Bret Schundler

Bret D. Schundler
45th Mayor of Jersey City
In office November 11,1992 – June 30,2001
Preceded by	Joseph Rakowski
Succeeded by	Glenn Cunningham
Personal details
Born	January 14,1959 Colonia, New Jersey
Political party	Republican
Height	216px
Spouse	Lynn
Residence	Jersey City, New Jersey
Profession	Finance

Bret D. Schundler (born January 14, 1959 in Colonia, New Jersey) is an pro-life, pro-Second Amendement, and pro-right to work American Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a nonpartisan candidate, he was able to win election as Mayor of Jersey City from 1992 until 2001. Subsequently, however, he ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Governor of New Jersey, losing by a double-digit margin in 2001 and failing to advance beyond the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2005.

Pre-Political career

Schundler grew up in two suburbs, Woodbridge Township and Westfield, New Jersey, which earned him criticism in his campaign for Mayor of New Jersey's second largest city.

Mayor of Jersey City

His first run for elective office was an unsuccessful campaign for the New Jersey Senate in 1991. The next year, Gerald McCann was removed as mayor of Jersey City because of a criminal conviction unrelated to his public duties, and Schundler entered the special election to finish the remaining eight months of McCann's term. He won the election with 17 percent of the vote in a crowded field of 19 candidates. Also, he did not run "as a Republican" since Jersey City holds non-partisan elections. A major reason for his victory was that two African American candidates split votes and two siblings (Lou and Allen Manzo), also split a large number of votes.

2001 gubernatorial campaign

Towards the end of his tenure as mayor, Schundler served as chairman of the Hudson County Republican Committee, and in 2001, Schundler ran for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, facing former Congressman Bob Franks, a Republican who was favored by the party establishment. Franks entered the race in April, two months before the primary, after Governor. Donald DiFrancesco dropped out of the race because of an unending series of newspaper stories highlighting ethics concerns. Franks was backed by DiFrancesco's political organization and endorsed by every county Republican committee except Schundler's base in Hudson County. Since he was running as the anti-establishment candidate, he vowed to replace all of the county chairman who did not support him if he won.

Schundler ran well to Franks' right, which was somewhat unusual since most New Jersey Republicans tend to be moderate-to-liberal by national standards. He employed a more grassroots style of campaigning, visiting many local GOP organizations and forming close relationships with the Young Republicans and the College Republicans, as well as with conservative groups, including those active in homeschooling issues. This grassroots campaign enabled him to win the nomination by a robust 14% margin.

After winning the primary, Schundler tried to reunite the party by reaching out to the figures who had endorsed Franks. This included having a unity lunch with Franks which was hosted by former governor Tom Kean, and retaining State Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos as state party chairman. Kyrillos had been appointed by DiFrancesco as state party chairman six weeks before the primary, and he had supported Franks in the primary. However, the party remained split because he never regained the trust of those he vowed to replace. The Democratic candidate, Woodbridge Township Mayor Jim McGreevey (the unsuccessful Democratic candidate in 1997), exploited this division by painting Schundler as too conservative for New Jersey. In the November election, Schundler was badly defeated, gaining 42% of the vote to McGreevey's 56%. Schundler even lost Hudson County by 50,000 votes.

Schundler did not run for office again until the 2005 gubernatorial campaign, but remained as one of the most visible spokesmen for conservative Republicans in New Jersey.

2005 gubernatorial campaign

Schundler's 2005 gubernatorial campaign focused on the issue of property taxes. He proposed a series of state constitutional amendments to control state and local spending in New Jersey, with the savings dedicated to property tax reduction statewide.

As in 2001, Schundler focused mostly on grassroots campaigning. However, he also targeted Republican County Conventions to spread his message and won several county endorsements. Besides his base in Hudson County, he also won the endorsement of the Republican organizations in Monmouth, Hunterdon, and Somerset counties.

In the week before the primary election, Schundler's campaign was criticized for using a photograph on its website that showed Schundler apparently standing with a crowd of enthusiastic young supporters. The photograph, which appeared for only a few days on a web page advertising campaign t-shirts and mugs, had actually been taken at a Howard Dean rally in 2004, with Dean's image digitally replaced by Schundler's and with campaign signs, hats, and shirts modified as well. Schundler's campaign responded that the photograph had been prepared by the campaign's website contractor (which had done work for the Dean campaign), and that the campaign had had the picture taken down when it learned of the miscue.

Schundler lost the primary to Doug Forrester, who had been New Jersey's Republican nominee for United States Senate in 2002. Forrester's considerable wealth enabled him to outspend Schundler during the campaign by about 6-1. The results were:

• Forrester: 35%
• Schundler: 31%
• Morris County Freeholder John Murphy: 11%
• Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan: 8%
• Washington Township Councilman Bob Schroeder: 6%
• Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano: 6%
• Former Bergen County Freeholder Todd Caliguire: 3%

Schundler carried Union, Hudson, Hunterdon and Somerset counties. He had the county line in Somerset and Hudson and shared it with Forrester in Hunterdon. Forrester held the county line in Union County, which was the only county where he had the line but still lost in the primary.

2009 Jersey City mayoral campaign

On August 14,2008 Schundler confirmed in a news interview his intent to run for the office of Mayor of Jersey City in the 2009 election. Schundler stated that his formal announcement would happen after the November 2008 Presidential election. If he runs, he will face Mayor Jerramiah Healy, former Assemblyman Louis Manzo and community activist Dan Levin for the mayor's office. Councilman Steven Fulop has announced he will not run for mayor in 2009.

Current activities and family

Schundler is currently a Professor of Public Policy at The King's College, a Christian/conservative educational institution located in the Empire State Building. The King's College is accredited in New York but not currently accredited by one of the major regionally accreditation institutions nationally. The King's College is, however, in the process of applying for accrediation with the recognized Middle States Commission on Higher Education..

External links

• Official Campaign web site