Conservatives fire volley at Christie

A conservative political committee began attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher J. Christie yesterday, sending a clear signal that the eyes and the wallets of the conservative movement are on New Jersey, one of only two states electing a governor this year.

Steve Lonegan, Christie's opponent in the June 2 primary, is running as a conservative, and directed the New Jersey branch of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group, before entering the race.

"I think there's no doubt that national, staunchly conservative forces are paying attention to Steve Lonegan's candidacy," said Montclair State University political scientist Brigid Harrison.

The sponsor of the attacks, Freedom's Defense Fund, started cable television ads in Republican strongholds of Ocean, Bergen and Morris Counties yesterday, accusing Christie of making sleazy deals while U.S. attorney.

Christie, who built his reputation on an unprecedented offensive against corrupt politicians, has repeatedly said he made no such deals.

"It's unfortunate that these third party groups come into the state and smear Chris' honest record," said Christie's campaign manager, Bill Stepien. "These ads echo the negativity and mistruths being spread by the Lonegan campaign. Times are tough and voters deserve better than the petty politics of old."

There is a connection between Freedom's Defense Fund and a Lonegan contractor, Base Connect, which handles Lonegan's fund-raising.

Freedom's Defense Fund uses Base Connect for its own fund-raising and its Washington, D.C., office as a mail dropoff, according to Todd Zirkle, Freedom's chairman.

Both the Lonegan campaign and Freedom's Defense Fund said they are not coordinating the attack against Christie.

If they were coordinating the attacks, the Lonegan campaign would be subject to sanctions in New Jersey, according to Fred Hermann, director of the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Zirkle said the group favors Lonegan, former mayor of Bogota, because of his conservative background.

"We're well acquainted with Steve and feel he's the real deal," Zirkle said. "We're really concerned that Chris Christie is an unfortunate risk for Republicans because he has some really high negatives that will be expounded upon with great success in the fall."

This is Freedom's Defense Fund's first foray into a New Jersey primary. Federal Election Commission records show it generally supports conservatives in congressional races.

Freedom's Defense Fund sponsored the famous "Thank You Sarah Palin" commercials, as well as an ad that told television viewers Barack Obama was friendly with William Ayers, a member of the radical Weather Underground Organization he barely knew, and liked a corrupt mayor with whom he had fought.

The group was among the first to give Lonegan a campaign contribution, donating $3,000 last October.

Zirkle said he's in New Jersey because this is only one of two governor's races in the nation this year. Virginians also are poised to elect a governor.

"This is one of the few statewide races of any importance," Zirkle said.

Montclair's Harrison said, "Given that there is only one other gubernatorial election this year, there are conservatives with both money and time on their hands that have nothing else to focus on. Steve Lonegan can be the beneficiary of that."

Rider University political scientist Ben Dworkin said this is an especially vulnerable moment for Christie. Just weeks before the June 2 primary, Lonegan is catching up to Christie, the favorite of the Republican establishment.

"All of the big guns have come out on behalf of this guy [Christie] and yet five weeks out he finds himself in a little bit of a race," Dworkin said.

Both men are fighting over conservatives, those most likely to vote in a GOP primary. Both candidates say they want to cut taxes and shrink government, oppose gay marriage and abortions - all important issues to conservative voters. But they argue over who is more conservative.

In recent days, Christie's campaign has been making robo-calls with a Bret Schundler endorsement. Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor, and nationally known conservative, won the GOP gubernatorial primary in 2001 against the party favorite, Bob Franks.

Lonegan's supporters are hoping that he can pull the same trick this election.

On the money front, records released by ELEC yesterday show Christie has raised more than $1.8 million to Lonegan's $935,000.

Christie also has been spreading around a critique of Lonegan's flat tax concept written on PolitickerNJ.com by Murray Sabrin, who has run for governor and U.S. Senate as a fiscal conservative.

For executive experience, Lonegan touts his time as a Bergen County mayor and Christie touts his tenure as U.S. attorney.

And, that's where the ad hits Christie. It starts off saying: "For Chris Christie greasing the system is a family affair."

It stirs in his brother Todd Christie, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission cleared of any wrongdoing last October following a Wall Street trading probe.

Christie, the candidate, has come under attack because in 2007, he gave a contract to the U.S. attorney who oversaw the investigation that included Todd Christie.

Both Christie and David Kelley, the former U.S. attorney from the Southern District of New York, said they have never and would never discuss Todd Christie.

Democrats and Lonegan have attacked Christie, trying to bring his brother's brush with federal regulators into the race to tarnish Christie's reputation as a crime-fighter.

After viewing the ad, both Dworkin and Harrison agree it is effective.

"It probably has pretty broad public appeal and is also doing some of Jon Corzine's dirty work for him," said Harrison.

Democrats began attacking Christie several weeks ago after concluding Lonegan wasn't giving him a hard enough time in the primary. They would prefer running against Lonegan because of the state's distinct blue tinge.