Steven Lonegan

One bit of empirical evidence that conservatives who opposed Christopher Christie in the GOP primary will vote for him on Tuesday: Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Oxford) sent out an e-mail today inviting his supporters to join Steven Lonegan at rally in Flemington tomorrow.

Bill Bradley, who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1997, will return to the Garden State tomorrow.  He'll campaign in Hamilton and Edison for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.

Former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan says that today’s conviction of former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero is another reason to defeat a $400 million open space bond issue up for voter approval in November.

“This is just another example of how liberal big government programs like the open space scam are breeding grounds for political corruption,” Lonegan said.

The referendum seeks authorization to issue bonds for Green Acres, water supply and floodplain protection, and for farmland and historic preservation projects.

According to federal prosecutors, Ferriero used his political clout to help Bergenfield win grants and loans worth about $2.8 million that came from state Green Acres and historic preservation bond issues.  A grants writing firm owned partly by Ferriero received $128,625 in fees for securing those funds.

While Gov. Jon Corzine is speaking to his base at the Netroots Nation '09 conference, across town Steven Lonegan will be energizing the Republican base at the conservative Right Online Conference bloggers meeting in Station Square, Pittsburgh. Lonegan, a former three-term Mayor of Bogota, sought the Republican nomination for Governor earlier this year.

Lonegan organized the gathering of more than 700 bloggers, who heard former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey give the keynote address.  Toomey, a former Club for Growth chairman, is seeking the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010. Also on the agenda: the Wall Street Journal's John Fund, author/columnist Michelle Malkin, and Joe the Plumber.

Some very optimistic Bergen County Republicans are thinking ahead to 2010, when two-term County Executive Dennis McNerney is up for re-election.  The GOP believes they could have a shot at the post they held from 1986 to 2003, if New Jersey has a Republican governor.  And some Democrats say that McNerney could be weakened if federal prosecutors convict former Democratic County Chairman Joseph Ferriero after his corruption trial this fall.

The Republicans who receive the most attention as potential County Executive candidates are: County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, Assemblyman David Russo (R-Ridgewood), and former Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan.  If the Bergen County Democratic Organization pulls their support from McNerney, look for Surrogate Michael Dressler, Sheriff Leo McGuire, and outgoing Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes to be among the top candidates.

Gloria Leustek, who sought the Republican nomination for Somerset County Freeholder on Steve Lonegan's ticket in the June primary, will run for Lt. Governor on a ticket with Jason Cullen, a conservative running for Governor as an independent.  Leustek lost the Freeholder primary by about 3,000 votes. A Peapack-Gladstone resident, Leustek is a sales representative in the metals industry and is a member of Gun Owners of America and Citizens Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  She was a supporter of Ron Paul's bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

Since the Primary Election, loyal Republicans have been baffled by the behavior of the GOP establishment in New Jersey.  First, operatives in the campaign of our nominee for Governor, Chris Christie, monkeyed around with the social issues page on his website, gaining the attention of the media before resolving what they caused.

Then, at the meeting of the Republican State Committee - the men and women elected from each county to formulate and advance the party's principles - the party leadership blocked a move to formally adopt the platform of the national Republican Party, as well as blocking a resolution condemning Governor Corzine's tax hikes.  At least one major newspaper, the Star-Ledger, linked the leadership's refusal to adopt our Party's platform to the fact it contains Pro-Life and Pro-Traditional Marriage planks.

The impact of not adopting the platform - a set of principles to guide the party and its elected officials - would soon manifest itself.  Just days later, Tom Keen Jr., the Republican leader in the New Jersey State Senate, led a small group of Republicans in voting with liberal Democrats in support of the life-time confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Barry Albin to the state's highest court. 

Albin has been the state's most liberal activist judge, authoring the radical Lewis vs. Harris decision in support of civil unions-a decision that drastically alters the meaning of marriage and changes the course of our culture without voter input.  Albin is the architect of the left wing social engineering scheme known as COAH and the failed Abbott education funding mandates that have given New Jersey the highest property taxes in America.  The action of these Republicans was a slap in the face to their own nominee for Governor, who has promised to appoint "conservative judges who will uphold the Constitution".

That same day, Senate Republican Leader Kean and his allies would rise alongside Jon Corzine to support another liberal scheme - the bonding of $400 million for "open space".  No one opposes open space, but at a time when the state's debt has reached crushing levels more debt simply isn't rational.  Lacking any platform, Republicans like Senator Kean have left themselves increasingly vulnerable to emotional, feel-good appeals.

Sources say that three Republican Congressmen who backed Christopher Christie over Steven Lonegan in the 2009 gubernatorial primary may be challenged for the GOP nomination when they run for re-election next year.  Conservative activists are seeking candidates to run against Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor), Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), and Leonard Lance (R-Clinton).

Peter Murphy may have publicly endorsed the former federal prosecutor who wanted to send him to prison, but he didn't really mean it.  Totowa, the base of the former Passaic County GOP Chairman's political power, voted strongly in support of Steven Lonegan for the Republican nomination for Governor.  Lonegan beat Christopher Christie 1,040 to 470, a 69%-31% margin.  Totowa gave Lonegan the largest municipal plurality in the state, and his fourth largest percentage.  Lonegan's best town was Bogota, where he was Mayor for twelve years; he won 80% of the vote there.

Steve Lonegan fired a clear and direct warning shot at Chris Christie today, suggesting that the endorsement he offered in his concession speech one week ago is based upon the continuation of his conservative agenda during his general election campaign against Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.  But if Christie seeks a move to the political center, as many GOP primary winners do in New Jersey, he could alienate Lonegan and his core political supporters.

One interpretation of Lonegan’s intentions: that Christie needs to proceed with caution as he considers pro-choice running mates.  State Sen. Diane Allen (R-Edgewater Park) and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan are reportedly the leading candidates for Lt. Governor on the GOP ticket.  Instead, some Lonegan backers are telling Christie to look at three other candidates: Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-Franklin) and Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno.

Lonegan is taking some heat from supporters for his conciliatory primary night endorsement of Christie, according to sources close to the former Bogota Mayor.  Also taking some heat is New Jersey Right to Life (NJRTL) Legislative Affairs Director Marie Tasy, whom some Lonegan supporters insist backed Christie.  Sources say that Tasy stopped returning Lonegan’s telephone calls in January, and even prevented Lonegan volunteers from handing out literature at a NJRTL dinner.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Steven Lonegan reaffirmed his support for GOP nominee Christopher Christie in an email to supporters today, but under the condition that Christie sticks to the conservative principles he professed in the primary.

"Our nominee for Governor has openly embraced conservatism and if he continues on that path, all of us should work hard for his election," wrote Lonegan.  "As the Republican nominee Chris Christie will also have to maintain his positions on the issues that convinced many Republicans he was a conservative, and convince many in the GOP establishment to go with him."

Christie beat Lonegan by 13 points in last week's primary - 55% to 42%.  Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) received 3% of the vote.

"You have moved your party to the right," Lonegan wrote to his supporters.