Lance Launches Bid for Second Term

Before a small crowd of supporters gathered in the snow, U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon County) kicked off his bid for a second term Tuesday afternoon at the Westfield train station.

Centering on his theme of being a fiscal conservative and his authorship of a state fiscal law from his tenure in the state Senate, Lance said he wanted to be sent back to Washington to continue his working on fiscal issues. The announcement comes a day after the second Republican, Westfield resident Bruce Baker, announced a primary challenge to Lance from the conservative wing of the party. Lance, who served 18 years in the state legislature representing Hunterdon County, is considered a moderate Republican.

"I run for reelection to the Congress because Congress needs more fiscal conservatives in the House and the Senate," Lance said.

Lance kept hammering at his fiscal record, noting that he voted against raising the government's debt ceiling to $14.29 trillion and voting against 9,000 congressional earmarks in the last omnibus spending bill. Lance made his last state legislative accomplishment the hallmark of his fiscal remarks, citing the constitutional amendment he authored requiring voter approval for any state government borrowing. He described the measure the most important addition to the state constitution since the document was written in 1947. Lance's father, former Senate President Wesley Lance, helped draft the state constitution.

Lance noted he was the only member of Congress to attend Gov. Chris Christie's budget speech last week, where the governor cut $1.5 billion from the current state budget. He said that if his amendment had been adopted in the mid 1990s, he believes the state's fiscal condition would not be in the same condition it is now.

Lance expressed little concern from the conservative challenges from Baker and Somerset County gentleman farmer David Larsen, noting that in 2008 he was able to garner conservative support after a contentious eight way primary. Lance angered many conservatives in the state with his vote backing the Cap and Trade climate change bill last year. Both Baker and Larsen have noted opposition to the legislation.

During his remarks in Westfield, he was surrounded by former U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-New Providence), a conservative Republican who Lance replaced, and former Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks, a conservative Republican who was defeated by Lance in the 2008 primary. Earlier in the day, during an announcement in Hunterdon County, Lance was endorsed by state Sen. Mike Doherty (R-Warren County), who is considered one of the most conservative members of the state legislature.

"I am honored to have support across the board," Lance said.

Ferguson said that he approached Lance to become a co-chairman of his reelection campaign and that the support did not generate from Lance.

"We've been watching him at work in DC and we want to help him," said Ferguson, now a Washington lobbyist. "Your track record of success warrants your reelection. We want to do everything we can to support your reelection."

During an interview with Patch following Lance's announcement, Ferguson said voters should not judge Lance based solely on the Cap and Trade vote. He said voters should look towards Lance's entire voting record, particularly his fiscal votes. Stressing the Lance campaign's theme of the congressman being a fiscal conservative. Ferguson said he has heard from many members of Congress that Lance is well thought of for his work in Congress and his knowledge of financial issues. During his service in Trenton, Lance was considered a leading expert on the state budget.

Lance said that while he did vote for the Cap and Trade bill last spring he would not support it now, laying the blame at what he sees as President Obama's work at December's climate change conference in Copenhagen. Lance said the president did not get enough concessions from the Chinese and Russian governments on fuel emissions to warrant the original bill on the American side. Lance did express support for more nuclear, wind and solar energy alternatives, along with moving away from dependency on foreign oil.

Lance noted that while he is in support of health care reform, he is in line with other congressional Republicans in opposing any proposal which they see as a government takeover of the health care system. He said he has worked with other congressional Republicans to author a health care bill which addresses medical malpratice reform, increasing insurance access across state lines and allowing children to use their parents' health insurance until their late 20s.

A former state Senate minority leader, Lance predicted that congressional Republicans will be able to pick up the 40 seats needed to gain the House majority in 2010. He noted that Monday's retirement announcement of U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and January's election of U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) show a trend which should help House Republicans.

The announcement ceremony, the third of the day, drew 13 Lance supporters, including Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-Summit) and Westfield Councilwoman Joann Neylan, who joined the congressman and his wife at the head of the ceremony. The ceremony was held outdoors in the snow flurries in temperatures hovering near freezing.

In brief remarks, Munoz said she has seen Lance to be a hard worker since she joined the Assembly last May and indicated that her legislative colleagues, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) were joining her in backing the congressman.

"I am proud that he is my congressman," Munoz said. "I support him 100-percent and so do my colleagues, Tom Kean and Jon Bramnick."

In addition to Larsen and Baker, Lance has drawn one Democratic challenger, former congressional aide Ed Postonak. Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr and businessman Zenon Christodolou are considered potential challengers to Lance. Lance was elected in 2008 over Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), who almost ousted Ferguson in 2006. In the primary, Lance defeated seven other candidates including gubernatorial progeny Kate Whitman, former Summit Common Council President P. Kelly Hatfield and Marks.

Lance expressed little concern when questioned about the redistricting of congressional districts following this year's Census. Reports over the last year have indicated that New Jersey is likely to lose one House seat in redistricting. The lines will be drawn by a bipartisan commission after the Census figures come in. Lance said there is a need to keep the current seventh district, spanning parts of Union, Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon Counties, together because of the similar needs of the area and the population estimates of the region.

"I hope we don't lose the seat," Lance said. "We are right on the cusp."

Editor's Note: Westfield Patch intern Josh Solomon contributed to this article.