New Jerseyan waiting in the wings for GOP Senate nomination in Connecticut

Judgments obtained by two New Jersey casinos to pay for gambling debts against a Republican candidate has further complicated the

Judgments obtained by two New Jersey casinos to pay for gambling debts against a Republican candidate has further complicated the messy race for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, where challenger Ned Lamont leads 2000 Vice Presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman in several independent Democratic primary polls. Lieberman says he’ll run as an Independent if he loses the August primary. Republicans, sensing a chance to win a three-way race, have a deeply-flawed candidate: Alan Schlesinger, a former Mayor and Representative whose gambling debts have led state GOP leaders, including Governor Jodi Rell, to call for him to withdraw. So far, Schlesinger says he won’t drop out, but if he does, one possible replacement candidate in a native New Jerseyan, Jack Orchulli, a millionaire businessman who won 32% of the vote against Senator Christopher Dodd in 2004. Orchulli grew up in Alpha and made his fortune as a business partner of fashion designer Michael Kors. Lieberman has served in the Senate since 1988, when he defeated GOP incumbent Lowell Weicker. Weicker orginally won the seat under similar circumstances: the incumbent, Thomas Dodd (the father of the current Senator), ran as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary.

New Jerseyan waiting in the wings for GOP Senate nomination in Connecticut