EAST WINDSOR: Township man seeks third-party nod for governor
Friday, June 26, 2009 10:51 AM EDT
By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer

EAST WINDSOR — A township resident with a background in public service and an eye for reform is aiming to break the two-party lock on politics in New Jersey. David Meiswinkle, of Jamestown Road in Twin Rivers, will be on the ballot this November running against incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie and nine other independent or third-party candidates for the state’s highest office. Mr. Meiswinkle, an attorney in New Brunswick, will run on the Middle Class Empowerment ticket. The two-year East Windsor resident collected 1,296 signatures on his nominating petition for the ballot, the second most of any of the independent candidates, according to the state Division of Elections. Mr. Meiswinkle, 59, said he would focus on cleaning up corruption, increasing citizen participation and bringing jobs into the state. ”We need to develop new industries,” he said, “and come up with novel and progressive ideas.” The son of an American World War II veteran and a German immigrant, he was raised in Millville. Mr. Meiswinkle was the president of his class at Rutgers University before graduating with a degree in geography in 1972. Thinking he would like to work in the college administration, Mr. Meiswinkle went on to earn a master’s degree in student personnel administration from New York University in 1974. But then he had a change of heart and joined the Army, and he was stationed for much of his time in Germany. Upon returning home, Mr. Meiswinkle said, he traveled to 47 of the 50 states during the bicentennial year. He then joined the New Brunswick Police Department, where he stayed — except for a six-month leave of absence in the early 1980s during which he traveled across the world to countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Nepal — until his retirement in 2001. During his last years on the force, he took night classes at Seton Hall University School of Law, and is now a private practice attorney who works in conjunction with the Middlesex County Office of the Public Defenders. He is divorced, and has three adult children. As a police officer, Mr. Meiswinkle said, he was a fierce critic of then-New Brunswick Mayor John Lynch. Mr. Lynch — who also served as a state senator from 1981 to 2001 and was the president of the Senate in 1990-1991 — was convicted in 2006 on tax evasion and fraud charges, and sentenced to three years in prison. Mr. Meiswinkle said he leveled repeated corruption charges against Mayor Lynch, both in a newspaper he helped produce in the 1980s called the New Brunswick Reporter and as an unsuccessful candidate against Mr. Lynch in four mayoral elections during that time. Mr. Meiswinkle said he ran against Mr. Lynch as a Republican, a Democrat and an independent. ”My party changed, but my policies didn’t,” he said, explaining that he has switched parties throughout the years to try to give himself the best chance of unseating Mr. Lynch. He said he is running for governor because he doesn’t believe either of the two major candidates offers much of an alternative. ”Corzine made his fortune at Goldman Sachs, and Chris (Christie) was a Bush appointee,” Mr. Meiswinkle said. “Neither one has middle-class interests. They are two sides of the same coin.” Mr. Meiswinkle said, if elected, he would look at providing tax incentives for bringing new “green” industries into the state, such as alternative energy companies. He said he also would put a great deal of effort into lobbying the federal government to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he believes has cost New Jersey a significant number of jobs. ”I would call all the senators and legislators and congressman in the state into my office on the first day, and tell them to start pressing for a repeal of NAFTA,” he said. “I would tell them that I am coming after them politically if they don’t.” ”Some people think NAFTA is a national issue, not a state issue,” he went on to say. “But the jobs that are being lost aren’t in Washington, D.C. They are in New Jersey and Michigan and Indiana. That makes it a state issue.” He said he also would look to get citizens more involved in the state, by promoting more “direct democracy” practices like ballot initiatives, referendums and recalls. Mr. Meiswinkle also said he would work to expose corruption in state government, and that his history of opposing Mr. Lynch and others gives him credibility on the issue. ”I know what corruption looks like,” he said. He acknowledged that it is a hard road for independent candidates, who must raise $340,000 in order to qualify for matching funds and appear in debates. He called the amount “arbitrary and capricious,” and said he was still formulating a plan on how to raise the funds. He said he hopes the independent and third-party hopefuls on the ballot can come together and coalesce around one candidate. ”Hopefully, I can be that candidate,” he said. ”I don’t have all the answers, but I have the energy to take the good ones and run with them,” he added.

For more information, visit Mr. Meiswinkle’s campaign site at www.meiswinkle4governor.com. The site is currently under construction, but will be completed soon, Mr. Meiswinkle said.

sruppert@centraljersey.com