Steve Lonegan

In response to Republican criticism of the way Democrats ran theSenate President Richard Codey (D-Essex): Politicker file photo state Property Tax Assistance and Community Development account, Democratic Party Chairman Joe Cryan and state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) tonight tried to staunch the bleeding.

The Democrats took a series of GOP hits this week in the aftermath of state budget officer George LeBlanc’s courtroom testimony that former Gov. Codey’s administration applied no oversight to the way the state distributed $40 million supposedly dedicated to property tax relief.

The Democrats argue that Republicans want to act holier than thou, while they were knee-deep in the same slush fund that Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Troy Hills-Parsippany) said was not a "merit-based, competitive grant awards system as claimed by the McGreevey and Codey administrations."

"Every grant from the program was approved by the Joint Budget and Oversight Committee (JBOC), which included Republican Senator Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon) and Republican Assemblyman Joe Malone (R-Bordentown)," objected Cryan in a prepared statement. "Each member of JBOC had to approve the grants, a process that included notification and approval by Sen. Lance and Assemblyman Malone."

Assessing what they say was a fund that over two years added up to $128 million, Republicans say they wanted and requested JBOC meetings, however, the meetings did not take place after the majority party waited out the ten-day period deadline.

Conservative activist Steve Lonegan said the Republicans’ tentative support of Gov. Corzine’s ethics reform plan is a mistake. 

While more mainstream Republicans have cast the reforms as the Democratic realization of what the GOP has been pushing for all along, Lonegan – a staunch opponent of campaign finance laws in general who’s considering running for governor next year– thinks they should be fighting against them. 

“Republicans should get their act together and go after this with a vengeance, because this is an assault on liberty,” he said.  “I think it’s an all-out assault on freedom of speech, freedom of association and the whole American system and tradition of open and competitive elections.”

Senate President Dick Codey is New Jersey's most popular politician, according to an FDU poll released today
New Jersey voters’ feelings about Gov. Jon Corzine remain tepid, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind poll released today. 

Survey respondents are split on whether they approve of Governor Corzine’s performance, with 41% approving and 43% disapproving.  16% had mixed feelings or didn’t know. 

31% of New Jersey voters think Gov. Corzine is doing an “excellent” or “good job,” while 41% rate his performance as “only fair.”  25% think that he’s done a “poor” job in office.  Those numbers are basically the same as they were in an FDU poll conducted in June.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) hits his stride in his hometown.: Politicker photo 

MENDHAM - Despite the corruption headlines and the vaunted presence of the man most believe will be the GOP frontrunner in next year’s gubernatorial primary, Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) charged out on the campaign trail today in this high-end leafy burgh where both he and U.S. Attorney Chris Christie reside.

"My plan is to hit a couple of towns each day I go out and just talk to people," said Merkt, 59, attired in jogging gear and hitting a good stride on Cold Hill Lane on the eastern edge of Mendham.

The self-described New Jersey nationalist started in front of St. Joseph’s Church on Main Street. "You just missed him," Mendham Mayor Neil J. Henry, Jr., had said of Merkt. "But if you go now, you might be able to catch him, he’s headed for Brookside."

Half a mile away, the determined figure of the 11-year veteran assemblyman was spied as he headed into a shady straightaway.

"My purpose is threefold," the corporate attorney candidate told PoltiickerNJ.com. "I want to get to know people, I want people to get to know me, and I want to get in shape. If I can get in shape, it proves I can get the state in shape."

Conservative activist Steve Lonegan, who’s returning from the Caribbean on a cruise ship, just caught wind that John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president.

His verdict: “I think it’s a terrific choice.”

That’s a strong endorsement coming from Lonegan, who has no qualms about making his dissatisfaction with mainstream Republicans public.

“I know she’s solidly pro-life. This woman is totally outspoken on the issues. She’s got an outstanding record of the governor. I think she’s attractive,” he said. “I think it’s going to unite the party from one end t the other. She’s going to bring excitement and energy."

Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Medham) is thinking about running for Governor in 2009.
DENVER - When people ask him if he’s a mountain man - one of those hard right warriors from Northwestern Jersey, Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Randolph) responds that he’s "more of a foothill guy."

Whatever the colloquialism, Merkt said today that he is very serious about trying to climb over the obstacles to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine. Tomorrow he will officially establish an exploratory committee toward that end.

How serious is he?

"I will not seek re-election to the Assembly," said the 11-year legislative veteran, a corporate attorney with TDI Power in Hackettstown.

"This is no trial balloon," Merkt said. "I’ve been considering this for a number of months, and I am convinced that New Jersey needs a governor who respects the people."

DENVER -- Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) said that members of the unofficial legislative committee figuring out how to salvage the Clean Elections program have met at least once and are “rolling up their sleeves to do everything they can to keep the program.”

Clean Elections faces a potential constitutional hurdle and the fierce opposition of conservatives, who went looking for what they called a “secret” committee meeting. Conservative activist Steve Lonegan’s Americans for Prosperity even made a video documenting their search for the committee’s meeting.

Although Roberts convened the committee, he doesn’t know where they met either (he’s not actually a member).

“It might have been somewhere in the statehouse.”

Conservative activist and potential gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan said that he’ll support John McCain for president, even if he picks a pro-choice running mate.

But he hopes it doesn’t come down to that.

“I’m going to support the McCain ticket, but I think that would be another discouragement for conservatives. So I hope he chooses better than that, wiser than that,” said Lonegan. “Barack Obama is way far to the left, but that would just be, I think,a political blunder on McCain’s part. And I think the signal to conservatives, again, is hey we don’t need you or where else are you going to go.”

Assemblyman Michael Doherty today became the first elected official to endorse conservative activist Steve Lonegan's prospective gubernatorial bid.

Doherty announced today that he will chair the recently formed Committee to Draft Steve Lonegan for Governor, and called Lonegan "New Jersey's Ronald Reagan."

The committee was jump-started earlier this week by Republican political consultant Dan Gallic.

“No one speaks out louder or stronger for taxpayers and in defense of our conservative values than Steve Lonegan. He is not only the strongest candidate we can run against Jon Corzine, he is the best man for the job,” said Doherty in a statement.

Doherty, who’s among the legislature’s most conservative members, flirted with a U.S. Senate run last year, and was the only New Jersey legislator to endorse Republican Ron Paul for president.

“Lonegan is not only our only hope to save our state, but our last hope.”

GOP activist Dan Gallic today announced that he is forming an organization to draft former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan to run for governor.

"Our goal is to create a situation where should Steve decide to run, there will be a grass-roots and finance organization already in place to secure him the Republican nomination," Gallic said in a release.

"Steve Lonegan’s conservative leadership is the reason he is the Republican Party’s premier leader when so many other ‘leaders’ have been asleep at the wheel," Gallic added. "No one in New Jersey has the record of accomplishment Steve Lonegan has built: from stopping McGreevey’s gasoline tax hike to defeating two ballot questions last November and the Corzine borrowing and toll hike scheme last Spring."