Schundler vs. Corzine in New Jersey

Sunday, Nov. 11, 2001: Five days after he was defeated for governor of New Jersey, Republican Bret Schundler arrived at the Mayflower hotel in Washington, D.C., to keep a long-standing commitment to address the annual banquet of the national political organization known as GOPAC. While former Jersey City Mayor Schundler had lost to Democrat James McGreevey by 56% to 42%, the talk that evening was about the future rather than the recent past. Almost to a person, GOPAC participants slapped the Garden State conservative on the back, hailed his championship of issues such as tax cuts and school vouchers during the just-ended campaign and urged him to try again.

Would Schundler consider a bid for the Senate or the U.S. House the following year? "No," he told me without hesitation. "The governorship is the job in which you can really get things done."

How would he have any better chance against an incumbent Gov. McGreevey this year than he did against an outsider in '01? "McGreevey's going to be another Jimmy Carter," said Schundler with characteristic self-confidence. "The state will be ready for my agenda then, as the nation was ready for Ronald Reagan's."

So the onetime Wall Street "Master of the Universe" spent the next four years laying the groundwork for his anticipated rendezvous with destiny. Schundler provided Garden State Republicans with writings and addresses, laying out his agenda. Fresh ideas such as an omnibus property tax cut and decreasing the size of the central government in Trenton to accommodate the loss of revenue were spelled out in detail by Schundler. Moreover, like Reagan in the years before he became President, the man from Jersey City hit the "rubber chicken" circuit statewide and was widely received at township and county GOP events.

So with the Republican primary for governor now just days away (June 7), just how does Schundler's prediction of four years ago hold up?

McGreevy, who sought to increase taxes in the state with the highest property taxes in the nation as well as one of the highest state income taxes, certainly lived up to Schundler's prophecy. Last year, surveys of a prospective rematch repeatedly showed the '01 opponents in a neartie, or Schundler with a slight lead. But then came the bombshell. In news that shook the political world in and out of New Jersey, the married governor revealed he was gay, that he had had a relationship with a state employee, and he was resigning from office.

New Jersey's political landscape was turned upside down. Democratic State Senate President Richard Codey succeeded McGreevey as governor. And U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, multi-millionaire former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, declared for the Democratic nomination and muscled Codey out of the primary contest. He is considered a cinch to win the primary next month.

Schundler faces six primary opponents. But in a state where every governor for the past 24 years has previously lost a bid for statewide office, his major rival is 2002 GOP U.S. Senate nominee Doug Forrester. The founder of BeneCard, a manager of prescription drug benefits, Forrester is worth an estimated $50 million.

Forrester has spent more than $8 million on his primary bid compared to $1.4 million spent by Schundler. In addition, Forrester has been endorsed by more county Republican committees than the Ol nominee. A just-completed Quinnipiac (Conn.) University poll showed Forrester leading Schundler by 39% to 33% statewide, with the remaining candidates in single digits. Schundler spokesman Bill Pascoe noted that the same survey showed 55% of Schundler's supporters are sure they will vote for him while only 46% of Forrester's share the same feeling. "You do the math-you'll see that among those who have made a definite decision, Bret is leading his opponent," said Pascoe.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. May 30, 2005
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