Lonegan enters race for Republican gubernatorial nomination
By Matt Friedman, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter
EDISON – Standing in front of about 50 supporters and members of the press, former Bogota Mayor and anti-tax advocate Steve Lonegan formally announced his candidacy for governor next year as an uncompromising conservative determined to reduce the size of state government.
“New Jersey was built on that fundamental belief – the belief is individual freedom, defending liberty and letting every individual fulfill their potential,” Lonegan said. “Over the last decades, we’ve seen that philosophy undermined -- undermined by a growth of government that has accelerated the entitlement state and reliance not on opportunity, but on government handouts.”
Lonegan characterized himself as merely the spokesman for a wider movement to roll back what he sees as increased government interference in economic affairs, and said he his executive experience as a former small business owner and mayor of the small town of Bogota especially qualified him to head it. Lonegan used his blue collar roots to lament that the New Jersey middle-class, saddled with high taxes, are struggling to survive economically.
If elected, Lonegan pledged to reduce the size of state government by 20 percent through layoffs, eliminating programs and “devolving government from Trenton to local municipalities.”
Specifically, Lonegan said that he would favor constitutional amendments to roll back State Supreme Court decisions that have been anathema to conservatives: Abbot v. Burke, which gave state aid to poor school districts to match their more wealthy counterparts; and Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township, which led to today’s Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) standards.
“Let’s talk about a program called COAH, which is now mandating that we build 100,000 government subsidized, low income housing units to be mandated in the state of New Jersey. We need to overturn COAH,” Lonegan said to applause. “We do not need to work with them to tweak it.”
Lonegan also noted that a toll hike went into effect today – another tax, he said, on New Jerseyans.
Lonegan, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 gubernatorial primary, is likely to face stiff competition to get the nomination. Today’s announcement coincides with U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s last day in that post. He may run for governor, and if he does it will likely be as the establishment favorite. Several other candidates may run as well.
Lonegan said that he respects Christie’s corruption busting record, but said his anti-tax crusade hits home with an overburdened electorate.
“I’m an executive and I’m a businessman. Mr. Christie, I respect him very much, but he’s an attorney,” said Lonegan.
A reporter pointed out that Gov. Corzine was a businessman too, to which Lonegan responded that there’s the calloused hand type of small businessman and a Wall Street trader who “manipulates paper.”
But why will this year turn out any differently than 2005, when Lonegan finished with eight percent of the vote, coming in fourth out of seven Republican primary candidates?
“In 2005 I was a small town mayor. A town of 8,000 people, a conservative. The Republican leadership in New Jersey said small-town conservative mayors can’t win. By the way those are the same people who fell all over Sarah Palin as the greatest thing since white bread,” said Lonegan. “But it was my first time out of the box and I’ve been traveling the state ever since.”
Lonegan did not go into specifics about fundraising, but said that he has already started taking donations and is working towards getting enough donations to qualify for public matching funds, which he used in his 2005 race.
Although fundamentally opposed to the concept of government-funded campaigns, Lonegan said that it’s the only way to run against wealthy candidates like Corzine, who can spend millions of their own money. He even challenged Corzine to join him.
“How fair is it that Jon Corzine can dump $60 million in his campaign, but I can’t go to my mom and say I need $60 million?” said Lonegan. “I would ask Jon Corzine, since he supports these programs to join the same program I’m in. he should also join the matching funds program if he believes in it so much.”
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Quote of the Day
"I'm tired of this two-party system. All they want is to score points for their team. I'm sick of it. I've had it." -- Karen Dunn, the owner of Blackbeard's Deli in Burlington City, after meeting independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett.
Recent Press Releases
- Jul 2 2009
Syndicate
Sarah Palin
Someone should tell Steve that Wasilla is bigger than Bogota.
Media support
Let the biased, pro-Lonegan reporting on this site begin!
Only chance
His only shot to get the nomination, is if Crowley decides to jump in. Crowley & Christie will split the sane vote, and the very right wing of the party will win. He will then get trounced as Schundler did. God help us....Christie for Gov
Lonegan ain't Schundler
That's like comparing Ronald Reagan to Barry Goldwater.
Thirty years ago MOR was telling people Reagan couldn't win either.
Thanks to MOR, New Jersey has the most pathetic Republican Party in the nation next to Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and he aims to keep it that way.
Like the drunks in Harry Hope's bar, MOR is happy being a loser and living in his own dark little world than going out into the sunshine and savoring victory.
It's time for a change. Time for a conservative change. Time to start winning again.
We need a mean fiscal conservative.
As soon as they show that they have a heart about some social issue - off with their head!
Time to start winning again.
with "conservatives" like Whitman and Kean?
Lonegan.
A Lonegan candidacy for governor will cause the Trenton press corps to awake from their four-year slumber and actually report the news and not the standard lines that conservatives can't win and Corzine is a shoe-in for re-election.
Lonegan represents what most voters have in NJ which is competent, small town government.
There are over 500 municipalities in New Jersey. Most people live in places like Bogota, West Milford, Scotch Plains, Fanwood or Harrison. They know the mayor. They know who runs the government and for the most part in places where the community is less than 10,000 people, local government works.
It's where the garbage gets picked up and the cops are immediate responders. It's where volunteers fight fires and kids learn and teachers teach. It's where the curbs are clean and the catch basins get fixed.
That's why New Jersey is appealing. It's small town, unique and suburban.
What does Jon Corzine really know about New Jersey or state government for that matter?
Did he attend school here? Would he even know anything about NJ had Goldman Sachs didn't have a headquarters here?
Corzine has no roots here. He doesn't connect with the average voter.
Lonegan does.
Lonegan has stabilized taxes and Corzine just talks about it. Lonegan provided real tax relief in Bogota. Corzine hasn't promised anything but wholesale auctions of the state's assets because he can't make tough decisions and he's in the pocket of the state employees and the NJEA.
It's time for a Jersey guy to become governor. A street fighter who single handily beat those referendums last year. The guy who filed the original ethics complaints against Sharpe James and others which led to the indictments by the US Attorney's Office.
The press will either try to make Lonegan out as a "gadfly" or "racist" because they don't like his stands on the issues important to taxpayers.
Mayor Lonegan is an advocate for fundamental change in that his "small and suburban" approach to governance is what New Jersey really needs.
Corzine is an advocate for low income housing and the complete urbanization of a state that doesn't want to go in that direction. We need someone who can say "no" and stand by his principles.
Jon Corzine is the worst governor this state has ever had. He's not a businessman, he's a Wall Street type who made money off the hard work of others. Lonegan is a true businessman who makes a payroll and invests in the community.
That's what New Jersey needs.
Vote Column "A" - All the way!
Case is living in the past.
Whitman last won, with the same 46% most other Republican candidates in the state get, a dozen years ago. Kean's big win was nearly a quarter century in the past. And both Kean and Whitman won their first races campaigning as Reaganesque tax cutting conservatives.
Kean even promised, in his 1981 campaign, "to do for New Jersey what Reagan is doing for America."
Primary Math
How many county lines would Lonegan need to win?
Shaftan's Welfare Check
It comes every four years in the form of matching funds from New Jersey taxpayers to a gubernatorial candidate. Lonegan won't win, but Shaftan will certainly pocket the money.
Run, Steve, Run
Mr. Christie, I respect him very much, but he’s an attorney,” said Lonegan.
I love Christie. He did a phenomenal job as a federal prosecutor. I don't know a thing about his position on economics. This state sorely, no desperately needs someone who understands economics in Drumthwacket. I have studied economics extensively and I know that Steve understands economics.
If Lonegan wins the primary, maybe Christie can pledge to replace Anne Milgram and help Lonegan beat Corzine!
"I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is.”
- Johnny Ramone
Network
Steve won't get the county lines. If he had planned last Summer in having his people fill committee slots (convention voters), he would have stood a chance.
The real power is a turn out in the primary.
Mountaintop
YOU are the reason Republicans don't win in NJ. Can you see independents turning out in a general for Lonegan...its a no brainer. face the facts, NJ is a blue state. The only kind of Republican that can win is a middle of the road Republican. Those type of Republicans may not appeal to you, but the reality is that they are the only kind that can win in Nov '09. Sorry for the dose of reality.
MOR's fallacy
Liberal Republicans always run weaker than conservatives. That's why there are almost none of them left.
Conservative Democrats and independents do not vote for liberal Republicans. That's a fact. Another fact is that liberal Republicans are the most loyal Republican voters and support conservative GOP candidates even if they disagree on issues.
The swing voters in this state are conservatives, not liberals. People like MOR and others who are oblivious to this are the reason Republicans lose every statewide election in New Jersey.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. MOR and his ilk would rather lose with Christie than win with Lonegan.
Thank you
Mountaintop:
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
That^^^^^ is what I have been saying all along!!!!
It's the reason Tom Wilson has to go now!!! We need steady leadership from here on out if we are going to win in November!!
So I guess, according to
So I guess, according to Mountaintop, this tent isn't all that big.
Shaftan = Mountaintop
All aboard the FAIL-sloop. Captain Lonegan will be on the bridge, spouting his right-wing gibberish. Captain L has to recruit young, inexperienced deckhands because no experienced sailors will crew for him.
Predictions:
(1) Lonegan/Shaftan run a nasty, juvenile primary campaign calling Corzine a "communist" or "socialist", pissing on New Jersey as a place to live, and generally making asses of themselves;
(2) The right-wing nutjobs will put away their Ron Paul paraphernalia for a few seconds and climb about the FAIL-sloop; then
(4) Lonegan pulls a few "Sabrins" and gets some media attention with ill-fated 'spectacles' like betting his campaign on a horse race; while
(3) Lonegan spends most of his campaign money pissing on Christie, and weakening Christie for the general election (with the help of the Paultardz & the Democrooks); and then
(5) Dick Codey easily beats the Republican nominee.
FAIL.
Thanks, Steve & Rick and the j.v. squad.
WOW
Bergen spends WAY too much time on this stuff.
beowulf
The tent is big, you just need the right person leading. Yesterday's press conference sounded like Lonegan was the right leader. He was inviting everyone to be part of his campaign and saying he wants to help all Republicans win next year.
The Record bias.
Marguiles cartoon on Lonegan shows the bias of that paper.
Can anyone explain why Christie can compete, much less win?
Is the Republican Party this desperate for a messenger rather than developing a real message?
Vote Column "A" - All the way!
Stop the exodus, vote Lonegan
There is an exodus of our producing citizens because of the economic policy. Voters rejected two ballot questions in 2006 because they are tired of the spending and debt. The heart of New Jerseyans' discontent is the bread and butter of both Steve Lonegan's message and record. It is clear who makes the best candidate for Governor and who makes the best candidate for Attorney General.
Laus Deo,
Jesse O. Kurtz
Managing Editor for The Atlantic City Scoop
http://cityofatlantic.wordpress.com
Jesseokurtz@gmail.com
bergen ruiz
adding your 5 cents means nothing. Christie and Crowley only give jobs to folks who speak English.
Serious economic debate needed
Lonegan,Chris Christie, Rick Merkt etc must start a serious debate about economic issues now. There is a good argument for sound fiscal management at a time that, NY, CA etc are begging for bailouts in DC. This debate should start now and not 1 month before a primary. Let us see each candidates solutions to our financial mess.
Corzine is afraid of Lonegan.
The last thing Jon Corzine wants is a GOP challenger talking about the incumbent's outright failures as it pertains to state spending, debt and property taxes.
Can Corzine point to a shred of tangible accomplishment? Why would the Democratic Party even re-nominate this fool?
The issue isn't Lonegan, the issue is Corzine and his lack of record. This is 2002 all over again when Torricelli dropped out because he couldn't win.
Corzine can't win and Democrats are slow to comprehending that political reality no matter how much he intends to spend!
It seems to me only Lonegan understand how damaged Corzine is and the press walks around in a fog waiting for more spoon-fed rhetoric from Moran, et al how Corzine is upside down in the polls and losing political traction each and every day...
Vote Column "A" - All the way!
The Only Way Lonegan Beats Christie....
...is to attack Chrities's "strength". That he's supposedly a "corruption fighter".
Christie comes from a corrupt history and he was/is soft on the systemic corruption in NJ. Christie has taken no strong anti pay to play positions and has taken no strong electoral reform postions vis a vis public campaign finance.
One thing real conservatives and progressives do have in common in NJ is a total disgust with the systemic corruption.
I doubt Lonegan has the balls to take on the states's Democratic and Republican machines....he'll likely run on "Sarah Palin style" issues, and he'll lose big to the overstuffed phony.
The hard right will still rally around Christie, since they have no where else to go...and Lonegan remains a walking non sequitor.
From Frederick Douglass
Once again....
You don't have a clue...
Christie is not right-wing. He's not even conservative. He's a country club Republican. A limousine liberal.
Why would any conservative support Christie?
Only the hacks are supporting Christie because they think he can win.
The same reason they supported Forrester and the same reason they supported Kean, Jr.
The crime fighters never win.
NEVER.
Ask Tom Dewey. How about John Degnan? How about Bob del Tufo? How about Carey Edwards?
The list is endless.
Vote Column "A" - All the way!
Crime Fighters never win?
Rudy Giuliani was a crime fighter. Rudy Giuliani won the mayor's office and turned out to be the best damned mayor New York City has ever seen.
Of course, that's got nothing to do with whether Christie will be the best choice for governor. I want to hear where he stands on conomics.
"I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is.”
- Johnny Ramone
There are exceptions.
1942: After losing to Herbert Lehman in 1938, Lehman doesn't run for reelection and Tom Dewey won with 52% aided by anti-Roosevelt sentiment and a split between the Tammany Democrat and leftist splinter parties who between them received 12% of the vote. Democrats conceded the race to Dewey even before it started.
1973: During Watergate, Brendan Byrne defeated by 2-1 a member of the House Judiciary Committee who voted against Nixon's Impeachment. Byrne's nomination and subsequent election was totally a function of Watergate.
1993: After losing to David Dinkins in 1989, Giuliani narrowly beats the incumbent after urban decay gets completely out of hand and Latinos turn against Dinkins.
Giuliani's appeal was a promise of cleaning up the squeegeemen, panhandlers, graffiti artists, pot sellers and prostitutes off the streets because that was the top issue facing New York City voters. The top issues in New Jersey are high taxes and a poor business climate. Asking a prosecutor to deal with nuts and bolts fiscal issues is like putting a square peg in a round hole.
Besides, it's day four of private life and still no news. He's not going to run anyway.
Time to get on the bus.
Why Lonegan Loses
Because wikipedia and the intertubez exists:
"n October 2007 it was discovered that Lonegan, known for his hard line stance against illegal immigration, had hired two allegedly illegal immigrants to work for him. Critics quickly shouted "hypocrite", but Lonegan maintained that he made every effort to ensure that both men were legal citizens. Both men were subsequently located and when interviewed by Spanish-speaking media, denied that Lonegan made any attempt to ascertain their citizenship."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lonegan
OOPS!