Chris Christie
by Kevin McArdle
Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie is looking forward to the dialogue. He says, "I'm going to go in there and I'm going to talk to the people of New Jersey about the issues that I think are most important and about my vision for the state…….Tonight, I'm going to try to let the people of New Jersey get to know me. I think if they get to know me and who I am and what my intentions are for the State of New Jersey, I think I'll win a lot of them over."
Critics have attacked Christie saying he lacks political experience. He says, "They just didn't watch me over my career. I was a freeholder in Morris County for three years, but even more than that I don't think that's what people want right now. I think what people want is somebody who knows how to do the right thing and knows how to get it done and has a spine."
"I'm a Jersey guy who you watched as U.S. Attorney stand up to every powerful interest that needed to be stood up to," explains Christie. "I will do the same thing as Governor."
Christie is promising to cut taxes, but voters have heard that many times before. Why should they believe him? He answers, "Because I'm different and they've watched me be different." He reminds voters that on his first day as U.S. Attorney he vowed to make political corruption a priority and said he'd change New Jersey's culture, but his critics just laughed. Christie says, "Well, the 130-plus elected and appointed officials who either are in jail right now or who have spent time in jail aren't laughing."
He was born in Newark, graduated from Livingston High School where he played baseball and was class president. Christie then attended the University of Delaware. He says that's where, "I met my wife Mary Pat. I dragged her here to New Jersey from Pennsylvania 23 years ago and now we have four beautiful children between the ages of 5 and 15."
"I'm a Jersey guy through and through" says Christie. "I've been to 118 Bruce Springsteen shows."
Christie says, "I hope at the end of this debate people will see me as a leader who when he says he's going to cut taxes for everyone and bring New Jersey's government back under control that he's the kind of guy who can make those conservative, common sense values actually happen for our state."
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Rick Merkt
by Martin DiCaro
Considered a long shot to win his party's nomination to challenge Democrat Jon S. Corzine for governor in November, State Assemblyman Richard Merkt said he's running for the Republican nod out of love for his state and the people who live in it.
In an interview with Millennium Radio Merkt, who won his first term in the Assembly in 1998, said he has the most "state experience" than the other candidates, Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan.
"There may be a position in New Jersey that can accept on-the-job training. I don't think the position of governor is one of them," he said. "Nothing ever changes [in New Jersey] because we don't deal with the underlying causes."
Merkt said the underlying issue of the campaign is the future make-up of the state Supreme Court because, he said, the next governor could appoint four justices. He tied the appointments to property taxes because court rulings on school aid have significantly impacted local property tax rates.
"Of the four justices who are going to come up for renewal or retirement in the next four years, none of them should remain on the court. If we don't change the court in the next four years it will be gone for a generation," he said.
"When the state decrees that eighty percent of the kids in this state don't get enough money for their school aid, what do think that does to property taxes? They have to go up," Merkt said.
A resident of Morris county, Richard Merkt has been married to his wife Suzanne for 35 years and they have three daughters. The Assemblyman said he's been an amateur astronomer since childhood and he likes to compared state government to a black hole!
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Steve Lonegan
by David Matthau
The dark-horse candidate in the race for the republican nomination for Governor is looking forward to tonight's live debate on Millennium Radio
Steve Lonegan, the former Mayor of Bogota, says voters need to understand "New Jersey has to return to limited government, lower taxes - much lower taxes - and home rule."
He says right now "in New Jersey, the tax policies tell people as you move up the income ladder, get out - as you succeed, leave- our policy has become to export wealth and import poverty, and we can't sustain this any longer- but fortunately this is something we can fix."
Lonegan says "New Jersey has the assets, we have the resources, and we have the people that can drive New Jersey once again to be a great State for economic growth for everyone - and I have the background and the experience to make that happen….I have been a successful small businessman, I managed a town as a Mayor, in the very democratic town of Bogota, very successfully for 12 years - keeping spending well below inflation and keeping taxes low."
Lonegan grew up in Ridgefield Park where he set several high school track records. He earned a B.A. in Business Administration from William Paterson College and an M.B.A from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Bogota.
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The Republican Men Who Would Be Governor: former US Attorney General Chris Christie, ex-Bogata Mayor Steve Lonegan and Morris County Assemblyman Rick Merkt have concluded their debate.
