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When it comes to politics, Esposito says he's no beginner
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Contributor | Craverguy |
Last Edited | Craverguy Oct 14, 2009 09:08pm |
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Category | Profile |
Author | Matt Friedman |
News Date | Tuesday, October 13, 2009 07:25:00 PM UTC0:0 |
Description | Independent lieutenant governor candidate Frank Esposito says there's an idea out there about him that's just not accurate.
"The illusion that was reflected in one of the questions at the debate - that I'm this kind of ivory tower academic who knows nothing about politics - is a false perception that has deliberately been created," he said.
Esposito, 68, is a history professor at Kean University and a former interim president there. A lifelong New Jerseyan who grew up in Ocean City, Esposito has never run for elected office at any level before, but he worked for two years as an assistant commissioner of education under Gov. Tom Kean - where he met his current running mate, Christopher Daggett - and later spent two years in the Christie Whitman administration working on the Charter School Act of 1995.
Writing and passing that charter school legislation took bipartisan cooperation, Esposito said, with people like former Senate Education Chair Jack Ewing (R-Peapack-Gladstone) and state Sen. Bernard Kenny (D-Hoboken).
Nevertheless, that inside politics experience has not yet translated to a high public profile.
A recent Monmouth University poll showed that 93% of likely voters either had not heard of Esposito or did not know enough to form a judgment, but Esposito says people have started to recognize him since Thursday night's televised lieutenant governor debate.
Still, Esposito remains the most obscure of the six gubernatorial and lieutenant governor candidates who are, at least in the eyes of the Election Law Enforcement Commission, considered viable. |
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