EAST BRUNSWICK, April 2 - With the convention season winding down, Bret Schundler seized one of his few opportunities to acquire organizational support today, defeating his co-front-runner, Douglas Forrester, on the first ballot at the Middlesex County Republican convention.
The former Jersey City mayor notched 337 votes, or 50.2 percent, barely enough to lift him over the simple majority threshold required for victory. Forrester placed second, with 277 votes, or 41.3 percent. Robert Schroeder, the only other candidate whose name was entered into nomination, won 53 votes.
Had there been another round of voting it's still very likely Schundler would have won. His campaign had secured a promise of second ballot support from Schroeder, repayment for the decisive second ballot endorsement Schundler gave to Schroeder at the Ocean County convention last week.
The win means Schundler will run in the Middlesex GOP's official column in the June primary. Middlesex accounts for about six percent of all votes cast in statewide Republican primaries. It is the first county line Schundler has secured, outside of his home of Hudson County.
"This shows that as far as the grass-roots is concerned we have the largest amount of support," the ebullient candidate said after the totals were announced. "This was the only convention where every Republican was allowed to participate."
In most counties that award lines, the call is made by the GOP chairman or by elected county committee members. Middlesex rules permitted all registered Republicans to vote at the convention, as
long as they registered in advance and paid a $10 fee. (The Supreme Court, one attorney who was present today suggested, actually ruled such a poll tax unconstitutional several years ago.)
1,005 party members had pre-registered for the convention. About 60 of them were subsequently disqualified when their party affiliations were challenged by one of the campaigns. On a stormy Saturday morning, 680 actually turned out at the Middlesex Vocational High School in East Brunswick, with 671 casting ballots. So far, only the Bergen County convention has attracted a higher turnout.
"The amount of support and intensity of it are both very important parts of our campaign," Schundler said.
Held in the school's packed auditorium, the convention was called to order shortly before 11:00 this morning. After brief speeches from the three candidates, voters were given paper ballots by their respective municipal chairmen, who then collected and tallied them. Each chairman then called out his or her town's votes totals in a spectacle similar to the roll call at a national political convention.
Schundler, Forrester and Schroeder stood in the aisles as the votes were called, their facial expressions changing depending on what they were hearing. When he was enthusiastically announced as the unanimous pick of the South River delegation by that town's chairman, Schundler, who happened to be standing nearby, beamed and warmly shook hands with the man.
All three campaigns had expected that a second ballot would be necessary. Even before the convention started, Forrester's campaign, which bused in dozens of youthful workers and paid them $50 each, was trying to convince Schroeder supporters they owed no loyalty to Schundler.
The announcement of Schundler's win set off an impromptu demonstration from his supporters, who began chanting "Go Bret, go!" Forrester and Schundler shook hands and exchanged a few words shortly thereafter.
"We were not expecting [to win] so I can't say it's a big surprise," Forrester said afterwards.
He stressed that he's the only candidate who has contested every convention, a sign that he has the resources and breadth of support to win the primary.
"I've made a pledge to be there in every county," Forrester said.
The geopolitical picture of the June primary is now beginning to come into focus.
Conventions have yet to be held in Somerset, Sussex, Warren and Monmouth Counties. But as of now, the Monmouth, Sussex and Warren events will be beauty contests; only in Somerset will the winner run alone on the line.
Forrester has locked up organizational support in numerous small and mid-size counties, many south of Interstate-195, and is poised to run on the line in about one-third of the state— more if he can pick up Somerset.
Schundler, with Middlesex and Hudson, would run on the line in about 7 percent of the state. He has also reached an agreement with a rival GOP faction in Passaic County to head that group's slate in the primary. In 2001, when he defeated Bob Franks for the GOP nomination, Schundler's only organizational support was in Hudson and Monmouth.
A handful of counties that represent a combined 30 percent of the statewide vote total are not endorsing gubernatorial candidates. Second-tier candidates Paul DiGaetano and Schroeder will also wield some real estate in June. DiGaetano won the Bergen convention and the Passaic GOP's endorsement; he'll be on the line in about 13 percent of the state. Schroeder's Ocean win gave him on-the-line status in about nine percent of the state.
Needless to say, both front-runners are declaring victory in the convention process.
The Forrester camp's spin: that they are happy to have more organizational support than anyone else and that they have the money— Forrester is self-funding— to compensate for not having the line in several large counties.
"Leading in the polls and having three-quarters of the counties— I'd say that's pretty good," Forrester said.
The Schundler campaign's take: that any county lines Schundler picks up are a bonus, since he proved in '01 that he can win without county GOP support, but that Forrester, whose appeal is more establishment-based, needed close to a clean sweep of the conventions to counter Schundler's strength.
"Middlesex is the fifth-largest GOP vote-producing county in a primary," said Bill Pascoe, Schundler's communications director. "That means Doug won't be on the line in the five biggest counties."
Two of those five largest counties, Morris and Monmouth, are not endorsing any candidate.
