N.J. GOP candidates for governor debate

Republican gubernatorial candidates Christopher J. Christie and Steve Lonegan clashed yesterday over taxes, property-tax rebates, and the question of who would truly rein in state spending in the first formal debate of their party's primary.

With the recession and a state budget mired in red ink as a backdrop, Christie often focused his attacks on Democrats who have controlled the state for years, blaming Gov. Corzine and others for running up state spending, and vowing to bring change. Lonegan cast himself as the real conservative, who would offer drastic cuts in taxes and state programs.

"We are, in fact, on the brink of bankruptcy. . . . It's because of the failed policies of Jon Corzine, Jim McGreevey, and the Democrats over the past seven years," Christie said. "These folks spend too much, they borrow too much, and they expect all of us to pick up the tab at the end."

Christie said he would cut income taxes across the board and increase property-tax rebates - though he did not specify how much each item would change.

Lonegan said he would impose a flat tax across the state, end corporate and small-business taxes, eliminate or merge some of the largest departments in state government - including Health and Community Affairs - and slice 15,000 jobs from the state payroll.

He called the state's "progressive" taxation "wealth redistribution," and said he would end it.

"My flat tax will drive down the cost of government, bring job producers back into this state," Lonegan said, adding that eliminating corporate taxes would make the state a "magnet" for business.

"We can either rebuild our Republican Party on a conservative foundation . . . or we can be the 'me too' Republican Party" that mimics the Democrats, Lonegan said.

Lonegan acknowledged after the debate that a flat tax would raise taxes for people with lower incomes while lowering them for wealthier residents. People with low incomes, he said, consume the most services, while the rich produce jobs and should be enticed to move here. He said his 2.9 percent flat tax would make New Jersey competitive with its neighbors.

"In a democracy, everyone has to have some skin in the game," Lonegan said of low-income residents that would face a tax increase. Upper-income residents getting tax breaks "are the people that build the jobs and bring the business to this state."

But Christie said the flat tax would actually raise taxes for 70 percent of New Jerseyans. Lonegan said the figure was closer to 40 percent.

The specific budget cuts Christie offered included eliminating the Public Advocate, one of the smallest state departments. He said he would aggressively cut spending using line-item vetoes.

The meeting was the first formal debate between Christie and Lonegan, the two leading contenders for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

The winner of the June 2 GOP primary will almost certainly run against Corzine, who faces only nominal opposition within his own party.

The two candidates differed sharply on property-tax rebates. Lonegan called the annual checks a "scam" on property-tax payers. He said the answer to the high local levies is giving mayors more power to cut spending.

Christie said he would increase the rebates without saying how much or how he would pay for it. He argued that it is one of the few benefits taxpayers get from Trenton.

Christie, a former U.S. attorney who made his name pursuing high-profile corruption prosecutions, spent much of the debate - as he has the campaign - focusing on Corzine and Democrats.

Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota, in Bergen County, has championed himself as the "true conservative" in the race, seeking to tap into the hard-right voters who make up a significant piece of the Republican electorate.

In one of the sharper exchanges yesterday, Lonegan responded to Christie's assertion that he had accomplished much as a Morris County freeholder.

"I'm surprised with that record, Chris, you weren't re-elected after one term," Lonegan said.

"What Steve doesn't understand is the reason I wasn't renominated is because I fought the status quo," Christie shot back.

But in many instances, the two candidates agreed. They both criticized state borrowing and affordable-housing mandates, and said they would campaign against any attempt to amend the constitution to allow gay marriage.

They each said they support school vouchers, though Lonegan said the students would be able to use the program only to go to other schools within their home districts. Christie said students could take the vouchers to other towns, if the other districts were willing to accept them.

Both said they would oppose borrowing for more open-space purchases. Lonegan said the responsibility should fall on local governments. Christie said he supports buying open land, just not with new debt.

Christie has led Lonegan, and Corzine, in several public opinion polls, but surveys focusing on likely Republican primary voters have shown a tight race.

Democrats scoffed at the Republican exchange.

"In their zeal to win the votes of the extreme right wing of their party, these two Republicans are out of touch with the mainstream voters of New Jersey," Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D., Union), the Democratic state chairman, said in a statement.

Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R., Morris) is also seeking the Republican nomination, though he did not raise enough money to participate in yesterday's state-sanctioned debate and has barely registered in public opinion polls.

Last night's debate was broadcast on New Jersey Network; it will be rebroadcast at 10 p.m. Friday. It was sponsored by NJN, the Halpern Family Foundation, The Inquirer, Gannett New Jersey, and the Hall Institute of Public Policy.

The second of the two debates, sponsored by the Election Law Enforcement Commission, is set for Sunday.