Joe Kyrillos

PARSIPPANY -- State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown), the Christie campaign chairman, just address a clearly upbeat crowd at the Republican rally.

“We’ve got some early numbers in, and we’re counting them very methodically. We’ve got an active war room, and we’re going through every town, every county, number by number by number,” he said.  “I can tell you that in the places where Chris Christie should be performing well, we are doing very, very well,” he said.

Kyrillos referenced a CNN report that Christie is leading among independents 58% to 44%.

“As this room knows, the key for our winning New Jersey is that independent vote. But let me just tell everybody that this may be a long night. This may be a close race. We’ll be down here periodically to keep people updated,” he said.

"New Jersey Pays Goldman Sachs for Swaps on Nonexistent Bonds"

Headline of a Bloomberg News article Published on Oct. 23

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Christie-Guadagno Campaign Chairman Senator Joe Kyrillos released the following statement on Governor Jon Corzine's refusal to disclose his foundation's political contributions:

The chairman of Chris Christie’s campaign stood up for his fellow Republican today, taking a swipe at two top Democrats who called Christie fat.

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown) took issue with comments about Christie’s girth from state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) and Democratic State  hairman/Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union).

Lesniak told New York Magazine that Christie “looks hideous! And unhealthy... That doesn’t portray the discipline that’s necessary to lead this state.”

Cryan last night asked a crowd of Essex County Democrats “What would it feel like if the next governor weighs 350 pounds?”

Kyrillos today said the comments “shameful,” and blamed Gov. Jon Corzine’s campaign, which created the now famous ad that says Christie “threw his weight around” to get out of a traffic ticket. 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s campaign today accused the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) of distorting his campaign platforms.  

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown), who is Christie’s campaign chairman, today told reporters that the group has engaged in “real bare knuckles distorted political advertising -- the kind that I have not seen, even in this state, from a group like this.”  

The Christie campaign featured three current or former teachers on a conference call today to back up the claims.  

At issue are several NJEA flyers that claim Christie would force new members to enroll in 401(k) plans instead of pensions, pay towards their health plans, and end collective bargaining, among other things.  

Although the Christie camp has proposed those reforms for state employees, Kyrillos said they are not meant to apply to public school teachers.  

When asked whether Christie thinks that teacher pay is too high or that they should chip in to pay part of their health benefits, Kyrillos gave a non-committal answer.

“I think that Chris wants to work with boards of education to make sure we have a sustainable model of recruiting the best teachers, of paying them as much as we can, but also making sure we have a budget to work with in future years,” he said.

NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer countered that the pension and health care changes Christie proposed will touch on 51,000 non-teacher members of the union whose pensions are with the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), including cafeteria workers and bus drivers.  

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Christie-Guadagno Campaign Chairman Senator Joe Kyrillos released the below statement regarding Jon Corzine's comments to the Star Ledger editorial board promising to raise taxes on New Jerseyans:  

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Christie-Guadagno Campaign Chairman Senator Joe Kyrillos made the following statement calling on Jon Corzine to provide answers about his questionable investments with Texas Pacific Group:  

"Today, we discovered that Governor Corzine holds significant personal investments in the Texas Pacific Group and its affiliate companies that may be in violation of the law. Governor Corzine must be forthright and tell New Jerseyans how much money he has personally invested with TPG and divest his interest in the company.

"At best, Governor Corzine's actions represent a concerning conflict of interest.  At worst, they violate the Casino Control Act.  Mr. Corzine should know that this investment is wrong and may, in fact, be illegal."

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Paid for by Chris Christie for Governor, Inc  Ronald Gravino, Treasurer    

New Jersey was once the economic engine of the Northeast. Now it leads the region in joblessness. Governor Corzine should apologize to New Jersey, and call a special session immediately to come forth with a bold job creation plan that will begin to counter and then erase the disastrous economic policies of the last eight years.

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown) says there’s a “strong undercurrent” of Democratic support for Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, though few Democrats will come out and say it.

“I can tell you that Chris has talked to a lot of Democrats, a lot of prominent Democrats. People who want to build relationships with him, want to start on the right foot and reach out to someone they think will be the next governor of New Jersey,” said Kyrillos, the chairman of Christie’s campaign,  in a conference call with reporters today.  “Mayors, leaders tell me I can’t really step out front, but I’m with you. You won’t see a big vote turnout here, you won’t see a lot of organization in this town there.”

The point of the conference call was highlight three Democrats who are supporting Christie, though one – Hillside Mayor Joseph Menza – did not wind up on the call and is actually an independent.  The other two were Joan Haberle, who was secretary of state during the first half of former Governor Jim Florio’s administration, and Garfield Councilwoman Tana Raymond, who has appeared for months in Christie campaign commercials and press releases.

Haberle, who Republicans similarly trotted out to support John McCain for president last year, maintained that she usually does vote Democrat.  

“I have always been a Democrat. In fact I was a county leader – I was chairman of the Democratic Party in Hunterdon County,” she said.

A tax proposed by unions and liberal Democrats could prolong the recession in New Jersey. Governor Corzine should do the right thing and speak up against this job-killing tax, Senator Joe Kyrillos says.