Tonight marks the second time that Republican Senate candidates Murray Sabrin, Joe Pennacchio and Dick Zimmer have engaged in a debate.  

Zimmer is a late addition to the Senate race and choice of the Republican establishment.   The socially moderate former three-term congressman stepped in when Goya Foods heir Andy Unanue aborted his three-week-old candidacy.   Unanue himself was a fill in candidate for businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook, who dropped out in March after suffering a mild stroke.   Zimmer’s campaign staff and infrastructure is essentially the same as Estabrook’s.   This is Zimmer’s second Senate campaign – in 1996, he was the Republican’s nominee against Democrat Bob Torricelli.   That race went down as one of the nastiest in the history of a state known for down and dirty campaigns.  

Pennacchio, a newly sworn in state Senator, officially kicked off his campaign in January, but had been exploring the possibility of running since last summer.   As the most socially conservative candidate, Pennacchio has watched party leaders, concerned about his inability to self-fund and viability against a Democrat, search for somebody – almost anybody – else.   The resurfacing of his 1991 treatise called A Nationalist Agenda, in which he discussed housing the homeless in abandoned military bases and freezing Social Security and Medicare benefit rates , didn’t help him allay mainstream Republican fears.    

Sabrin, an economist who teaches at Ramapo College, started his run as the state’s most prominent Ron Paul presidential supporter, and has adopted many of that campaign’s publicity and fundraising strategies.   He’s made an aggressive push against the Republican establishment and is running his own slate of freeholder and congressional candidates in several districts.   He’s run unsuccessful statewide races twice before: once as a Libertarian candidate for Governor, and as a Republican Senate candidate in 2000.   Although considered a long shot by most political observers and insiders, Sabrin refers to himself as the race’s “frontrunner.”   If this debate is anything like the last one, expect him to claim to have won it in a press release tomorrow.    

The debate comes on the heels of Pennacchio’s criticism of Zimmer for taking advantage of a tax break on his Hunterdon County farm – the same type of farmland assessment that is widely credited with sinking state Sen. Ellen Karcher’s reelection bid last year.   Expect that to be raised by Pennacchio, and perhaps Sabrin, tonight.    

The only recent poll on the race had Zimmer at 25%, Pennacchio at 5% and Sabrin at 4%.   But Sabrin in particular has downplayed those results, noting a small sample size.   Pennacchio has won the most county lines, with Zimmer coming in a close second.   Sabrin, for his part, has the line in Gloucester County, which he won after a debate with Pennacchio.    

Zimmer and Sabrin will participate in another debate in front of the Courier-Post’s editorial board tomorrow, which will be broadcast over the internet.   Pennacchio cannot attend due to personal reasons.  

“As far as being the frontrunner, I’ve been running hard since the beginning of the campaign," he said.   "I’m the only one talking aout the most important issue economically – that is the continued depreciation of our dollar, which has enormous implications for our economy.   To be a frontrunner means you have to be a leader on these issues.   I’ve been leading on these issues for the last three decades."

Oh, and Sabrin downplayed the Monmouth University/Gannett poll that put him at 4%, Pennacchio at 5% and Zimmer at 25%.

Zimmer said he was pleased to see the poll, but didn't put much stock in it.