Lonegan spurns 'the line'

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan’s campaign announced today that they are giving up on trying to win county lines from mainstream Republican organizations unless and until legislation that reforms county political parties is signed into law.

Or as Lonegan Campaign Chairman Hank Butehorn put it in a press release: “If I may use a Star Wars metaphor, we are leaving behind the Empire to focus on building a Rebel Alliance.”

Lonegan, a strict conservative, has participated in several county committee screening processes and a nominating convention, but has lost every time to former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie -- the more moderate candidate who Republican leaders have long courted to run.

Lonegan’s chief strategist, Rick Shaftan, last week told PolitickerNJ.com that most county chairs were trying to subvert conventions to avoid risking Lonegan winning a county line.  Butehorn echoed a similar sentiment today.

“We entered into the county committee nominating process skeptical, but made a good faith effort to play by the GOP establishment’s rules,” he said.  “We leave this process convinced that a gubernatorial nominee has been pre-selected.”

Butehorn promoted the The Party Democracy Act, which aims to make county parties more transparent.  The bill, authored by two state senators with a history of criticizing  their own parties for alleged corruption -- Diane Allen (R-Burlington) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) -- was passed out of committee last week.  

“The state GOP and most of its county chairmen oppose these reforms. Last Thursday, Senator Allen and others spoke eloquently of the harassment they have experienced at the hands of county committees. Senator Allen described these party machines and their bosses as “fiefdoms” run by individuals who ‘intimidate… bully… and even blackmail’ in an attempt to control the process,” said Butehorn.  “We agree, and conclude that it is not in the best interests of the electorate or the Republican Party to take part in any county committee nominating process until the Party Democracy Act is law.”  

Still, Lonegan chief strategist Rick Shaftan said that the campaign will not recruit candidates to form alternate slates against the mainstream Republican organizations.  But he said they won’t stop it from happening.

“I’m not saying there won’t be tickets, because there are supporters of ours that are definitely pissed off and will file for offices, including freeholder, in different counties,” he said.