Steven Lonegan

Garden State Equality Chair Steven Goldstein said today that he welcomes "Joe the Plumber's" visit to New Jersey to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan tomorrow, especially in light of controversial comments about gay people he made in an interview that was published today.

"Joe the Plumber," a.k.a. Samuel Wurzelbacher, told Christianity Today that he favors letting states decide the gay marriage question - which is more or less the same position that Garden State Equality takes.  But in elaborating his point, Wurzelbacher made some comments some gay rights activists and progressive groups found offensive:

"People don't understand the dictionary-it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we're supposed to do-what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we're supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they're people, and they're going to do their thing."

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Joe the Plumber will help GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan raise money when he stumps in New Jersey tomorrow.

Steve Lonegan's gubernatorial campaign is not paying Samuel Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. "Joe the Plumber," a speaking fee for tomorrow's much hyped fundraising event in Clark.  Instead, they agreed to buy copies of his new book.

Lonegan strategist Rick Shaftan said that he did not know the exact number off the top of his head, but that the campaign agreed to purchase "100 or 200" copies of Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.  They'll be distributed to campaign donors of $125 or more, who will then have the opportunity to get the books signed by Wurzelbacher.

"We're buying a ton of books.  That's how we worked it out," said Shaftan.

Wurzelbacher's book retails for $24.95, though the price was slashed to $16.47 on Amazon.com.  A Web site that offers to book speaking engagements for Wurzelbacher sets a minimum budget of $8,000 to $10,000, although Wurzelbacher told Shaftan that he is not represented by the booking agency.
Shaftan said the Lonegan campaign ran the event by the Election Law Enforcement Commission, which approved giving donors the books as long as they deduct the purchase price from their matching funds submissions.

Paybacks are often difficult, especially when Election Day is just around the corner. When he was seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate last year, Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin was expecting the endorsement of Steve Lonegan.  But Lonegan instead backed State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville).  Now Lonegan is a candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.  Pennacchio delivered an early endorsement to Lonegan's rival, Christopher Christie.  And Sabrin, in an Op-Ed for PolitickerNJ.com, is fairly critical of Lonegan's flat tax plan.

Sabrin has not endorsed any candidate in the race for Governor.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie is starting to flex his conservative credentials and endorsements, so he's using surrogates to drive that message home.  Republicans began received robo calls today with a message recorded by former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who was the darling of conservative Republicans when he won the 2001 gubernatorial primary. 

"I know a conservative when I see one," Schundler says.  "And that's why I've decided to endorse Chris Christie for Governor."   Schundler touts Christie as someone who will fight for "conservative values in Trenton" and touts Christie's economic plan, including his record of saving tax dollars by "taking down corporate criminals and busting corrupt politicians."

Fighting the description out there that he's a centrist in wolf's clothing, GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie challenged the essence of his chief rival's campaign today as he suggested that Steven Lonegan, leader of New Jersey's conservative moment, is running plays out of the Democratic Party playbook.

"I'm the only one proposing to cut taxes," Christie told reporters in a teleconference call. "He (Lonegan) admitted this week to the Philadelphia Inquirer that his plan would raise taxes 70% and 75% on senior citizens. His plan is foolish and bizarre. It's not a conservative idea. It's the kind of idea you would normally hear from Democrats.

"The only thing conservative about him is he says he's conservative," Christie said of Lonegan.

More than fifteen months has passed since Steve Lonegan was arrested during a protest at Gov. Jon Corzine's Town Hall meeting at a school in Middle Township, and this website is still hard pressed to find someone who looks dumber than school business administrator Walter Landgraf.  When challenged by Lonegan, who claimed that he was on public property, Landgraf delivered this unbelievable line: "No, it's not public property.  It's owned by the Board of Education.  It's not public property.  There's a difference."

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) said today that a poll by gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan that shows him running ahead of GOP rival Christopher Christie in DeCroce and Christie's backyard of Morris County is "totally wrong."

"Absolutely not.  Half of everything he's been coming out with we have found out to be untruths in the largest way.  Certainly this poll is totally wrong. We know for a fact that he's way out of line," said DeCroce in response to a question from PolitickerNJ.com.

DeCroce, who has faced intense criticism by the Lonegan campaign, is facing a Lonegan-sponsored primary challenge from construction company owner Lou Signorino.  Earlier this week, Lonegan strategist Rick Shaftan said that DeCroce himself could be in trouble in the primary, since his own poll showed Lonegan leading Christie by seventeen points in Morris County.

I'm supporting Chris Christie because he is a conservative that doesn't just talk the talk, but walks the walk.  Republicans need a candidate who not only shares our belief in lower taxes, less government and personal responsibility, but a candidate who can actually get results.

Looking at the mess that has been created in Trenton, it is clear we need a governor who has a record of standing up to the status quo, fighting for change and proving he will not back down. During Chris' term as U.S. Attorney, his efforts to root out political corruption and battle crime resulted in 130 convictions.  Chris Christie more than demonstrated he has what it takes to fix the broken system in Trenton and get our state back on the right track. 

As a former Steve Lonegan supporter I can say with confidence that the choice to support Chris is simple when faced with the alternative.  Steve Lonegan has chosen to pursue an angry campaign, so filled with vitriol that his message and vision are lost in a never-ending tirade of half-truths and outright misstatements of facts. In fact, I believe, the only way to win a Republican primary is to explain what you are for and what you are going to do.

Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Loran Oglesby, who nominated herself to run for freeholder this year as a placeholder candidate, said that she may remain on the ballot if she wins the June primary - depending on the outcome of the party's leadership contest between her and opponent Bill Fey the week after the primary.

"We'll have to wait and see what happens on June 9, but Mr. Fey and his group made it extremely difficult to find another freeholder candidate," she said.  "The people we did speak with said they didn't want their names drubbed through web sites with personal attacks.

Oglesby, the two-term head of a beleaguered party that holds no county-wide offices or state legislative seats, faces a revolt led by Fey and former freeholder candidate Phyllis Scapellato.  Not only is Fey challenging Oglesby for the chairmanship on June 9, but his faction is running a full slate of candidates against the organization's partial slate.  Add to that gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan's team of candidates, and there are three slates competing for the chance to run a long-shot campaign against well-entrenched Democrats.

Oglesby is paired with Mullica Hill resident Stephen W. Austin for freeholder.  On Fey's team, running with the slogan "Gloucester County Republicans" are Scapellato and Larry Wallace, who both ran with the organization's backing last year.  Lonegan's slate has West Deptford resident Matthew Burns and Mantua resident Ron Brittin running for freeholder.

The state legislative races are another story.  In the 3rd District, there's a four-way primary race between Art Marchand, George Shivery, Lee Lucas and Robert Villare.  Marchand and Shivery are bracketed together and have the backing of Fey's faction.  Although many insiders consider Lucas and Villare the Oglesby-backed candidates, she never officially endorsed them.  In District 4, Fey-backed Domenick DiCicco is paired with the Camden GOP's Eugene E.T. Lawrence.  But Oglesby-backed Andrew Savicky, who is running alone, is taking them on in the primary.

The thing about Joe the Plumber’s visit to New Jersey next week on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steven Lonegan is that Lonegan will get a ton of media attention.  Watch for the New York and Philadelphia network news affiliates, and the New York Times, to cover the event.  That’s not something New Jersey campaigns see very often, and the sound bites could give Lonegan a genuine boost and an great photo op.