Senate candidate Unanue has rough week

Andy Unanue, scion of the Goya Foods empire, had an eventful week after declaring his intention to seek the Republican nomination in New Jersey's U.S. Senate race.

The 40-year-old political neophyte - who has until Monday to file for a spot on the June 3 primary ballot - relived old allegations about coming into work drunk, faced questions about whether he previously violated federal campaign finance rules, and confirmed that he doesn't actually live in New Jersey. He lives in New York.

To cap things off, Unanue acknowledged that he pleaded guilty to drunken driving more than a decade ago.

In a phone interview Friday from Vail, Colo., where he was vacationing with family, Unanue said he regretted the incident, which took place on Aug. 29, 1993, in Fort Lee, N.J., according to state records.

He was cited, he said, when he called police after a driver rear-ended his vehicle and took off. Details from Fort Lee Municipal Court were not immediately available.

"In retrospect, I probably had one or two too many," said Unanue, who recalled that he had been headed home from a friend's house. "I realized I made a mistake, and I pleaded guilty."

He had another brush with the law while a student at the University of Miami, Unanue (pronounced you-NON-away) volunteered in the interview. But he couldn't remember the details, he said.

A spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department said that Unanue's criminal history had been sealed.

Whatever his previous lapses in judgment, Unanue - who on March 23 announced his intention to run in the primary - appeals to many state Republican Party leaders. In the businessman they see a youthful moderate with the means to spend millions of dollars to defeat a Democratic candidate.

"Let's be candid: The introduction of Andy Unanue to the people of New Jersey did not go as well as I would have liked," said Keith Davis, chairman of the Atlantic County Republicans, which voted last Thursday to endorse Unanue.

"Nevertheless, I've gotten to know him pretty well by talking to him on repeated occasions about what he wants to do in the U.S. Senate. I'm convinced he's the right candidate for the party."

Unanue's grandparents, immigrants from Spain, founded Goya Foods Inc., based in Secaucus, N.J. It is now the nation's largest Hispanic-owned food company. Unanue served as Goya's chief operating officer for four years until he and his father, Joseph, were ousted from the privately held company in 2004 in a family disagreement. Andy Unanue said the family has reconciled.

A 1993 article in New Jersey Monthly magazine estimated that Joseph Unanue was worth $450 million, making him the seventh-wealthiest person in the state at that time.

Andy Unanue, president of AU & Associates, a management and financial consulting firm based in New York, declined to reveal his net worth. But, he said, he would raise and spend whatever it takes to win the Senate race.

Anne Evans Estabrook, another wealthy political moderate, was the front-runner for the Republican nomination until she dropped out of the race last month after suffering a stroke.

The other two Republican candidates are Murray Sabrin, a Ramapo College professor from Bergen County who ran for Senate in 2000 and for governor in 1997, and State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, a dentist from Morris County.

Sabrin ran for governor as a Libertarian; Pennacchio is a conservative. Some party leaders consider both to be too out of touch with rank-and-file Republicans to beat 84-year-old Democratic incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who recent polls indicate may be vulnerable in November should he survive the primary.

New Jersey has not had a Republican senator since 1972, and no Republican has been elected to a statewide office since 1997.

The recent revelations about Unanue's past are a testimony to his electability, said New Jersey's Republican chairman, Tom Wilson.

"You can trace this all, essentially, to sources that have significant political motivation," Wilson said. "It demonstrates that people view Andy as a threat to their own candidacy."

"What I find refreshing about Andy Unanue is he is very forthright. He's very honest," Davis added. "He basically says, 'Look, I'm not a politician. I'm a man who is successful in business. I can bring those skills to the U.S. Senate.' "

Wilson said Unanue's political views line up nicely with those of most New Jerseyans.

"His priorities are their priorities: securing the borders, shrinking the size of government and making it more efficient, creating access to more affordable health care," Wilson said.

Since declaring his candidacy, Unanue - who supports abortion rights - has won endorsements from the Republican committees in Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean and Hudson Counties as well as Atlantic County.

Rob Ortiz, the Bergen County Republican chairman, was among the first to suggest to Unanue that he consider running. He thinks of Unanue as a brother, Ortiz said.

"I just know the type of individual he is and the things he can bring to the table," Ortiz said. "He's an intelligent, charismatic, caring individual who understands the economic climate from a business perspective."

Ortiz said Unanue would be able to reach out to the state's Hispanic voters in a way that no other Republican candidate has before.

But Democrats and one Republican challenger scoffed at the idea that Unanue should be taken seriously.

"It says something about how popular Frank Lautenberg is and how good a job he's done that this is the best Republicans can do," said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. "Andy Unanue clearly is not qualified to serve in the Senate."

George Ajjan, Sabrin's communications director, went further.

"Perhaps Boss Wilson and the rest of the failed party leadership should do a better job vetting candidates before they try to ram a slick, disco playboy who doesn't even live in New Jersey down the throats of the hardworking Republican rank and file," Ajjan said.

The unmarried Unanue previously owned AER, a nightclub in Manhattan's meatpacking district. He is now a partner in a restaurant there, Bagatelle, and another club, Kiss & Fly. He also has investments in a number of fast-food restaurants.

Regarding his place of residence, Unanue said he is working with two real estate agents to find a home in New Jersey, although he is not required to be a resident until election day. He said he has lived, at times, with his parents, in Alpine, Bergen County, whose address he has used in voter-registration records.

Unanue, who was born and raised in Bergen County, said he considers himself a New Jerseyan through and through, although his work has led him to live in other places, including Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

On the allegations that he came to work drunk, which arose in a civil lawsuit over the family dispute at Goya, Unanue said that he frequently attended evening events with customers, clients and suppliers.

"Did we have some drinks? Absolutely. Did I sometimes go to work with a headache? Absolutely," he said. "Did it ever affect my job? Absolutely not."

Unanue said that sales and revenues at Goya increased during his tenure there.

As to the claim, raised in the Record of Bergen County, that he violated federal campaign finance rules by having Goya pay a political consultant four years ago, when he was exploring the idea of running for office, Unanue said he always intended to reimburse the company, and that he did so during the settlement of the case.

What matters, Unanue said, is that he would be a better senator for New Jersey than Lautenberg has been.

Unanue said he would keep residents and businesses from moving out of state, draw the line on taxes and stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country.

"It's kind of energized me to think that the Democrats are that fearful of my candidacy," said Unanue, who planned to return from vacation tomorrow.

"Obviously I've got something to offer and something they think the majority of the voters in our great state of New Jersey are going to find appealing."

Goal: Republican nomination in New Jersey's U.S. Senate race.

Age: 40.

Residence: New York City, with plans to return to New Jersey.

Current jobs: President and chief executive officer of AU & Associates, a management and financial consulting firm; operating executive for Palladium Equity Partners L.L.C. A partner in a nightclub and several eating establishments.

Previous employment: Chief operating officer of Goya Foods Inc.

Education: MBA from Thunderbird, American Graduate School of International Management; undergraduate degree from University of Miami. Attended St. Joseph School in Bogota, Alpine Public School and Bergen Catholic High School, all in Bergen County.

Family: Never married.

Quote: "I'm very excited about this. I'm glad I'm coming home to New Jersey."

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