LONEGAN: LG SHOULD NOT BE A QUOTA PICK

-- “Competence, not gender or race, should determine LG selection.”

ORADELL – Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, who served as Mayor of Bogota for twelve years, today blasted Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan for his statement that the Democrats’ Lieutenant Governor pick would have to be either a “minority or female candidate.”

“My Lieutenant Governor will be someone who can fill my shoes and continue my agenda in case I am unable,” Lonegan said. “Competence, not gender or race, will determine who I pick.”

Cryan also serves as a Democratic Assemblyman from Union County.

“Dr. King had a dream of a day when individuals would be judged on competence, not their demographic classification,” Lonegan said. “Joe Cryan’s words were the equivalent of spitting on Dr. King’s grave and he owes every citizen of this state an apology for his shallow and bigoted statement.”

“Assemblyman Cryan’s brand of thinking is just one of the many reasons why I will beat Jon Corzine in November and sweep Republicans to victory up and down the state,” Lonegan predicted confidently. “It’s just one reason why, by the time we celebrate Dr. King’s birthday next year, Joe Cryan will be a member of a toothless Assembly minority and largely forgotten.”