By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Eight GOP county chairmen with territory inside Frank LoBiondo’s expansive Second Congressional District formally announced their support for the incumbent’s reelection campaign on Tuesday: Keith Davis (Atlantic), Bill Layton (Burlington), Tom Booth (Camden), Mike Donohue (Cape May), Bob Greco (Cumberland), Kevin Murphy (Gloucester), George Gilmore (Ocean), and Fran Grenier (Salem).
“With the challenges facing our region, we cannot afford to take a chance on a criminal defense attorney who would rather run on his name than his record and remains 100% committed to implementing Obamacare,” the chairmen said in a joint release.
The Chairmen were referring to criminal lawyer William Hughes, Jr., the son of the former Congressman William Hughes.
While Lobo isn’t considered endangered at the moment, no one in the Republican establishment considers a D+1 seat “safe” from a Hughes challenge especially with Cory Booker at the top of the November ballot to drive turnout in CD2 Dem strongholds like Atlantic City, Millville and Vineland.
Governor Chris Christie lent his formal backing to LoBiondo last week at an out-of-the-ordinary state house presser designed, perhaps, to send a signal to potential challengers…
The race is still taking shape.
At the moment, LoBiondo faces a primary challenge from former Absecon BOE member Mike Assad. Hughes remains the only announced Democrat candidate but speculation persists that state Senator Jeff Van Drew might join the race.
