Meyerowitz readies for a second try

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Mark Meyerowitz had a brief glimmer of hope last year.

He was the only Republican legislative candidate in District 27, running for Assembly against a ticket headed up by Senate President Dick Codey – the most popular elected official in the state. But then Codey’s running mate, Mims Hackett, was arrested on corruption charges. And for the brief period that Hackett remained on the ticket, it looked possible that Meyerowitz could actually win.

That didn’t last, of course. Hackett resigned, and the party settled on Mila Jasey to replace him. She beat Meyerowitz by more than a 2-1 margin.

But Meyerowitz, a financial advisor by trade who’s attending the Republican National Convention as an alternate delegate, doesn’t consider himself a glutton for punishment. Even if circumstances made last year his best shot, he’s 95% sure he’ll run again.

“We’re outnumbered in the district, and I didn’t have any financial resources to work with, but I feel like the flyers I printed really did connect with the voters I spoke to,” he said. “My message is that waste hurts everybody, but it especially hurts the poor and lwo income people. With the programs intended to help them, the money winds up getting pissed away. I think people see that, and they did realize that. I connected with Democrats who felt the same way.”

Since the election, Meyerowitz, the West Orange Republican municipal chairman, has been working to build the party, hosting dinners with top local Republicans like Senate candidate Dick Zimmer and state Sen. Bill Baroni. It’s a tough job, he acknowledges, and another legislative campaign will be equally hard.

But Meyerowitz is eager to take on Jasey, who he describes as “yes woman” to Codey, and criticized McKeon’s record on taxes.

“Before the debate in Livingston last year, I said ‘Mila, if you win, be your own person.’ But she doesn’t take my advice,” he said.

Still, Meyerowitz, said his potential campaign won’t be based on tying Jasey or McKeon to Codey. Rather, he’ll make it all about Gov. Corzine.

“I would associate her with Jon Corzine. Codey isn’t really the issue right now. Corzine is the issue, and the entire Democratic destruction of our financial system in our state,” he said. “I’m a financial advisor, and I tell people that if you own any New Jersey bonds, you’ve got to get rid of them, because you can’t wait for New Jersey to default before you sell them.”