Brian Levine

2nd Ward Franklin Town Council candidate Mike Kalafer at tonight's meeting.

SOMERVILLE - Far from the gladiatorial clanking of Corzine V. Christie, two former combatants defeated earlier this year assessed the contest from the bowels of Mannion's Tavern tonight, both agreeing the debate took a major nosedive ever since the end of the Republican Primary.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham Twp.) and Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine, who both unsuccessfully pursued the '09 GOP nomination for governor, surfaced at a local grassroots event here organized by former 7th Congressional District candidate Tom Roughneen.

They faced about 45 people as a doubled up main act.

"I've not been happy with either side," said Merkt as he considered the gubernatorial contest. "We're facing an $8 to $10 billion budget shortfall. Property taxes are up by 50% in these last years. These are the issues we should be talking about. So far, Jon Corzine has done nothing but try to dredge up every evil he can find on Chris Christie and sling mud. I'm really disappointed.

"On the Republican side, I'm waiting for some answers," Merkt added. "It's not enough to say, 'I'm not Jon Corzine.' We have a candidate running on 'change,' and we saw how well that worked out the last time someone ran on that slogan."

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is teaming up with his former rival for the nomination, Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine, for a press conference this afternooon at the State House.  

A press release from the Chrsitie campaign says that the two will talk about “Steve Lonegan's Tax Hike Plan and its affects on New Jersey's families.”

Levine has reason to support Christie over Lonegan.  Already a long shot for the nomination when he started his campaign, he saw his hopes dashed after the Lonegan campaign successfully challenged his petition signatures, knocking him and two other underdog candidates off the ballot.  The Christie campaign, which stood to benefit from having a more crowded ballot, criticized Lonegan for the signature challenges.  

Pastor Shannon Wright, a Democrat-turned-independent who ran Republican Brian Levine's gubernatorial campaign, says that she has a plan to gather more than enough signatures to get on the ballot and raise the $340,000 necessary to qualify for matching funds.

But the African American pastor stopped short of revealing her plan to get on the ballot and raise $340,000, suggesting that the details will come later.

Wright did say, however, that her campaign will be looking for petition signatures in places overlooked by the major party candidates, be it inner-city neighborhoods or towns in South Jersey.  They hope to get somewhere from 7,000 to 11,000 signatures to get on the general election ballot, well beyond the required 1,000.

"When you include people who are mostly excluded, they're very eager to help with signatures," Wright said.

One of our readers couldn't resist, and neither can we. 

FRANKLIN TWP. – Mayor Brian D. Levine today formally ended his race for the Republican nomination for governor, bemoaning rival candidate Steve Lonegan's retreat from what Levine called the "battle of ideas."

Levine last night received a fax from Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells informing him of her decision to accept the recommendation of an administrative law judge, which showed Levine under the threshold of 1,000 signatures he needed to remain on the ballot.

“I will take a day or two to think about endorsing a candidate for governor,” said the 50-year old Levine, who has two years remaining in his current term as mayor. “I have to decide where I will go with it, but I would like to be involved in some way.”

Levine admitted it was hard to drop out of a contest where he had tried to compete in all 21 counties yet failed to gain traction, both with county committees and in the polls. 

A Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday showed just two percent of Republican primary voters supporting gubernatorial candidate Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) - just within the poll's 2.1% margin of error.

That's not cause for despair for Merkt, who does not plan to give up.  He does not see his quest as quixotic, nor is he merely trying a statement.

"This is New Jersey, and weird stuff happens in New Jersey, and weird stuff happens in New Jersey very late," said Merkt.  "Remember Torricelli?  Candidates implode at times or explode, and it is not impossible that there could be a surprise in store for us in this election."

Both the Democratic and Republican primaries this year include candidates who can claim the legitimacy of being former or current elected officials, but whose campaigns have not gained any traction in polls.  The Republicans have Merkt, and had Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine until he was kicked off the ballot for insufficient signatures.  Democrats have former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson, who has the added challenge of running against a wealthy incumbent governor, Jon Corzine.

"I've invested eight months of time and effort in this, and I've managed to get on the ballot, and I hope to get into the debates," said Merkt, who is talking to NJN Interim News Director Michael Aron about the prospect of setting up a televised debate that he, too, can participate in.  "There's no reason for me that I can see to pull out at this point."

Still, apart from a nightmare scenario for GOP frontrunner Christopher Christie, the former U.S. Attorney, or his closer rival, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, Merkt feels that his candidacy has made a difference in the campaign.  The other candidates, he said, now talk about his pet issue: the make-up of the State Supreme Court.

In Merkt's view, one can't affect change in the state without altering the makeup Supreme Court first.  Four out of the seven justices will come up for reappointment during the next gubernatorial term, while one is set to reach the mandatory age of retirement.  The governor is required to keep a partisan balance on the court, although Merkt could try to find Democrats who share his political philosophy.

"In one regard, I view this campaign as a huge success because this issue has finally come to the fore," said Merkt.

Getty Images Photo

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has a 40%-15% lead in the Republican gubernatorial primary over former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, according to a new Strategic Vision poll.

In the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, a new Strategic Vision poll has former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie leading former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan by 25 percentage points, 40%-15%.  Franklin Mayor Brian Levine, who may not be on the ballot, runs third with 4%, followed by Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) with 2%.  Nearly four out of ten Republicans polled (39%) remain undecided.

The poll gives Gov. Jon Corzine an upside-down 36%-54% approval rating.  Corzine trails Christie by eleven points, 47%-36%, but leads Lonegan 44%-39% and Merkt 45%-30%.  The incumbent is in a statistical dead heat against Levine, leading 42%-40%.

The Strategic Vision poll gives President Obama a 58%-35% approval rating in New Jersey. 

School budgets passed in the hometowns of every major candidate for Governor but the incumbent.  In Hoboken, where Gov. Jon Corzine lives, voters rejected the proposed school budget by 111 votes (52%-48%). 

In Mendham Township, the hometown of two Republican candidates, former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and Assemblyman Rick Merkt, the school budget passed 482-393, 55%-45%.  In Bogota, where Steven Lonegan served three terms as Mayor, voters passed the budget by 37 votes, 54%-46%. 

Glen Ridge, the hometown of Corzine's Democratic primary challenger, former Mayor Carl Bergmanson, approved their school budget by a 65%-35% margin, 252 votes.   In Franklin Township, where Republican Brian Levine is Mayor, the budget passed by 1,385 votes, 65%-35%.

A new poll shows Franklin Mayor Brian D. Levine, left, who may be forced off the GOP gubernatorial primary ballot because he didn't get enough signatures, in a statistical dead heat with Gov. Jon Corzine. Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham), right, who is on the ballot, is 15 points down.

According to a report in the National Review, Strategic Vision will release a poll on Wednesday that shows former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie leading Gov. Jon Corzine by eleven points, 47%-36%.  Corzine has an upside-down approval rating of 36%-54%.

Against Franklin Mayor Brian Levine, Corzine is in a statistical dead head with a 42%-40% lead.  Corzine leads former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan by five points, 44%-39%, and has a fifteen point lead, 45%-30%, against Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham).

Brown: candidacy in the balance

Franklin Township Mayor Brian D. Levine is awaiting word from Administrative Law Judge Gail Cookson regarding whether he will be able to stay on the Republican Primary ballot as a candidate for governor.

“I received a letter yesterday from Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, notifying me that her office was remanding the case back to the administrative law judge and I have not yet received word,” Levine told PolitickerNJ.com as he fulfilled his annual Election Day duty of delivering Munchkins to poll workers.

Inventor David Brown, who like Levine received a petition signature challenge from an ally of rival gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan and an oral judgment by the judge that he lacked an adequate number of signatures to get on the ballot, also awaits his candidacy’s fate.