John Crowley

Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Medham) is thinking about running for Governor in 2009.
DENVER - When people ask him if he’s a mountain man - one of those hard right warriors from Northwestern Jersey, Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Randolph) responds that he’s "more of a foothill guy."

Whatever the colloquialism, Merkt said today that he is very serious about trying to climb over the obstacles to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine. Tomorrow he will officially establish an exploratory committee toward that end.

How serious is he?

"I will not seek re-election to the Assembly," said the 11-year legislative veteran, a corporate attorney with TDI Power in Hackettstown.

"This is no trial balloon," Merkt said. "I’ve been considering this for a number of months, and I am convinced that New Jersey needs a governor who respects the people."

For years, conservative activist Steve Lonegan has been seen by the state's moderate, mainstream Republicans more as a thorn in the side than a boon to their party.

But after leaving office as the mayor of Bogota, the ever-controversial Lonegan has - at least on the surface - made nice with some of the party's more high profile members as he's dramatically increased his statewide profile.

Take the convention run shortly before the U.S. Senate primaries at the Trenton Marriot, where Americans for Prosperity - the anti-tax group whose New Jersey chapter Lonegan heads up - brought out a couple national Republican luminaries and a few New Jersey Republicans who typically aren't seen with Lonegan.

Once you got past the 3,000 pound fiberglass pig perched atop a trailer parked outside the hotel, you could meet not only some of the  of the Republicans' most conservative legislators -- like Assembly members Michael Patrick Carroll, Richard Merkt, Allison Littell-McHose and State Sen. Gerald Cardinale.  But also present were members of the new crop of Republican leadership like Tom Kean, Jr., Kevin O'Toole and Joe Kyrillos.

The convention came about six months after the November surprise defeat of two ballot initiatives that Lonegan fought hard against, including one to borrow money for stem-cell research.  Political observers differ on how much credit Lonegan gets for the measures' defeat, but he was most vocal opponent, and became the face of the effort.

The race for the 2009 Democratic gubernatorial nomination has begun, with Congressman Bill Pascrell and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo saying that they would consider running if the incumbent, Jon Corzine, decides not to seek re-election to a second term.   

If Corzine were to leave office early, Senate President Richard Codey would succeed to the governorship.  Codey served as Governor when James E. McGreevey resigned, and then backed down from a bid for a full-term when Corzine, willing to self-fund his campaign, secured the endorsement of key county Democratic organizations.  Codey, his friends say, is unlikely to back down again.

Gov. Jon Corzine and biotech businessman John Crowley: Politicker photo 

CRANBURY - Although their meeting might have lacked the hype of a heavyweight fight buildup - mostly because it is unknown if they will ever square off  - Gov. John Corzine and Republican biotech millionaire John Crowley shook hands today like respectful would-be rivals with private industry street cred.

"Not all of life is about politics," Corzine told reporters after participating in a ceremony at Crowley's company, Amicus Therapeutics, which in its sixth year of operation today celebrated the hiring of its 100th employee.

"We've come a long way from the incubator on Route 1," said Crowley, standing earlier at the boardroom podium in his sprawling, hi-tech Cranbury complex, facing Corzine in the front row.

The governor attended as Crowley's guest, a nod to the fact that Amicus became the first graduate of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's (EDA) Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies, and exemplifies the kind of biotech development Corzine champions.

CRANBURY - Gov. Jon Corzine will speak at Amicus Therapeutics' "100th Employee" celebration here later this morning to help celebrate a thriving New Jersey business in a difficult economy.

The intriguing political context of his appearance is that Amicus Therapeutics was founded - and is owned and operated - by Republican John Crowley of Princeton, a potential challenger to Corzine in 2009. 

Nearly the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate as he flirted with running last spring, Crowley has been making the Republican circuit, and is considered by some party insiders to be a potential establishment favorite if U.S. Attorney Chris Christie stumbles. 

John Crowley, the bio tech millionaire from Princeton who spent several hours – twice – as a candidate for the 2008 GOP nomination for United States Senator, wants to use the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next month to introduce himself to party leaders and opinion leaders.  Crowley is reportedly considering a run for Governor in 2009.  He has scheduled a posh party on a boat trip down the Mississippi River for Monday morning, the first day of the convention. The problem for Crowley is that his boat trip now conflicts with a scheduled convention session, which means that the key people he wanted to spend time bonding with won’t be available. 

Yesterday, when veteran Republican political operative Dan Gallic announced that he was forming an organization to draft conservative activist Steve Lonegan into the Governor's race next year, he lamented the candidates Republicans typically choose for statewide races as "weak-kneed wimpy moderates who believe in nothing and are afraid to throw a punch." 

Today, Gallic said that language doesn't apply to the two other most high profile potential candidates next year: U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and biotech millionaire John Crowley.

"I was referring to the past slew of candidates who have lost by 9 or 10 points," said Gallic, who managed conservative State Sen. Joe Pennacchio's run for U.S. Senate earlier this year.  "So far what I've seen is a far better group of candidates than the Republicans have put up in quite some time, all of which have no ties to the establishment at this point."

Biotech millionaire John Crowley is seriously considering bid for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2009 – although some GOP leaders seem skeptical of his intentions after his on again, off again bid for the United States Senate last spring.  But if Crowley runs, he could make a move for votes in the base of his likely rival, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie.  Sources say that Morris County Freeholder John Murphy, an old-time Christie foe who ran for Governor in 2005, has told some friends that he might be for Crowley.

If the GOP’s long march of self-combusting U.S. Senate candidates failed to inspire a lot of rank and file Republicans, the brief flirtation Princeton businessman John Crowley had with a June Senate primary run held for some the more lasting promise of an "it" factor life and blood party champion.

The lineaments of the Crowley narrative were indeed compelling for Republicans.

Son of a cop who died in the line of duty; Naval Intelligence officer; Successful CEO; Young and devoted father who founded a biotech business to create a disease cure to save his children; Hollywood movie subject with a movie apparently due out next year, according to Republican sources.

Crowley’s would-be entry into the race had come under the radar, as Andy Unanue prepared for his return to New Jersey from the ski slopes of Colorado intent on claiming his party’s in absentia nomination.

A Republican group calling itself "Building the New Majority" has formed with former Congressional candidate Bill Spadea serving as president and John Crowley serving as the organization's honorary chairman.

A Princeton businessman, Crowley was a dream U.S. Senate candidate for a small, dedicated group of Republicans who with Spadea’s help sought to recruit him as a replacement for crackup GOP Senate candidate Andy Unanue.

Crowley backed out of contention hours before the state deadline for primary candidates, citing concerns about how his small business could proceed were he to pursue a full-time Senate campaign.