(MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ) -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler today released his income tax returns for the last four years, and issued the following statement:

"The ethics issue will be front and center in the fall campaign, and Republican primary voters have a right to know their candidate has clean hands before they are asked to make a choice on June 7. Consequently, today I am releasing my tax returns for the last four years, and I respectfully request my Republican rivals to follow my lead and release their returns for the last four years.

"Some have suggested that, in order to get a full picture of a candidate's personal finances, nothing more than a look at the Personal Financial Disclosure document filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission is required. But the New Jersey PFD is ridiculously porous -- it actually reveals very little, and is nothing at all like the Personal Financial Disclosure form required to be filed by candidates for federal office with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate or the Clerk of the U.S. House.

"Doug Forrester, in particular, said on Saturday at the Associated Press Broadcasters Association forum that he would release his tax returns if he made it to the general election as the Republican nominee. In making that statement, he simultaneously acknowledged the political value of the action AND showed his disdain for Republican primary voters -- why shouldn"t they be allowed to see his tax returns before being asked to make a choice on June 7?"

For more than two decades, gubernatorial candidates of both political parties have made it standard practice to release their tax returns during their campaigns. Jim McGreevey, Christie Whitman, and Jim Florio all released their tax returns.

Credentialed members of the media may view the tax returns at Schundler for Governor headquarters.

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