Former Republican assembly candidate Robert Villare is not finished.

After coming one point away –1,362 votes -- from unseating Democratic incumbent Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton) in the 3rd District with a bare bones, mostly self-funded campaign, the cardiothoracic surgeon and political novice from Paulsboro is considering running for office again in the near future. 

And this time, he might have some support from the party. 

The small margin between Villare and Riley caught some observers off guard.  Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro), an incumbent for eight years compared to Riley’s eight months, ran comfortably ahead of the pack.

Although Republicans cited the district as a potential pick up opportunity early in the election cycle, Assembly Republican Victory (ARV) – the political wing of the Assembly Republicans – publicly withdrew support after Villare and fellow Republican Lee Lucas prevailed in a primary over establishment favorites George Shivery and Art Marchand. 

In October, however, ARV did contribute $6,150 to Villare’s campaign.  Villare, who loaned his own campaign $57,413, described the support as “too little, too late.”

“All they gave was lip service,” he said, noting that most of the party’s resources were taken up by the District 1 assembly race, where Republicans were forecasted to have a good shot at taking out two Democratic incumbents but did not prevail. 

In the third district, which has been largely ignored by state Republicans after their preferred candidates were defeated in the GOP primary, two daily newspapers have endorsed Republican challenger Dr. Robert Villare for State Assembly over the newly-elected incumbent, Celeste Riley (D-Bridgeton).

The Gloucester County Times and the Courier-Post today endorsed Villare, a surgeon, over Riley, who won a special election convention earlier this year after Douglas Fisher resigned his Assembly seat to become state Secretary of Agriculture.

Both newspapers are backing a Democrat, five-term incumbent John Burzichelli, for re-election.

The GCT says that Villare "would be an asset to the Legislature as it copes with coming real-world health care changes in Washington."

"Unabashedly conservative, Villare's views are unlikely to dominate the Assembly, no matter how the statewide results go next Tuesday. But anti-tax, anti-big-spending policies aren't given sufficient voice in Trenton, and their loudest advocates often can't be taken seriously," the editorial said.  "In contrast, Villare's measured comments, for example, against excessive state school aid for urban ‘Abbott' districts could influence this debate going forward"

Burzichelli, the GCT said, has "some difficulty moving good ideas through both houses," and as Mayor of Paulsboro, he is a dual officeholder.  But "at least Burzichelli thinks about this stuff coherently, which is more than can be said for some of his Trenton colleagues" and says he is too competent a lawmaker to remove him" because he holds two elective offices.

"Riley shows genuine interest in solving socio-economic problems that are pronounced in her part of the district, and would provide good constituent service. But Villare is the more dynamic newcomer and deserves a shot," the editorial said.  "The other Republican in the race, Lee Lucas of Gibbstown, has been disowned by his own party's leadership. He wears this as a badge of courage, but GOP leaders are right to reject his extreme survival-of-the-fittest views. Voters should, too."

The Courier-Post is less worried about Burzichelli's ability to move legislation through the Senate, now that his running mate, State Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is poised to become the new Senate President.

Fueled by a new letter to the editor written by Lee Lucas, Gloucester County Republican Committee Chairman Bill Fey today fired off his own missive to the embattled 3rd District Assembly candidate asking him to exit the race.

“Once again Mr. Lucas has decided to make insensitive remarks in a letter to the editor. As I’ve said before Lucas does not represent the rank-and-file of our Party and he needs to go," Fey said. “This time I am asking that Mr. Lucas keep his word and leave the Party.”

An anti-establishment Republican who rocked the GOP's world down here when he won the primary, Lucas earlier this summer confirmed published reports that he used the "N" word.

He then refused to budge under the statewide weight of party leaders calling for him to stand down. 

This week, in a letter to the editor of the Gloucester County Times, Lucas wrote, “Gentlemen of the Republican leadership: I can have nothing to do with you because you cannot, and will not, struggle against big oppressive government,” a snippet that Fey immediately seized on in trying to extricate his party from Lucas.

Lee Lucas to keep his word and drop out of Assembly Race

Chairman Fey accepts Lucas's offer to have nothing to do with the Republican Party

Third District Republican Assembly candidate Robert Villare reacted angrily today to his former primary opponent’s insinuation that he ‘has the same roots’ as running mate Lee Lucas, who has come under fire for using a racial slur to a neighbor.

“[Greenwich Township Mayor] George Shivery’s behavior gives Gloucester County Republicans a bad name.  His rambling and insinuation that I ‘have the same roots’ as Lee Lucas and that ‘where they both came from is hard to separate the two’ leads me to believe that George suffers from delusions,” said Villare.    

Shivery made the comment to PolitickerNJ.com yesterday at a rally for Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie and Republican National Chairman Michael Steele.   He was referring mostly to the fact that the two were recruited into the race by the faction of former Chairwoman Loran Oglesby, and he went on to criticize Villare for not coming out against Lucas.

Shivery and running mate Arthur Marchand, the former Cumberland County surrogate, lost the primary last month to Villare and Lucas.

Despite a growing chorus of GOP leaders disgusted by racist remarks police said he made, embattled Republican candidate Lee Lucas today refused to back out of his District 3 Assembly race. 

"It's not even a consideration, and I hope I make their blood boil," Lucas told PolitickerNJ.com. "I'm messing with the Republican leadership. I'm not only not going anywhere, I'm having fun. I'm doing the irish jig."

On learning that he used the N-word in 2006, State Republican Party Chairman Jay Webber, Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and Gloucester County GOP Chairman Bill Fey all asked Lucas to immediately abort his run.

But the commercial cooking equipment repairman who defeated GOP establishment candidates Arthur Marchand and Gibbstown Mayor George Shivery in the June 2nd primary in this 2-1 Democratic district, said there's no way.

"I have a lot of supporters, I get a lot of phone calls of support - of course, they're all scared," Lucas said. "This is a mountainous wave of propaganda."

PITMAN – He could have been a contender.

Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery and former Cumberland County surrogate Arthur Marchand were the establishment GOP’s pick for Assembly in the 3rd Legislative District – a place where state Republicans had at least made noise about competing.  But the two lost the primary in an upset to political newcomers Robert Villare and Lee Lucas.  Now a 2006 police report has surfaced that quotes Lucas using a racial slur towards neighbors, and his candidacy is considered sunk.  

“What bothers me the most is we had such a great chance to take one of the positions if not both of them, and Art and I could have won,” said Shivery.

Homophobs are always hypocrites!

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Andrew Bloschak

(201)-705-2257

Bloschak: Racist Candidate has no place in GOP

Urban Republican Says Lucas Needs to go Immediately

Newark-Andrew Bloschak, Republican candidate in the 28th District in Essex County, is joining with Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce of Parsippany and others in asking for immediate dropping of Lee Lucas from the Republican Assembly ticket in District 3 in South Jersey for his despicable racial remarks that were noted in a 2006 police report.

GOP State Assembly candidates Robert Villare and Lee Lucas have never met or spoken, according to Brandon Glurk, Villare’s campaign coordinator.

“They are not currently, nor were they ever running together,” Glurk told PolitickerNJ.com.  “Unfortunately, the state GOP was too incompetent to elect one of their own.  Therefore, Lucas is on the Republican ticket with Chris Christie and Bob Villare, but that is not by choice.”

Gloucester County GOP Chairman Bill Fey and Assembly Majority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) have called on Lucas to drop out of the race following reports of racially insensitive remarks.  DeCroce has said he will not fund the Republican challengers in District 3, even though some GOP strategists had viewed the two Assembly seats as winnable.

Lucas has not been invited to a rally in Gloucester County on Monday featuring Christie and Republican National Chairman Michael Steele.