Rick Merkt

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.

Incumbent legislators who ran for Governor, left to right: Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham), State Sen. Raymond Garramone (D-Haworth), and State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest)

If Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) continues to poll in the one percent range, he could set the record for the worst showing by a sitting state legislator in a gubernatorial primary.  The record is currently held by Raymond Garramone (D-Haworth), a one-term State Senator from Bergen County who gave up his seat to challenge Brendan Byrne in the 1977 Democratic primary.  With 6,602 votes statewide, Garramone finished sixth in a field of eleven candidates, with 1.1% of the vote. 

Garramone was the 46-year-old Mayor of Haworth when he rode Byrne's 1973 coattails to an upset win in the heavily Republican 39th district over Harry Randall, a former Assemblyman and the father of BPU Commissioner Elizabeth Randall. 

When Garramone gave up his Senate seat to run for Governor, Republicans were confident of a pickup in District 39.  But Democrats held the seat when Frank Herbert, a Bergen County Freeholder and former Waldwick Mayor, beat Republican Assemblyman John Markert. 

Markert's running mate, Demarest Mayor Gerald Cardinale, lost his bid for an Assembly seat that year.  Cardinale came back to win in 1979, and moved up to the Senate when he defeated Herbert in 1981.  (When Cardinale sought the GOP nomination for Governor in 1989, he won 8.3% of the vote.)

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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%.

The story of the day is that front runner Christopher Christie, who led Steve Lonegan by 21 points in a March 12 Quinnipiac poll, now leads Lonegan by nine points, 46%-37%, in a new Quinnipiac poll released early this morning.  The good news for Christie is that his support among Republicans has increased by six percentage points over the last five weeks, and he continues to enjoy a strong fundraising advantage.  For Lonegan, a race that puts him within single digits of the former U.S. Attorney is encouraging news -- and helpful to his final fundraising push.  The bad news for both candidates is that most  New Jerseyans still don't know who they are.  The worst news comes for Gov. Jon Corzine, struggling against GOP candidates that are still essentially unknown and being held accountable for the state's economic woes.

Christie leads Lonegan 46%-37% among likely Republican primary voters, and 39%-24% among registered Republicans.  His lead among Republican women (45%-33%) is stronger than among Republican men (46%-40%).

Christie has favorables of 31%-11%, while 56% of the state's voters still haven't heard of him. He was at 31%-7% in March.  Among Republicans, Christie has favorables of 56%-4%.

More than seven out of ten New Jersey voters have not heard of Steve Lonegan.  His favorables are at 20%-7%; he was at 15%-7% in March.  Lonegan has favorables of 35%-4% among Republican voters. 

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie leads former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan by nine points, 46%-37%, in the race for the Republican nomnation for Governor, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.  Christie had led Lonegan 40%-19% in a poll taken by Quinnipiac last month.  

“Christopher Christie’s lead over Steve Lonegan in the Republican primary shrinks as we shift from registered voters to likely voters.  These Republican loyalists are less impressed by a political newcomer than a party veteran,” Richards said.

In a general election matchup Christie leads Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine by seven points, 45%-38%, and is tied with Steve Lonegan, 41%-41%.  

Corzine an upside-down job approval rating of 37%-54% -- the worst of his nine-year political career.  He was at 40%-50% in March.

“The economy is killing Gov. Jon Corzine’s approval rating in New Jersey so much that he is vulnerable not only to a strong challenger such as Chris Christie but a lesser known Republican such as Mayor Steve Lonegan,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.  “By any measure, Corzine is losing the support of key independent voters.  More importantly, he is not generating the level of love from fellow Democrats he needs to offset his big negatives among Republicans and independents."

Richards says it will be tough for Corzine to win re-election when six out of ten New Jerseyans disapprove of his handling of the economy.

“But Corzine has a great potential equalizer in this campaign – the millions he will spend to get his message across," said Richards. 

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).

Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) is excluded from the two official GOP gubernatorial debates because he did not raise $340,000

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Merkt, who is not allowed to participate in the two televised debates sanctioned by the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) because he did not raise or spend enough money to qualify, is considering a legal challenge to force his inclusion.

"I understood you had to debate if you accepted money, but I never realized the statute was drawn in such a way as to preclude anyone else from participating, which I find as a good metaphor for how the closed the system is," said Merkt, who is also an Assemblyman from Mendham.  "If you think about this, what it means is the chosen candidates -- those who accept taxpayer dollars - basically get a huge unreported in-kind contribution from the networks involved."

Since ELEC started sanctioning debates for public-financed candidates in 1989, its statute has limited participation to those who have qualified for matching funds by raising at least $340,000, or those who have opted not to take matching funds but have raised and spent at least the same amount.

Merkt is considering challenging the statute in court, though he has not yet decided whether it's worth the trouble.

Former U.S. Attorney Christ Christie filed an additional $247,689 today, which could bring him in an additional $495,378 in matching funds

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie has received $2,354,472 in matching funds, more than double the $989,475 that has gone to his chief rival, Steven Lonegan.  The former U.S. Attorney filed an additional $247,689 today; if the Election Law Enforcement Commission approves this submission, the Christie campaign will get an additional $495,378 from the state. Christie needs to raise $124,425 more to receive the maximum $3.1 million match. 

Lonegan filed today with $99,618, which will bring him an additional $199,236.  He needs to raise needs to raise another $955,644 to max out.

The third candidate in the GOP primary, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), did not raise the $360,000 threshold to qualify for matching funds.

MERKT STEPS UP CALL FOR DEBATES
AMONG GOP CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR
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WITH ONLY THREE REPUBLICAN HOPEFULS LEFT, TIME TO LAY OUT STANDS ON KEY PUBLIC ISSUES
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URGES MEDIA TO HOST WEEKLY DEBATES