NEW JERSEY

Former Sen. Lautenberg Surges Ahead in Senate Race

Oct. 28, 2002 -- RealAudio: Betty Ann Bowser reports on the struggle for Forrester to define himself against a new opponent and for Lautenberg to re-engage a disaffected Democratic base.

Supreme Court Allows Lautenberg's Name to Appear on Senate Ballot

Oct. 7, 2002 -- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the highly charged political fight over who will appear as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from New Jersey. The decision allows a New Jersey Supreme Court decision to stand that allows state Democrats to remove Sen. Robert Torricelli's name and replace it with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The decision comes as a new poll from the Bergen Record has Lautenberg ahead of Republican candidate Doug Forrester, 46 to 40 percent.

MARYLAND

Kathleen Kennedy Towsend, the Democratic lieutenant governor once considered a shoo-in for the state's top job, has launched an aggressive campaign to paint her main rival, Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Ehrlich, as an arch-conservative, out of touch with the more liberal Maryland mindset.

Ehrlich, well-regarded in the House, but relatively unknown throughout the state, has portrayed himself as a moderate Republican who will cross party lines to get things done.

But recent comments regarding the state's tough gun laws have helped fuel Towsend's campaign.

In an interview earlier this month, Ehrlich said he would re-examine current gun control statutes.

"It's time to take a look at what's passed over the last 16 years and see what's worked and what's not," the Associated Press quoted Ehrlich as saying. "If they're working, if they're actually doing what they're sold to do, then maybe we should expand them... But I think they've done nothing to reduce gun crimes."

The comments sparked immediate response from the lieutenant governor accusing Ehrlich of being a pawn of the National Rifle Association.

"We have common-sense gun laws here in the state of Maryland and he wants to roll them back. That's wrong," Townsend told a rally of supporters in Baltimore. "We're saying to Congressman Ehrlich and your NRA friends, 'Stay out of Baltimore and stay out of our state.'"

In a Maryland district just outside Washington, D.C., the Democrats are also looking to boost the campaign efforts of state Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who, after a difficult primary, is set to face eight-term incumbent Republican Connie Morella in the 1st Congressional District.

Morella, the most liberal Republican in the House, has been targeted for defeat in a district that was recently redrawn by Democrats in the state capital.

Van Hollen recently emerged from a nasty primary fight with Mark Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family. Despite the, at times, acrimonious campaign, Shriver threw his support behind Van Hollen immediately after the primary.

"I said for eight months that I was going to help out the nominee, and I'm sticking to my word," Shriver said.

Despite the sign of Democratic unity and the benefits of a newly redrawn district with an increasingly Democratic slant, Van Hollen will face a difficult challenge ousting Morella, who has represented the area for nearly 16 years and has built a reputation as a liberal Republican with a focus on constituent service.