Lautenberg tops Andrews; Lance, Myers win

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) easily withstood a pitched primary challenge from Rep. Rob Andrews (D) on Tuesday, setting himself up to run for a fifth Senate term in November.

Lautenberg led 64-30 with 68 percent of precincts reporting when the Associated Press called the race.

{mosads}The senator won with a strong showing in the northern counties of New Jersey, which still control the state’s Democratic politics.

Andrews is a congressman from South Jersey, a base he was hoping would turn out stronger than the northern part of the state. The Congressman ran as a younger, more vibrant alternative to the 84-year-old Lautenberg, who came out of a brief retirement in 2002 to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) on the ballot.

Despite his previous retirement and late fill-in candidacy, Lautenberg decided to run for reelection.

All Democrats in the New Jersey delegation except Andrews supported. Many of them are eyeing the Senate seat themselves once Lautenberg retires.

Lautenberg will face former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R-N.J.) in November. Zimmer led state Rep. Joseph Pennacchio 45-41 with 75 percent of precincts in, and the race has been called.

In other New Jersey races, state Sen. Leonard Lance and Medford Township Mayor Chris Myers won GOP primaries in the districts of retiring Reps. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) and Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), respectively.

Lance was declared the winner, and Myers’s main opponent, Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly, has conceded, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Lance will face state Rep. Linda Stender, and Myers will match up with state Sen. John Adler. Stender and Adler were unopposed in Democratic primaries.

In Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R-N.J.) district, blind rabbi Dennis Shulman defeated attorney Camille Abate to win the Democratic nomination.

Andrews’s wife Camille Andrews breezed to a win in the Democratic primary for his House seat. She might merely serve as a placeholder for someone else, but Rob Andrews has said he would not revert back to that race.