Rick Merkt

GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson has a problem: the state party has no money.

The New Jersey Republican State Committee has virtually no money and is at risk of not making payroll, according to a GOP County Chairman who will be attending a meeting of party leaders tonight where the party's financial woes will be discussed. 

One Republican gubernatorial candidate, former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, has already made a decision to replace GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson after the June primary, sources say.  Gubernatorial candidates traditionally get the chance to pick their own State Chairman after the primary.  One possible candidate if Christie wins the nomination is Keith Davis, the Atlantic County Republican Chairman.

 MERKT HITS ‘BOSS-RULE’ IN GOP PRIMARY

THREATS AND COERCION BY COUNTY BOSSES
AIM AT RIGGING NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR

MERKT’S ‘RUNNING’ CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR NOW AT 400+ TOWNS  

 MERKT ON TARGET IN GLOUCESTER COUNTY

GOP CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR  STUMPS

ONCE AGAIN IN SOUTH JERSEY

Gov.  Jon Corzine has a 43%-40% approval rating and leads Republican Christopher Christie 36%-32%, according to a new Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll released this morning.  Corzine leads three other potential Republican candidates: Steve Lonegan 45%-29%, Rick Merkt 41%-27%, and Brian Levine 43%-27%.

More than six out of ten New Jersey voters (61%) say that Corzine should release his personal e-mails with Carla Katz just to “clear the air,” while just 29% believe he should keep them private.  35% of voters say they are less likely to vote for Christie because he served in George W. Bush’s administration, while 14% say more likely.  It makes no difference to half the voters.

As U.S. Attorney in 2003, Christopher Christie prosecuted ex-Passaic County GOP Chairman Peter Murphy for mail fraud. Murphy had initially been convicted before Christie became federal prosecutor, but his conviction was overturned on appeal.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie declined an invitation to attend a dinner last night hosted by Peter Murphy, a former Passaic County Republican Chairman whom Christie prosecuted on federal corruption charges in 2003.  Murphy and Michael Mecca, a former Freeholder and County Chairman, have organized a group that opposes the leadership of the incumbent Chairman, Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne).

According to a statement released by the organizers of the dinner, Christie "was invited but called to say he could not attend - but he did say he looked forward to meeting with the group at a later date."  Two other candidates, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham), did attend.  Organizers say the dinner "attracted nine municipal chair -- a statistic of extraordinary significance --  and three former chairmen, as well as mayors and councilmen from Haledon, Hawthorne, Little Falls, North Haledon, Prospect Park, Ringwood, Totowa, Wanaque, and West Milford."

Rumana  is expected to back Christie, as is his chief political ally, State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove), the Essex County Republican Chairman. If the Murphy/Mecca group backs Lonegan or Merkt, this could be the first real electoral test between the two rival Republican organizations.

Seven months before Christie became U.S. Attorney, Murphy was convicted for his role in helping a company obtain a medical services contract for the county jail with the understanding that proceeds of the contract would go to a four politically active individuals he selected.  He was sentenced to 43 months in prison and served nearly a year before the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered his release while they considered his appeal.  The Third Circuit overturned his conviction in May 2003. 

Just before his new trial was to begin, Murphy pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and was sentenced to eleven-and-a-half months in prison - the time he had already served.

State Sen. Kip Bateman (R-Somerset) helped the former Somerset County Democratic Chairman win Senate confirmation as an Administrative Law Judge.

Ethics complaints he filed against seven Republican legislators in 2007 – all subsequently dismissed – came back to haunt former Somerset County Democratic Chairman Elia Pelios today, but with the help of a home county Republican it didn’t matter and the State Senate today confirmed his nomination as a state Administrative Law Judge.   Despite strong opposition from several key Republicans, including Joseph Kyrillos and Kevin O’Toole, Christopher Bateman, a Republican Senator from Somerset County, signed off on Pelios’ nomination and voted for his confirmation.

MERKT VOICES SUPPORT FOR BCRO CHAIR

YUDIN IS REBUILDING BERGEN COUNTY GOP, DESERVES STATE GOP SUPPORT

Gov. Jon Corzine has a 7-point lead over Republican Chris Christie in a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. In the GOP primary, Christie, the former U.S. Attorney, has a 17-point lead over former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan.

Gov. Jon Corzine leads Republican Christopher Christie by seven points, 40%-33%, and has a 45%-40% approval rating, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released this morning.   Christie, the former U.S. Attorney who announced yesterday that he would run for Governor, is unknown to more than half (56%) of the New Jerseyans polled.

In head-to-heads against other Republican candidates, Corzine leads former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan, 46%-28%, and Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) by a 43%-23% margin.  Lonegan is unknown to 71% of the state, while 89% don't recognize Merkt.  A fourth candidate, Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine, was not included in the survey.

In a Republican primary matchup, Christie leads Lonegan 32%-15%, with Merkt running third at 5%. 

Christie has a 50% name ID among Republicans, while Lonegan is at 44% and Merkt is at 14%.

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie will enter the race for Governor today.

Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is expected to announce today that he intends to seek the Republican nomination for Governor.  Christie will file formal papers with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Christie, 46, served as New Jersey’s federal prosecutor from 2002 to 2008, where he led a virtual war on political corruption.  His convictions included former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, former Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant, and Essex County Executive James Treffinger.