LESSONS FROM LONEGAN: “Starting from as much as 35 points behind as recently as the aftermath of the August primary, Lonegan wound up losing by 10.3 percentage points, according to nearly complete returns. This was a margin of defeat little more than half of that suffered by Mitt Romney last year and the moderate Republican U. S. Senate nominee last year. As to Senate candidates in deep-blue New Jersey, his 44.3 percent tied for the best GOP percentage since the late Congressman Bob Franks came within 3 points of upsetting Jon Corzine back in 2000.”