Lonegan Gets Ready to Issue an Endorsement in the GOP Gubernatorial Primary
Amid some diner booth groans about the lack of a true fire-breathing conservative in the mold of Bret Schundler or Steve Loengan in this year’s Republican Primary for Governor, former Bogota Mayor Lonegan is preparing to make his voice heard in the contest.
Lonegan met with Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-16) last week and now has a sit down scheduled with Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno.
By Republican Primary standards in this state, Guadagno and Ciattarelli project mostly moderate views, compared to Lonegan, who ran a fierce, movement conservative campaign for governor in 2009 to the right of eventual winner Chris Christie. Lonegan also developed a following out of his 2005 run for governor and a 2013 bid for the United States Senate.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to InsiderNJ, one Republican insider said part of Ciattarelli’s challenge in a square-off with party favorite Guadagno is his lack of traction with Lonegan-fangled Republicans on social issues.
So will Ciattarelli’s Chris Russell Consulting be taking down the several attacks pieces against Lonegan that CR Consulting keeps posted in Portfolio on Russell’s website?
Here’s are some of the greatest hits you can find there right now at Ciattarelli’s Chris Russell Consulting:
“Lonegan’s Legacy of Losing”
“[Lonegan’s] tax, spend and borrow record as Mayor of Bogota”
“Lonegan raised property taxes 9 times”
“Lonegan couldn’t balance his budget without taxpayer-funded bailouts from Trenton”
“Lonegan increased operating expenditures by 25%”
“Lonegan let local debt skyrocket to $5 million in his tiny North Jersey town”
“Lonegan opposed helping cancer victims get proper medical care”
“Lonegan is currently being sued for defrauding taxpayers”
“Don’t nominate a proven loser like Steve Lonegan”
Looks like Ciattarelli’s Chris Russell did a lot of research on Lonegan. If Russell is so right that Lonegan is such a long-time repeated loser who has done so many terrible things, we might ask Ciattarelli why he would even want such an endorsement from such a supposedly disreputable figure?
I would be shocked if Steve backs either one of the two liberal “Republicans” getting matching funds.
Has Lonegan met with Joe Rullo and Steve Rogers?