Lonegan, Christie have final TV debate

As Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan tested his microphone yesterday for his second televised debate with Christopher J. Christie, he joked, "Let the missiles fly," and they did as both men battled over competing tax and economic plans.

The debate, scheduled to air at 11 a.m. today on 6ABC and New York's WABC-TV, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and both stations.

The taping will give Lonegan and Christie, who are battling for conservative voters, their last television audience before the June 2 primary. In the 2001 and 2005 GOP gubernatorial primaries, more than half the voters were conservatives.

Reflecting their increasingly heated battle, Lonegan attacked Christie, saying the former U.S. attorney had no specific plan for cutting state taxes. "One of the things Chris is saying is he has to wait to get into office to see what the problem is," Lonegan said. "I know what the problem is. The state will be in the hole by $3 billion."

To solve the problem, Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota in Bergen County, would lay off 15,000 of the 80,000 state workers and pare back departments, he said.

Christie, too, has said he would cut government spending, lay off workers, and eliminate some state programs, including the public advocate.

When Christie joked, "I went to law school because I couldn't do math or science," Lonegan quipped, "That's reflected in your plan for cutting taxes."

Christie focused on Lonegan's idea for a 2.9 percent flat income tax, saying that would raise taxes on 70 percent of New Jerseyans as they struggled during the recession.

The current state income tax ranges from 1.4 percent to 8.97 percent. "We will cut income taxes across the board for each and every New Jerseyan, and we will not raise taxes on 70 percent of New Jerseyans," Christie said.

Lonegan countered that his plan to abolish the state's system of giving larger subsidies to needy school districts to equalize funding would reduce property taxes sharply in the suburbs. Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for school districts and local governments.

The candidates also sparred over a new issue in the race: whether they would accept prisoners from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Christie said he would not; Lonegan said terrorists should be in prison, even if that prison was in New Jersey.

The Obama administration is reportedly considering detaining about 240 terrorist suspects from Guantanamo on U.S. soil. The president has pledged to close the prison, where there have been allegations of prisoner abuse.

Both candidates said they would work to lower state-college tuition to keep students from leaving New Jersey and would try to fix the state's deteriorating highway system.

Lonegan, saying he would severely cut mass-transit funding, called light-rail systems a waste of money because few riders used them. Christie did not seem as frustrated with mass transit; he said he would fund transportation improvements with a pay-as-you-go system rather than increase state debt for big projects.

As for energy, Lonegan said he would fight utility rate hikes that he said subsidized "phony energy plans." Christie said he would support helping businesses develop energy technologies that could employ New Jersey workers. With Christie leading in polls and fund-raising, Lonegan has pinned his hopes on grassroots support.

No Republican has won a statewide race in New Jersey since 1997, but Republicans hope they can defeat Gov. Corzine, who has consistently low approval ratings amid massive budget shortfalls and planned furloughs of state workers. Facing marginal opposition in the Democratic primary, Corzine has yet to mount an aggressive campaign. Last week, he began running commercials that say he has cut government spending while preserving programs for the state's most vulnerable residents. A multimillionaire, Corzine has said he would fund his campaign himself.