The Gloves Are Off In CD 12

The so-far announced candidates for the GOP nomination in the 12th congressional district are off to an early fighting start to the primary season.

Halfacre's campaign issued a press release today slamming Sipprelle's donations to Democratic congressional candidates. Sipprelle's team countered with a statement saying the donations to Democrats were only $5K of the $95K that Sipprelle has contributed, that Halfacre is desperate for bringing it up and that the mayor is violating Reagan's 11th commandment.

Ahhh, the games have begun and the NFL playoffs aren't even over yet. There have been no Lincoln Day Dinners, no conventions or screening committee meetings. During the gubernatorial primary last year, the gloves didn't come off until April, after the county lines were awarded.

That's because at this point the candidates are competing for the county lines and the significant edge the holder of those lines will have in the primary. Sipprelle's team knows that if they win the lines in Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties, that Halfacre can't compete in an expensive primary. If Halfacre wins those lines he could win the primary, especially in a low turnout "off year" election season. If Halfacre wins the Mercer line too, despite Sipprelle's Mercer roots, he has to be considered the favorite to win the nomination.

This blog, SaveJersey, along with facebook and twitter will likely be the primary media coverage for this race. The mainstream media doesn't care about pre-convention/screening battles because the majority of their readers don't care.

This public battle for the county lines is a good thing. Both candidates, as well as the possible future entries, need to be vetted. There is no better screening than an opposing candidate. As this week's swearing in of Governor Christie demonstrates, a contentious contest for a nomination is not necessarily an general election handicap.

Halfacre raising Sipprelle's donations to Democrats is not a violation of the 11th commandment. It is a legitamate issue that Sipprelle should defend. We know very little about Scott Sipprelle other than that he has a lot of money. Recent history of Republican candidates with a lot of money and little or no political experience has not been good. We should hope that Halfacre's scrappy team on a shoe string budget can dig into Sipprelle's background. We should also hope that Sipprelle has better responses than, "he's desperate and not being nice to another Republican." We know Rush Holt is going to spend whatever he has to on opposition research against whoever the nominee is. Let's see how our candidates handle the heat.

Sipprelle has been working the phones trying to pick off Halfacre supporters. That is a smart move. Halfacre's abiltiy to hold onto his support in the face of a well funded opponent will tell us a great deal about how good a candidate he his.

Expect "the establishment," the county chairs and power brokers from Trenton and Washington to support Sipprelle because of his money and only because of his money. In their eyes, Sipprelle's money makes the district more competitive, puts funds in the local party coffers and let's them focus their fund raising efforts elsewhere. This establishment, who embraced Halfacre when he was the only horse in the race may come to see him as a pesky annoyance. Too bad. Halfacre's job is to either prove that he is a better candidate or demostrate that Sipprelle is a flawed candidate. If Halfacre fails in his quest while putting up a vigorous fight, he will make Sipprelle, who has never faced the rigors of a campaign, a stronger candidate. If Halfacre wins, Sipprelle was a flawed candidate. Either way a strong effort by Halfacre serves the party.

It will be interesting to see how today's U.S. Supreme Court decision lifting the bans on political spending by corporations and unions will have on this race, if any. It could potentially be a boost to Halfacre's efforts.

Regardless of the impact of the Supreme's decision, the Halfacre team needs a strong fundraising showing, and soon, to demonstrate that his declaration, "I will raise the money" is more than hot air. If I were them I'd be reaching out to Phillip Purcell to see if he or any of his friends might have a few shekels to spare if for no other reason than to give Sipprelle a little comeuppance.