There are many things that a man can buy with $25,000, but among them is not to be found a decent shot at winning a Senate primary race. So it is unlikely, to say the least, that John Ginty will be the Republican challenger to Democratic Senator Robert Menendez in New Jersey’s this fall. For Ginty’s primary opponent–in an election that takes place today–is the well-known, and well-funded, New Jersey state Senator Tom Kean Jr., son of the popular former New Jersey governor, Sr.

Ginty, in contrast to Kean, is an unknown. Unless you are an incorrigible conservative from New Jersey, a political junkie on an indiscriminate binge, or someone with an exhaustive knowledge of financial analysts working in Manhattan, chances are good that you have never heard of him. Kean almost certainly hadn’t, until he found out that Ginty was to be his primary opponent. And Ginty himself didn’t know he was going to be running in a Senate primary until about two months ago.

It has been almost three decades since voters in New Jersey last elected a Republican senator, and, until last year, it didn’t look as if that streak would come to an end in 2006. Jon Corzine was supposed to be the New Jersey senator up for reelection this fall, and he did not look likely to lose. Then–with thanks to a “Gay American”–he got himself elected governor of New Jersey in the fall of 2005, and appointed Bob Menendez as his replacement in the Senate. This gave the Republicans something more of a chance.

It quickly became clear that the Republican favorite to challenge Menendez would be Kean. He had his name going for him, and he did a good job of raising money early; so it didn’t make much sense to challenge him. And, until this April, it didn’t seem as if anyone would.

Although Republican plans for preserving their Senate majority surely did not count on picking up a seat in New Jersey, it now looks as if Kean has a fighting chance; some polls even show him leading Menendez. Why, then, would someone like John Ginty join the race all of a sudden, on the day of the filing deadline for the primary election, only to face what will almost certainly be a resounding defeat?

It’s not such a hard thing to guess. Ginty’s got what Kean doesn’t–conservative creds. When many conservatives are openly wondering whether it might not be better if Republicans lost control of Congress, it’s no shock that some would be wary of sending a fresh “moderate” Republican to Washington. As it says about Kean on a Ginty brochure, “John’s primary opponent, State Senator Tom Kean Jr., is a liberal in the mold of Arlen Specter, Lincoln Chafee, John McCain and others who attack conservatives on a regular basis.”

Ginty was hoping that someone would run to the right of Kean–he was hoping that it would be a politician, not a financial analyst, and certainly not himself. But when it looked like no one would, Ginty took a chance. There was an intra-party feud among Bergen County Republicans at their convention on March 7; they endorsed Kean, but with the condition that he join their slate of candidates. Kean was slow in agreeing, and, in retaliation, Ginty was somehow drafted to challenge him. A couple of weeks later, things were smoothed out between Kean and the Bergen County Republicans, but Ginty was already in.

The Ginty campaign is a volunteer operation, low-budget and part-time. Most of his campaign events have been tied to conservative groups, primarily right-to-life ones. At the events, he bangs away mostly on immigration and right-to-life issues, and charges Kean with being little more than Menendez-lite. He admits frankly that it is a campaign run out of principle. As he explained to a group of senior citizens in Bradley Beach last week, “I’m in this to give people a choice.”

Kean elected to ignore Ginty, which meant no free publicity for Ginty. This was certainly the best way for Kean to minimize whatever miniscule threat Ginty posed to him, but was it an opportunity lost? Precisely because he is running as a moderate, Kean will be hard pressed to distinguish himself from Menendez, and addressing Ginty’s criticisms would have given him a good chance to do so.

Ginty calls himself “100% pro-life”; Kean, of course, supports what has come to be known as a “woman’s right to choose,” though he would allow for moderate restrictions. Ginty opposes embryonic-stem-cell research; Kean supports it in a state where it’s no small issue. Ginty supports the Federal Marriage Amendment; Kean says he would leave it up to the states. Ginty opposes any sort of amnesty, and insists on the need to secure our borders; on this issue, Kean comes closer to Ginty, perhaps because of Ginty’s criticisms.

If he were a serious contender, Ginty would be a conservative ideologue’s dream. He supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; he wants the “death tax” repealed and has endorsed the 2007 budget proposal of the conservative House Republican Study Committee; he supports the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act; he’s even come out in opposition to the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty.

Kean, even if he were the conservative that Ginty is, could hardly take these positions openly and expect to win a Senate race in New Jersey. Ginty, since he knows he won’t advance out of the primary, is under no such restrictions. But inasmuch as Ginty’s campaign provided Kean with a chance to show he’s no Lincoln Chafee type, he just passed on a gift from the right.

–-Maximilian Pakaluk is an associate editor at NRO.