Richard Merkt

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany)

Not to be outdone by Democrats embroiled in a senate leadership battle, the lower-house Republican forces of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and caucus adversary Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough) spilled their own brand of backdoor drama into the open this week.

"We should be focused on the gubernatorial contest and getting Chris Christie elected," said Biondi, a sentiment expressed by none other than his GOP caucus rival, DeCroce ally Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield).

In the meantime, it's a cloakroom imbroglio, Republican style.

A critic of DeCroce, conference leader Biondi has tag-teamed with retiring Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham Twp.) in an ongoing effort to dislodge DeCroce from a leadership job he's held since 2003. The two allies believe DeCroce has sleepwalked through his tenure, and it's time for a change.

"This is not a covert operation," said Biondi, who insists informal caucus polling proves discontent with the minority leader. "We need a message of smaller, smarter government, less taxes and no intrusion of government into our personal lives or personal property. ...We have not increased our caucus numbers since Alex has been there. We're stagnant."

Amplifying the attack, Merkt fired off a letter to DeCroce, dated today, which PolitickerNJ.com obtained.

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."

While the common wisdom is that last week’s arrest of dozens of public officials and political insiders benefits former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s gubernatorial candidacy immeasurably, Assembly members Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) are using the turn of events to recount a controversial episode that they hope will take some luster off Christie.  

Gusciora and Huttle, for the third time, called on the State Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney to investigate whether Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie’s friend and ally, John Inglesino, tried to “bribe” Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) out of the race for governor.

“The allegations against Christie adviser Mr. Inglesino by a fellow a Republican are quite serious and demand investigation, especially in light of recent events,” said Gusciora. “A South Jersey mayor is now facing five years in prison for the same type of conduct that Christie’s adviser allegedly engaged in. The public deserves to know – especially in this time of heightened awareness of public corruption – whether or not there was an attempt to affect the governor’s race through bribery.”

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), who came in a distant third in last night’s Republican gubernatorial primary, said that his candidacy was a fulfilling experience.

“Running for Governor was an outstanding experience and one on which I will always look back with pride,” he wrote in a letter today.  

Merkt got 3% of the vote against former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s 55% and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan’s 42% -- a total of about 9,000 votes.  He is not running for reelection to the Assembly, where his term ends in January. 

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) gets interviewed by WPIX moments after voting.

MENDHAM TWP. - The press cleared out for the most part, leaving one sound truck behind to greet Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), who voted here at the same community club as Republican frontrunner Chris Christie.

"If it doesn't work out, it's a disappointment, not a tragedy," said Merkt, an underdog attorney from Christie's hometown who lives here in the Brookside neighborhood, where a scattering of Merkt for governor signs dot the picket fence-framed front yards.

Having run as a conservative populist, Merkt ends the race with a renewed sense of dismay about the boss-dominated process here in New Jersey, and fears the utter encroachment of a plutocracy on the Democratic system.

Former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson, left, and Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham)

EAST BRUNSWICK - Abbott, COAH, global warming response, stem cell research, the Transportation Trust Fund, it doesn't matter. If it comes from Trenton, drive a stake through it. That was the message coming out of a gubernatorial forum here sponsored by Americans for Prosperity.

Chris Christie arrives at Bachstadt's

MIDDLETOWN - A familiar black bus pulled onto the street next to Bachstadt's Tavern and when Chris Christie and his family entered, the gravitas soundtrack kicked in with the bass lines heavy and a real bagpiper marching and trying to make himself heard and the accompanying cheers sustained and suggestive of imminent establishment victory.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham)

After jogging throughout New Jersey’s 566 municipalities with little press coverage, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) appeared to get an 11th hour boost from his participation in two GOP gubernatorial debates this week, cornering some of the 101.5 listening audience’s praise on Jim Gearhart’s Thursday morning talk radio program.

Republican frontrunner Chris Christie and Merkt sparred on several occasions during the course of Wednesday’s WOR radio debate, significantly on the subject of how each man would implement change.

Christie likened himself to Ronald Reagan, and argued that his election as governor would create a popular groundswell forcing state Sen. President Richard Codey (D-Roseland), whom he described as New Jersey’s Tip O’Neill, to the negotiating table.

The Courier-Post gave Steve Lonegan his first endorsement for governor this morning.   

The paper’s editorial board urged whichever frontrunner prevails to pick the third man in the contest, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham). 

“No matter who wins, Merkt ought to be the pick for lieutentant governor,” wrote the paper’s editorial board. “Besides being incredibly bright and attuned to the issues, he is a 12-year veteran of the Legislature. He knows the lawmaking process and what drives things in the State House.” 

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan with Lonegan operative Morgan Levy.

MT. ARLINGTON – The Republican gubernatorial candidates’ forum here tonight sponsored by the Mt. Arlington Republican Club contained at least one surprise from the standpoint of stump speechmaking. 

Led to the front of the room by an aide, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan spent several moments groping for the microphone before confessing to the small crowd, “I’m severely visually impaired. I can’t see anyone in front of me, so if anyone wants to flip me the bird, go right ahead. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa.”

Down 23 points to former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Team Lonegan insisted their candidate has crumpled up his speech before on the trail, in Toms River, for example, to talk about his blindness, a subject he usually avoids.