BrightMoment wrote:
Quote:

Jeebus wrote:
[...]

I'm sure that there are many other candidates but how many have done anything but leech off of taxpayer money their whole life?

I would include Schundler in that group of "candidates ...(who)leech off of taxpayer money".

Go the site of my sig to find out why Schundler's just like all you Republican/Libertarians who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk, just like BushWhack & his ilk who bled our economy dry during the last 8 years running up the greatest deficit this country has ever known while left a surplus.

Republicans/Libertarians leech off both the corporate/institutional tit as well as the taxpayer.

Good riddance to Schundler's candidacy!

BrightMoment wrote:
Bret Schundler drops out of Jersey City mayoral race

by Agustin Torres/The Jersey Journal
Monday January 12, 2009, 9:00 PM

Former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler announced today he would give up his quest for a return to City Hall.

In an e-mail to campaign contributors, Schundler blamed the nation's economic crisis for having a negative impact on his investment portfolio and forcing him from the May municipal race.

"This will make it impossible for me to run," Schundler wrote in his e-mail. "I had planned to campaign full-time this Spring and to pay my family's mortgage and my children's tuition bills out of investment savings. Instead, I will need to work full-time at an income-earning job to pay those mortgages and tuition bills."

The former mayor said he will attempt to refund contributors to his campaign.

This leaves the incumbent Jerramiah Healy, former Assemblyman Louis Manzo, ex-City Council President L. Harvey Smith, and Downtown activist Daniel Levin as mayoral candidates.

In The Jersey Journal's Saturday political column, The Political Insider reported that Schundler's run for mayor would probably end.

Schundler, a Republican who won the first of three terms as mayor in 1992, found it difficult to attract running mates and campaign financing this time around, according to city sources.

With Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop and Schundler fishing for votes from the same pool of voters, Fulop declared last month that he was out of the mayoral race.

Now Schundler backers face limited choices for mayor. They are not likely to support Healy. If they do not sit out the election, Manzo appears to be the chief beneficiary, according to several political observers.

In his e-mail message, Schundler revealed that since mid-October to just before Thanksgiving, he has managed to raise $200,000 in campaign contributions and he expects to return most of the donations.

By comparison, Healy's war chest is at least $1 million and Manzo expects to raise more than double what Schundler raised.

Here is the full text of Schundler's letter:

"I will not be running to become Jersey City's Mayor this year.

Our nation's economic crisis caused the value of several long-term investments of mine to plummet. I had been hoping these investments would bounce back, but they have continued to fall, and I have now been forced to sell them at a loss.

This will make it impossible for me to run for mayor this year. I had planned to campaign full-time this Spring and to pay my family's mortgage and my children's tuition bills out of invested savings. Instead, I will need to work full-time at an income-earning job to pay those mortgage and tuition bills. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for your encouragement and support this past year. In the five weeks from mid-October to just before Thanksgiving, we raised almost $200,000 in campaign contributions. We had a great start, and I do believe we could have won this election were I able to fund raise and campaign full-time this Spring. Unfortunately, that is no longer an option. One positive bit of news: we have not spent much of the money that the campaign raised. Accordingly, we will be providing a very large percentage refund to everyone who contributed. I love Jersey City, and I will do what I can to benefit it, but I have a responsibility to provide for my family. The reality now is that I need to be working full-time at an income-earning job. I hope you will understand."

Jeebus wrote:
[...]

I'm sure that there are many other candidates but how many have done anything but leech off of taxpayer money their whole life?

BrightMoment wrote:

Don't worry Jenny, there are already announced plenty of other Mayoral candidates and more to come, viable and not.

I won't have a pity party for Schundler's loss though.

JCNewJersey wrote:
Bright -

Just curious, why do you dislike Schundler so much?

I will not be running to become Jersey City's Mayor this year.

Our nation's economic crisis caused the value of several long-term investments of mine to plummet. I had been hoping these investments would bounce back, but they have continued to fall, and I have now been forced to sell them at a loss.

jennymayla wrote:
I think this is a shame. Regardless of how you feel about a particular candidate, I think it is important that we have choices and viable options on Election Day. Having Schundler in the running would have guaranteed spirited debate and discussion.

It also drives home how hardcore the current economic situation is and the distribution of damage.