| Last night, Ed Potosnak won the endorsement of the Union County Democrats in his bid to be the Democratic nominee in NJ-7, and the chance to oppose Rep. Leonard Lance in his first re-election campaign.
And Zenon Christodoulou ended his bid for the nomination last night, swinging his support to Potosnak. Union County Dems' decision marks the second county party endorsement Potosnak won, after he took the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee's endorsement almost two weeks ago.
The other counties comprising NJ-7 are Middlesex (with only part of Edison, part of Woodbridge Twp, and South Plainfield in the District) and Somerset, mostly in NJ-7. The fact that not only Potosnak, but Christodoulou hail from Somerset County is important. The Obama surge in late 2008 flipped the historically Republican county to majority Democrat. If there are opportunities in this uphill race, they may come there.
Hunterdon County saw its number of Democrats nearly double from 2005-2009, but the total still hovers under 18,000. And Lance, a lifetime resident from a political legacy family, will count on Hunterdon - which delivered the highest percentage victory for Christie 4 months ago - as base support. Middlesex and Union are Democratic.
Somerset's in flux. Potosnak has roots there. He was a chemistry teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional HS, then won an Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship which took him to work as an aide for DNC Vice-Chair Rep. Mike Honda on education policy, among other issues. He was born and raised in New Jersey, was an adjunct professor at his alma mater Rutgers, and now lives in North Plainfield.
Christodoulou is in a great position to be a key player in Potosnak's race. Christodoulou is Vice-Chair of the Somerset Democratic Committee, and under Chair Peg Schaffer, the Somerset organization has been building much needed infrastructure. And both Christodoulou and Schaffer are members of a bunch of Democrats known as "The Group," who raise big money for Democratic candidates, and recently tried to clear the field for Hillary Clinton. At Blue Jersey, we have often been critical of "The Group" but they sure as hell get their calls answered. Christodoulou can be a key player in attracting financial support for a NJ-7 Democrat, if he makes the choice to be. I called Zenon today to tell him I hope he does. |
