Longtime Democrat says GOP governor is ‘stand-up guy’
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Governor Christie — a Republican — accepted the endorsement of Manville’s Democratic Mayor, Angelo Corradino, on Monday morning at the Manville Diner.
Manville was carried by President Obama in the 2012 election and Democrats have a 27 percent registration advantage, the Christie campaign said.
”Our town and our families are fair minded with an independent streak — we have no hesitation in supporting the person with the best ideas who is going to do right by our communities, our town and our state,” said Mayor Corradino.
“”Governor Christie was joined by Mayor Corradino at the Manville Diner on South Main Street to make the announcement, where they were greeted by patrons and campaign supporters.
Mr. Christie came to Manville following the floods on Hurricane Irene in August 2011, and has been helpful following the comparatively lighter damage of last fall’s Superstorm Sandy.
”He didn’t forget us,” said the mayor, who said the governor has said there is state money for more buyouts of flood-prone property.
”The people of Manville are extraordinarily resilient,” said the governor. “We’ve seen over the past few years some of the worst natural disasters New Jersey has ever seen. So it’s especially significant to me to be here to accept the support of Mayor Corradino in this community, where our work together and partnership was so vital to seeing our way through Sandy.”
The mayor called the governor “a stand-up guy and someone who pushes what he believes in. I admire that.”
Governor Christie said, “It’s the support of people like Mayor Corradino that make what we do possible — finding bipartisan compromise and putting reform and solutions ahead of partisanship and gridlock.”
’’”Mayor Corradino is the fourth Democratic mayor in the state to endorse Governor Christie’s re-election.
The endorsement followed a conversation that Mayor Corradino said he had with Somerset County GOP Chairman Al Gaburo.
The announcement disappointed his Democratic brethren, the mayor said, but “ I need to do what I believe in and what I believe is best for this community.”