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Bramnick Not Running For Governor

Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick
Phil Gregory

The top Republican in New Jersey's Assembly is not running for governor.
 
Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick has long supported Governor Christie but says Christie's declining popularity was not a factor in deciding against entering the race to replace him.
 
"This has nothing to do with Governor Christie, whether he's popular now or popular after Sandy. This has to do with my own personal decision to stay as Republican leader."
 
Bramnick says he’ll run for reelection to his Assembly seat and work to try to increase the number of Republicans who are elected.
 
He says he'll meet with Senate GOP Leader Tom Kean to decide whether they'll jointly endorse another Republican candidate in the governor’s race.
 
Seton Hall political science professor Matthew Hale believes Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno is now the front runner for the GOP nomination.
 
"She is the only Republican that has anything close to statewide name recognition. I think she is going to have access to Republican establishment money. And from what we can tell I think she can be pretty effective in front of groups and be a decent campaigner."
 
Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray says the Republican nomination is wide open.
 
"The real question is whether somebody like a Joe Piscopo or somebody really outside the norm gets into this and it could really shake things up."
 
Analysts say any Republican candidate will have a tough time defeating Phil Murphy, the former Goldman Sachs executive who's the front runner for the Democratic nomination.