GOP activist launches 'Draft Lonegan' for governor organization

GOP activist Dan Gallic today announced that he is forming an organization to draft former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan to run for governor.

"Our goal is to create a situation where should Steve decide to run, there will be a grass-roots and finance organization already in place to secure him the Republican nomination," Gallic said in a release.

"Steve Lonegan’s conservative leadership is the reason he is the Republican Party’s premier leader when so many other ‘leaders’ have been asleep at the wheel," Gallic added. "No one in New Jersey has the record of accomplishment Steve Lonegan has built: from stopping McGreevey’s gasoline tax hike to defeating two ballot questions last November and the Corzine borrowing and toll hike scheme last Spring."

The gubernatorial election is next year. Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine this summer informally announced his intentions to pursue re-election. Potential Republican challengers in addition to Lonegan include U.S. Attorney Chris Christie and Princeton businessman John Crowley.

In his "Draft Lonegan" statement, Gallic highlighted what he saw as Lonegan’s fiscally conservative approach while he was mayor of Bogota, including a record of keeping taxes under the rate of inflation. He also celebrated Lonegan’s decision to file a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and Gov. Jon Corzine over the governor’s plan to borrow $3.9 billion for new schools construction.

"New Jersey Republicans continue to lose election after election because we run the same old gang of weak-kneed wimpy moderates who believe in nothing and are afraid to throw a punch," Gallic said.

"Steve Lonegan is the antithesis of the losing Republican," he added. "He knows how to play the game. Neither the Democrats nor Corzine’s money intimidates him. To Steve, defeat is not an option and that resonates with the millions of overtaxed New Jersey voters ready to give up on our state but ready to give our state one more chance."

Gallic said he would announce within a few weeks a coalition of Republican leaders in all of the state’s 21 counties "as well as a direct mail fundraising appeal to people who have supported Steve and other conservatives in the past."

Lonegan serves as state executive director of Americans for Prosperity, and is an unpaid columnist for this website.