A fight for 2 Assembly seats in 3d N.J. Disrict

The race for two state Assembly seats in District Three pits two conservative Republicans who lack full party support against two Democratic incumbents, including the district's first female legislator.

The district covers parts of Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem Counties, and has long been a Democratic stronghold. But Republicans hope this year will be different, saying Democratic Gov. Corzine's second-place spot in recent polls is an indication that change is in the air.

Democrat John J. Burzichelli, seeking his fifth term in office, is running with Celeste M. Riley, a Greenwich teacher who was appointed to the Assembly in March. Riley, the first female lawmaker for the mostly rural area, replaced Assemblyman Doug Fisher when he became state secretary of agriculture.

The Democrats face Lee Lucas, whom party leaders asked to resign because of racist-tinged remarks; and Robert Villare, a surgeon whose residency and voting record in New Jersey have been questioned.

Burzichelli, 54, said he and Riley had been knocking on doors to hear voters' concerns and found that people were troubled about taxes and the economy. He said he had sponsored bills that would reduce taxes, including one that would phase out nonoperational school districts and one that would set spending limits on municipal budgets.

Burzichelli, who also served as mayor of Paulsboro for the last 13 years, is a management partner of a video-production company and studio. Deputy speaker of the Assembly, he believes Corzine will win reelection, and noted that the governor had reduced spending in the last few years and weathered tough economic conditions.

Riley, 49, served as president of Bridgeton City Council in Cumberland County before she was tapped for the Assembly. An art and computer teacher at Morris Goodwin Elementary School, she is focusing on public transportation. She favors a proposed rail-line extension into the district and expansion of the road network.

"We really lack good public transportation in our district. We have three distressed cities - Bridgeton, Salem, and Penns Grove - and in order for people to get to a job, they need to have a way to get there," Riley said. She also wants to preserve agriculture and historical sites in the district.

Villare and Lucas, political novices who were put on the ballot by Gloucester County party chairwoman Loran Oglesby before she was ousted in June, say they will attack their opponents as tax-and-spend Democrats. Though the two men are running separately, both favor smaller government and tax cuts. And both say they believe government-assistance programs have created a weak society.

Villare, a surgeon from West Deptford, and Lucas, a commercial-oven repairman from Greenwich, won a bitter primary race that had divided the party into three factions. Oglesby had endorsed the two as candidates when other, more moderate contenders backed away from her slate and joined a rival faction.

Bill Fey, Oglesby's successor, along with his state counterparts, called for Lucas to resign after learning that Lucas had used a racial slur during a dispute in September 2006. Lucas, 51, admitted using the epithet but said he had the right to say it because he was on his own property and did not aim it at a minority.

Lucas, who unsuccessfully ran for county freeholder and Greenwich Township Council, says he is staying in the race because he loves giving speeches on the wrongs of big government. He has no plans to knock on doors or display signs and says he has no money for campaign activities. "I'm consumed with the debate. . . . I want to be invited to speak," he said.

His platform calls for cutting significant aid to impoverished communities and schools because, he says, it will reduce taxes and encourage poor people to become less reliant on government.

Lucas frequently attends local and county government meetings to complain and says he doesn't believe in shying away from statements that may be construed as politically incorrect.

Villare, 55, says he doesn't want to step into Lucas' "hornet's nest," but says that just because some of Lucas' comments are offensive "doesn't mean he doesn't have some good points to make."

Villare decided to run for the Assembly a few months ago when he became frustrated with about 300 pages of questions he had to answer to get Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement for a patient's care. "I call it my Popeye moment, when I said, 'I've had all I could stand and I can't stand anymore,' " he said.

Medical director at the Wound & Vascular Center at Memorial Hospital of Salem, Villare says his main focus as an assemblyman would be to reform the health-care system by eliminating bureaucratic paperwork, using technology for record-keeping, reducing malpractice lawsuits, and allowing people to choose tailored medical plans.

Villare's residency was questioned by GOP opponents in the primary race because he voted in Delaware last year. State law requires candidates to live in New Jersey two years before running.

Villare acknowledges that he voted out of state but says he maintained two residences, with his primary one in West Deptford in Gloucester County.

"I won't waste time explaining it," he said angrily when asked how he was allowed to vote in Delaware. Villare, who is single, said he couldn't remember whether he had voted in New Jersey in the last 10 years.

Gloucester County election officials said there was no record of his voting in the last 18 years in New Jersey. He registered to vote in March, they said.

Villare, who got his medical degree from American University in the British West Indies, says he'd rather focus on New Jersey's problems, saying the state "needs surgery" to get rid of wasteful programs.

He says the GOP leadership has had little contact with him, but he plans to join about 20 other GOP first-time candidates in the state who are not "career politicians and who want to focus on reforms." Villare says he's been an independent for years and believes party labels are unnecessary.

When did he decide he was a Republican? "I don't recall," he said. He said that he believed it may have been eight or 10 years ago, but that it doesn't really matter.