In his interview this morning with Harry Hurley, Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford said he will file petitions and then decide in September whether or not he will challenge state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-2) as an independent, musings that sparked renewed friction between Whelan and his Republican challenger, Assemblyman Vince Polistina (R-2).
Polistina sought to distance himself from the mayor, a longtime Whelan detractor, but Whelan and Democrats said the mayor and Polistina have worked in tandem to unseat him and said this latest episode suggests an ongoing narrative.
“Mayor Langford’s announcement… merely continues his relationship with Assemblyman Polistina,” said Whelan. “Polistina and Langford have been supporting each other politically all along. This is more of the same.”
Polistina issued a statesmanlike statement.
“While Mayor Langford is certainly free to run for whatever office he wants, I sincerely hope he is doing so to confront the important issues facing our region and our state, not just looking for an opportunity to escalate his longstanding political feud with Senator Whelan,” said Polistina. “Voters deserve better than a sideshow that diverts attention away from the serious economic and fiscal issues that should be the focus of this campaign. If the Mayor is only interested in headlines, then he should think twice about getting in the race.
“Whether Mayor Langford ultimately decides to run or not, the only impact it has on my campaign is whether I will be running against one person I disagree with on the issues or two,” said Polistina. “Whether it’s head-to-head, or a three-person race, I don’t think either Senator Whelan or Mayor Langford can match my record as a successful small businessman who believes in creating jobs through lower taxes, less spending and smaller government.”
But sources close to Whelan’s campaign maintained the GOP challenger and his campaign supporters intend to take advantage of Langford to bloody the incumbent senator – a tactic they say Polistina’s steady stream of press releases have failed to affect.