Republican Candidates for N.J.Governor

Meet New Jersey’s Republican candidates for Governor. (The candidates are listed below in alphabetical order.) Read their short biography’s shown below; take some time to explore each candidate’s website to gain an understanding of their records and positions on the issues facing New Jersey; then compare them to Jon Corzine.

Informed comparison complete, see if you agree with this comment recently made by Jon Corzine’s spokesman concerning the Republicans in the race for governor.

“Let's see after they go through their primary what kind of candidate they end up with," Adamske said. "If I had the sorry field of candidates that they have, I would go after Corzine, too."

Doug Forrester - http://www.doug.com/

Doug Forrester is the former mayor of West Windsor, New Jersey and Assistant State Treasurer in former Governor Tom Kean's administration. He also served as Pension Director for New Jersey's 500,000-member pension and healthcare systems.

Forrester was the first senior state official in the nation to properly set aside money for retiree health obligations. And when the career politicians tried to raid New Jersey's pension funds to pay for more wasteful state spending, Forrester effectively fought to protect the security of the retirement funds.

Doug Forrester now heads one of New Jersey's most successful small businesses, BeneCard Services, Inc. Now running for Governor, he was the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002, initially running against the Democrat incumbent Bob Torricelli and later in the race, the controversial Democrat replacement candidate, Frank Lautenberg.

Editor Note: Torricelli felt forced to drop out of the race stemming from his violation of Senate ethics rules and accepting gifts from campaign contributors. Lautenberg replaced Torricelli on the ballet 35 days before the election and after the legal deadline for candidate replacement.

Steve Lonegan - http://www.loneganforgovernor.com/

Steve Lonegan, a native of New Jersey, is currently the Mayor of Bogota and has been a member of the town council for over nine years, He and his Republican team came to office at a time when taxes were soaring and spending was out of control, after years of control by the Democrats. Lonegan’s strong leadership and principles have enabled him to build a solid record of success for his community, one that has rewarded him with re-elections by double-digit margins.

Lonegan has also worked for the best interests of all New Jersey’s citizens. He led he fight against plans to replace Continental Arena with a stadium in Newark, challenged in court an illegal state bonding that costs taxpayers billions and last year led a successful effort to stop the McGreevey administration from forcing a fifteen cent per gallon gasoline tax increase on New Jersey motorists. Lonegan is also a tireless fighter for New Jersey’s forgotten suburban middle class.

Steve Lonegan grew up Ridgefield Park and graduated from Ridgefield Park High School where he set several high school track records. He earned his B.A. in Business Administration from William Paterson College where he was captain of the football team and an All Conference Division Center. He later earned an M.B.A. from Farleigh Dickinson University and then went on to build and manage successful businesses in the state. Today, Lonegan is a custom homebuilder and state national finance vice president for the National Federation of Independent Business.

John Murphy - www.murphy2005.com

John Murphy is the oldest child of Irish immigrants, who came to the United States over 50 years ago, settling in Morristown New Jersey, where John was raised. Murphy is a dedicated volunteer to his community, having served as a youth football coach and as a member of the Morris Township Volunteer Fire Department, as its chief in 1990 and 1991 and as an active firefighter today.

In 1993, Murphy was elected to the Township Committee in Morris Township. He served as Mayor from 1996 to 1997. During his tenure, he chaired the Open Space Committee and helped restructure the environmental commission. Murphy also helped create the formation of a first responder program with the township's career firefighters, the establishment of a teen and adolescent counseling service and the maintenance of a fiscal austerity program that kept the municipal tax rate stable.

In 1997 Murphy was elected to his first term as a Morris County Freeholder and has been re-elected twice. John served as Freeholder director in 2002 and 2003. As a Freeholder he has helped to preserve thousands of acres of open space and to chart a fiscally responsible course for Morris County that has maintained its Triple A bond rating by Wall Street. John also helped lead the effort to create the Morris County Improvement Authority, which since its creation, has assisted local government agencies and school boards in saving millions of dollars.

Murphy earned his bachelor's degree in business in 1981 from Gettysburg College, where he played football and ran track. Upon graduation John returned to New Jersey and began work in the financial services industry is currently a partner with the financial planning and investment firm of Morristown Financial Group.

Robert Schroeder - www.robertschroeder.com

A lifelong resident of Bergen County, Bob Schroeder has been a volunteer firefighter for over 25 years and has served as an elected community leader in Washington Township for over twelve years. As a Washington Township Councilman, Schroeder has served three terms as Vice President and two terms as Council President.

Bob Schroeder has proven his ability to implement creative solutions for some of the most important issues facing his constituency. His leadership allowed Washington Township to maintain stable property tax rates and to construct recreational facilities using only voluntarily contributed funds and manpower.

Schroeder is a graduate of Westwood High School and Farleigh Dickinson University. He is also a successful entrepreneur, with a thriving business, API Distributors. The Bergen County company produces portable structures used by American troops overseas, as well as by international relief organizations throughout the world.

Bret Schundler - www.bret2005.com

Bret Schundler, a New Jersey native, is the former three term mayor of Jersey City. He become the first Republican since World War I to be elected the Mayor of Jersey City – a city that is two-thirds Black, Hispanic and Asian, and only 6% Republican.

Schundler was a popular and highly effective mayor, enacting sweeping reforms to root out corruption, slash crime, and lower property taxes (including innovative policies that Time Magazine called “a national model for fiscal reform”), Bret was able to provide hope and leadership to his city, resulting in his re-election in 1993 with 69% of the vote – the largest margin of victory for the office of Mayor in that city's history.

In 2001, after a hard fought primary, Schundler ran for Governor as the Republican candidate against Jim McGreevey. He’s running again for the second time, just as most modern Governors of New Jersey have before succeeding.

Growing up in Woodbridge and Westfield, New Jersey, Schundler was a solid student and an All-State football player in high school. This led to him being recruited by Harvard University. Upon graduating from Harvard with honors, and following a semester at the University of Haifa in Israel, Schundler worked for a Democratic Congressman and for Gary Hart's presidential primary. He then embarked on a successful career in finance at Salomon Brothers and C. J. Lawrence.

Bret is currently the Chairman of Empower the People, a citizen’s action organization that is working to help the people of New Jersey take back control of their government

Editor’s Note: Jim McGreevey felt forced to resign the Governorship less than three years into his term amidst charges of ethical violations and political corruption. The time between McGreevy’s announcement of his resignation and his actual departure from office, enabled the Democrats to avoid a special election to replace McGreevey and to allow the Senate President, Democrat Dick Codey to assume the job.