by Tom Baldwin of Gannett
CHERRY HILL COURIER-POST
Bret Schundler, a Harvard graduate from Westfield with a job on Wall Street, jumped into politics more than a decade ago as the Republican mayor of decidedly Democratic and diverse Jersey City, long wilting and overshadowed by Manhattan.
In fact, Schundler, who is white, won the Jersey City mayor's office twice in a city that is predominantly black and Hispanic and where Democrats ran City Hall, consistently if not always constructively, since World War I. And he won by big margins.
In 1984, Schundler worked for Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart, the same candidate who had dared reporters to catch him womanizing. Hart lost the dare. Schundler joined the GOP.
A man of obvious complexities who calls himself a policy wonk, Schundler recalls his switch.
"I always believed we should try to increase opportunity for the poor," says Schundler, a married father of two. "And the Democrats always talked about that. I came to the point where I realized they talked a good game, but they were trapping people in poverty."
This is Schundler's second run for governor, or an extension of his first try. He has stayed in the political mix since losing to James E. McGreevey in 2001, and he's decided his loss was the result of a complex campaign message that never caught on.
His hallmark this time is property taxes, and he rarely strays from that topic. New Jersey's property taxes are the highest in the nation and twice the national average, which is driving residents out of the state, say critics.
Schundler wants to change the state constitution to slow the growth of state spending. He says that would make available more tax money to send to local governments, which would manage their spending. He's trying to force a debate over his plan into this year's Assembly campaigns, too.
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"Since every member of the New Jersey state Assembly has to run for re-election in November, we should demand that they support permanent property tax, spending and anti-corruption reforms before this year's election, or know that we will vote against them," Schundler said.
He talks about ending corruption by expanding limits on contracts for campaign contributors to cover donations at all levels of government. He remains opposed to abortion and has been endorsed by New Jersey Right to Life, but - mindful such views may be used as a wedge issue by Democrats - says the issue is mostly a federal one.
Schundler says he arrived at this juncture with no master plan.
"When I was younger, I wanted to be an urban minister. . . . I was deeply in debt and thinking of going to the seminary. I got a job on Wall Street," said Schundler, who took a liking to Jersey City, just one subway stop across the bustling Hudson River.
Schundler's inner-preacher can still be detected at times in his stump speech.
"To empower the poor, you do more to help them," he says. "Don't empower politicians. Focus resources on the basic. Justice doesn't come from the benevolence of dictators. Justice comes from empowering the people."
Schundler seized the Republican nomination in 2001 as a maverick challenging the party hierarchy, but the establishment never embraced him, and Schundler lost by a sizable margin in November.
His reception has been less hostile this year, but the bulk of the party regulars still aren't with him. One consistent exception is Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Washington Township, Morris County.
"I went where I believed I needed to go, with Bret," Gregg said. "We're focused on property taxes. His concept of capping state spending is the only solution, long term. . . . It will make this state a less expensive place to live."
Born in 1959, Schundler was a standout lineman at Westfield High School. He made the freshman squad at Harvard but thereafter played club football. His reading taste runs to history, rarely finding a tome too deep or detailed.
"Jeez, I am the ultimate policy wonk," he laughs.
Schundler lives in Jersey City's Van Vorst Park section. He and his family enjoy weekends venturing through New Jersey, staying at out-of-the-way inns. He also likes visiting Cape May.
