Kim Guadagno Will Announce Governor Run in Keansburg Tuesday

KEANSBURG, NJ - According to various reports, New Jersey's Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno will announce on Tuesday she's officially running for governor. And she'll declare her candidacy from a restaurant in tiny Keansburg, NJ.

Guadagno, a Republican, will make the announcement at 11 a.m. Tuesday at La Playa, a waterfront Mexican restaurant in Keansburg, sources told The Bergen County Record. Guadagno is well known in Monmouth County because she was elected as the Monmouth County Sheriff in 2007. She was the first woman ever to hold the job. Prior to that, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in Newark, where she prosecuted two separate corrupt public officials, former Essex County Executive Thomas D'Alessio (a Democrat) and Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell (a Republican). She and her husband, an appeals judge in New Jersey Superior Court, live in Monmouth Beach. They have three sons.

She ran as Gov. Chris Christie's running mate in 2009 and has been New Jersey's lieutenant governor for the past seven years. New Jersey has never had a lieutenant governor before.

It was reported last week that Guadagno is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, but Tuesday will be the official public announcement of her candidacy. She's seeking the Republican nomination against Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who represents Somerset County and South Brunswick Township, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers and Joseph Rullo, a businessman from Ocean County.