old, 25 days older than H. Alexander Smith was when he won the 1952 Republican nomination for United States Senator.  Lautenberg became the oldest person to win a Democratic primary when he was renominated fourteen years ago at age 70.

There seems to be a general consensus among political insiders as to who won the Democratic U.S. Senate debate: Steve DeMicco.  Frank Lautenberg was less than impressive – not even close to his performance in previous debates against Millicent Fenwick, Pete Dawkins, Chuck Haytaian and Doug Forrester – but the debate was at 8PM on a Friday night, so it didn’t really matter.  That’s why DeMicco, Lautenberg’s consultant, was the winner – his campaign took quite a few hits for not engaging Rob Andrews in network TV debates, but it appears that was the right call.

The New York Times' editorial endorsement of Frank Lautenberg comes as little surprise. After all, the NYT board has endorsed the junior-senior-junior-senior senator from the Garden State since he first ran for the seat back in 1982. 

What is a bit puzzling is their new cut on the age issue. 

This week's PolitickerNJ.com Winners & Losers: