Lonegan to kick off his second gubernatorial campaign today
By Matt Friedman, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter
Conservative activist Steve Lonegan will formally announce his gubernatorial candidacy this afternoon.
Lonegan, the 52-year-old former mayor of Bogota, will kickoff his 2009 campaign at the Courtyard Marriot in Edison at 1:00pm, according to his Web site.
This will be Lonegan’s second try for his party’s nomination. In 2005, he won eight percent of the vote in the Republican primary, coming in fourth out of seven candidates. But since then he's developed a higher statewide profile, authoring a book and heading the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity.
Today’s announcement comes on the same day that Chris Christie, a potential rival of Lonegan’s for the Republican nomination and the favorite of the GOP establishment, steps down from his post as U.S. Attorney. Assemblyman Richard Merkt, who like Christie is from Mendham, has already announced that he intends to seek the nomination, while Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine is also considering a run. Biotech executive John Crowley is said to be mulling a candidacy as well, while Morris County Freeholder John Murphy may run if Christie does not.
Democrats are not expecting any serious challenges to Gov. Corzine for that party’s nomination.
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Quote of the Day
"Please. I wouldn't have enough paper. So let’s not even bother writing one. This is now about governing. I won. The one thing I could never understand about people in politics was winners who are sore winners." -- Gov.-elect Christopher Christie, on putting together an enemis list.
“He’s a nice man with good intentions, but in the end he’ll be remembered for timidity. Being a business titan and issuing orders from the corner office is a lot different than having to cajole and persuade people in politics and having the toughness and fortitude to see your vision become reality.”-- Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, on Gov. Jon Corzine.
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