Intense skirmishes mark N.J. GOP gubernatorial candidates' radio debate
by Josh Margolin and Claire Heininger/Statehouse Bureau
Tuesday May 26, 2009, 9:55 PM

Mel Evans/AP
From left, Republican candidates for New Jersey governor, Assemblyman Rick Merkt, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, and former federal prosecutor Christopher Christie at tonight's debate in Ewing.
With just days to go until voters pick the Republican challenger to Gov. Jon Corzine, the GOP candidates let fly the harshest face-to-face attacks of the campaign tonight.

No longer confined by live studio audiences that attended their first two debates, Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan met off-camera in the Ewing studios of New Jersey 101.5 FM and capitalized on the freewheeling format to make their closing arguments before voters go to the polls on June 2.

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While they spent the first two debates staking out policy positions and burnishing their conservative credentials, Christie and Lonegan used this session to turn up the heat on one another's flaws.

"This is the type of foolish hyperbole we've come to expect from you," Christie told Lonegan after Lonegan called Supreme Court chief justice Stuart Rabner, who once worked for Christie, "the most liberal state supreme court chief justice in the nation."

"I'm sure that you like to hear that coming out of your mouth," said Christie, a former U.S. attorney and Morris County freeholder. "You just make things up as you go along."

Lonegan, the former mayor of Bogota in Bergen County, snapped back during later segments, talking over his opponent's answer with "cute, cute" and questioning why Christie kept silent when Lonegan opposed a plan to raise tolls on state highways.

"Chris had nothing to say whatsoever," Lonegan said.

For the first time, Christie and Lonegan were joined by the third GOP candidate, Morris County Assemblyman Rick Merkt, who did not raise enough money to participate in the televised debates earlier this month. Trailing badly in the polls, Merkt played the traditional spoiler role by jumping on the frontrunners.

Merkt said the other two candidates "are dreaming" when they say they will cut taxes with a Democratic Legislature, which he said is led by "committed tax-hikers."

"It's dishonest to the people of New Jersey to say we're going to cut taxes, we're going to cut taxes," Merkt said. "Let's make promises that we can keep."

But Merkt also served as a foil for both candidates, siding with Lonegan on some issues -- such as eliminating property tax rebates -- and Christie on others, like requiring employers to verify the immigration status of those they hire.

Seated just a few feet apart in the studio, the candidates fielded questions from callers and each other as well as moderator Eric Scott, and faced looser restrictions on the length of their responses. Scott let several intense Christie-Lonegan skirmishes play out, including over illegal immigration, taxes and the makeup of the state's high court.

That lent an unpredictable feel to the evening, reflecting the ritual the 101.5 debate has become in New Jersey politics, said Republican strategist Bill Pascoe, who helped steer Bret Schundler's 2001 and 2005 campaigns for governor.

"You're in much closer proximity. You're not standing at a podium that's a measured eight or 10 feet apart," Pascoe said. "It's a lot easier to control your temper when you're not face to face. It's a lot easier to filter your reactions when you're not face to face."

With its Millennium Radio affiliates, the radio station reaches virtually all of New Jersey.

While they are vying to replace Corzine, the candidates devoted substantial time to denouncing other Democrats, including Rabner, former Gov. James E. McGreevey and Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex). They argued over using the term "middle class," with none of the three willing to peg an annual income figure on what that phrase means.

And they revealed glimpses of their personal lives, including what they drive (Christie has a Lincoln Navigator), what they last bought at the supermarket (Lonegan got liverwurst) and how much they pay in property taxes. Merkt said $12,000 per year; Lonegan $13,000 and Christie $36,000.

The drama started even before the debate itself. Six minutes before the 7 p.m. start time, Scott told those gathered in the studio that Lonegan called to say he was running late because of traffic.

"The doors close at 7:07. If he's not here by then, he's locked out," said Scott, also news director for the station.

The candidate arrived with seconds to spare, and the debate lasted nearly 90 minutes, though it was scheduled for just an hour.

Recent polls have shown Christie pulling away from Lonegan, amassing a lead of as many as 23 points among likely primary voters after Lonegan came within nine points last month.

The winner is expected to face Corzine, who faces marginal opposition in the Democratic primary as he seeks a second four-year term.

The final Republican debate will be aired live today on WOR radio from 4-5 p.m.