2009

Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan is expected to announce next month that he will seek the Republican nomination for Governor in 2009

Former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan lays out his campaign for the 2009 Republican gubernatorial nomination in a fundraising letter written as Barack Obama was declaring his victory in the presidential race.  Lonegan hits strong conservative themes -- fiscal and social -- and talks about his electibility as a Mayor of a "blue" town in Bergen County.
 
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LONEGAN LETTER

Democrats think today's Quinnipiac gubernatorial poll indicates that Gov. Jon Corzine is well on his way to being understood and embraced by the electorate after making several unpopular and tough, but necessary decisions.

Republicans see the poll as demonstrating lackluster support for the Corzine, considering he's spent a combined $100 million on his two previous statewide races, and early enthusiasm for U.S. Attorney Chris Christie's potential candidacy among those who have heard of him.

Meanwhile, non-partisan political analysts see the poll as a wash, with promising and troubling results for both Corzine and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who is viewed as a likely gubernatorial candidate.

Corzine leads Christie in the poll, 42% to 36%, although only 37% of voters think Corzine deserves to be reelected and his approval rating remains net negative. Christie remains a relative unknown, with only 30% of respondents knowing enough about him to form an opinion.

Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), the Democratic State Chairman, said that's the number that caught his attention. Despite dozens of positive front page headlines about his indictments and convictions of prominent public officials since he was sworn in, 70% of voters still barely know anything about him.

On top of that, although Corzine still has a net negative approval rating, he's improved significantly since the last Quinnipiac poll in September.

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Bob Franks had a 53%-3% favorble rating among Republicans after his 2000 U.S. Senate bid, and lost a primary for Governor six months later by fourteen percentage points

Outgoing U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has a 42%-1% favorable rating among Republican voters, who by a 67%-4% margin want him to run for Governor in 2009.  In a head to head poll with Democrat Jon Corzine, Republicans back Christie 76%-10%.  Christie also leads Corzine among Independents, 38%-32%.

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Gov. Jon Corzine has an upside-down 43%-46% job approval rating

Gov. Jon Corzine continues to struggle with his fifth negative approval rating this year -- 43%-46% -- according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released today.  But those numbers are better than his 40%-51% approval rating in a September 17 Quinnipiac poll.  More than half of New Jersey voters (51%) say he doesn't deserve to be re-elected, while just 37% say he does.  

New Jerseyans, by a 54%-30% margin, don't want Corzine to be Barack Obama's Secretary of the Treasury.

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U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is within six points of incumbent Jon Corzine in a Quinnipiac University poll of the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey

Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine has a narrow six point lead over Republican Christopher Christie in the 2009 race for Governor of New Jersey, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning.  Corzine leads Christie, who will leave his post as U.S. Attorney on December 1, 42%-36%.

“The long coattails of Barack Obama have reached down into New Jersey and helped Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election prospects, at least for now,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is in a statistical dead head with Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in a 2009 gubernatorial poll: Getty Images Photo
The race for Governor between incumbent Jon Corzine and Republican U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie remains a statistical dead heat, with Corzine leading Christie 42%-40% in a new Quinnipiac University poll for the 2009 race.   In August, the race was also too close to call; Christie led Corzine, 41%-40%.

Half of the voters say that Corzine does not deserve to be re-elected; 25% of Demcorats say the same. Corzine has a 46%-42% favorable rating, while Christie is at 25%-7%.  Two thirds of the voters say they dont know enough about the federal prosecutor to form an opinion.

Bret Schundler, who served as mayor of Jersey City from 1992 to 2001, will challenge incumbent Jerramiah Healy in 2009
In 1999, the late William F. Buckley recognized a rising star in conservative Republican circles named Bret Schundler, who had been mayor of Jersey City for six years. Seeing Schundler as a potential presidential prospect, he wrote in the New York Post: "Look for him in 2008."

Nine years and two gubernatorial losses later, any presidential dreams Schundler once harbored are gone. But we can look for him in 2009, because Schundler has all but made it official, acknowledging that he plans to run to return to Grove Street next year, eight years after he left the office.

"This is not a formal kickoff announcement, but I do plan to run," said Schundler in a phone interview.

Schundler served between late 1992 and 2001, when he decided to forego reelection to run for governor. But the Schundler of 2009 will likely bare little resemblance to the conservative candidate who unsuccessfully sought the highest office in the state in 2001 and 2005 - at least not if he can help it.

"I think I'm pretty much done with partisan politics," he said.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is in a statistical dead head with Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in a 2009 gubernatorial poll: Getty Images Photo
A new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning shows Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie are in a statistical dead heat in the 2009 race for Governor. Christie leads Corzine 41%-40%.

Less than four out of ten New Jersey voters (37%) say Corzine deserves to be re-elected to a second term. Half the voters (50%) say he does not.

"Gov. Jon Corzine is in trouble. Since most New Jersey voters say they don't know a lot about Christopher Christie, Gov. Corzine's record and inability to unscramble the state's budget mess is pulling him down," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Chris Christie may face a real challenge from Steve Lonegan if he runs for Governor next year: Getty Images Photo
Christopher J. Christie got a big headline yesterday with the indictment of former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio. But his victory in prosecuting another prominent public official was tempered a bit by a Wednesday New York Times story harshly critical of “the way he has conducted business” and a Thursday editorial that slammed him around.

Has the aura of inevitability around Christie as the Republican nominee for Governor in 2009 faded?

The next election is nineteen months away, and it’s not even a sure bet that Gov. Jon Corzine will seek reelection. But of the few Republican candidates on the horizon, this winter belongs to conservative activist and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, whose name is associated with the defeat of two ballot measures in November’s election, and who has taken a stand at the forefront of the anti-monetization movement, warming him to the type of mainstream Republican politicians with whom he’s feuded with in the past.