Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a June 17 press conference at Pier Village in Long Branch, where his re-election bid was endorsed by Mayor Adam Schneider, a Democrat, who said he crossed party lines because of the Republican governor’s response to superstorm Sandy. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRISTIE FOR GOVERNOR/MYKWAIN GAINEY Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider crossed party lines this week to publicly endorse Gov. Chris Christie’s bid for re-election.
The longtime Democrat and Long Branch mayor appeared alongside the oneterm governor during a June 17 press conference on the boardwalk at Pier Village, where he announced his endorsement of Christie.
“Here I stand, mayor of just a couple days short of 23 years and a Democrat who proudly voted for Barack Obama,” said Schneider, drawing some negative reaction from the largely Republican crowd that included state and county officials.
“This is showing the people of Long Branch that getting the job done is more important than what party you’re from,” he said.
“So I’m happy and proud to endorse for governor, Gov. Chris Christie,” Schneider said amid a smattering of cheers from the crowd.
Although Long Branch is a Faulkner Act municipality, meaning that the mayor and council do not have official political affiliations, Schneider said he has been an ardent Democrat for more than 20 years. However, he said he believes Christie is the right person to run the state.
“What this state needs right now is somebody who doesn’t care about the next job; he cares about doing this job well,” he said. “He is not concerned about what national Republicans think; he cares about what the people of New Jersey need.
“It’s not just about the storm; it’s about making pragmatic decisions that New Jersey needs.”
The press conference was attended by several prominent local, county and state officials, including Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-11), Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R- 11), members of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, members of the Long Branch administration and City Council, and local business and religious leaders. According to Christie’s campaign office, Long Branch is a Democrat-leaning municipality where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by over 17 percentage points.
An upbeat Christie said during the press conference that the task of spearheading recovery from the storm goes beyond party lines.
“What we want to try to accomplish in New Jersey is to let people know that the problems that confront New Jersey are more important than any political label we wear,” he said.
“The fact is when that storm hit on Oct. 29, nobody cared whether the person helping them was a Republican or Democrat.”
Schneider acknowledged that he had a mixed reaction from friends and colleagues when he told them privately of his intentions to endorse a Republican.
“I made another 35 phone calls to friends of mine who were hardcore Democrats,” he said. “Some of them weren’t thrilled, and others said, ‘What are you waiting for?’ ”
The announcement was made against the backdrop of the Long Branch beach, and Christie acknowledged the symbolic role of the Shore.
“There is no better sound in New Jersey than the ocean lapping up right behind us,” he said.
Christie said his administration’s response to the storm has been bipartisan.
“When we got on the phones right after the storm, we didn’t have one conference call for Republicans and one conference call for Democrats and one conference call for independents,” he said. “We had one conference call.”
Christie said there would continue to be differences between Democrats and Republicans, but voters should be cognizant of the job that needs to be done.
“No one is asking anybody to switch political parties,” he said. “What we’re asking you to do is have an open mind and say we are going to vote for the best people.
“You decided for over 20 years now that Adam was the best person to help lead this city and get things done.”
In a June 14 interview prior to the announcement, Schneider gave his reasons for endorsing Christie.
“The storm was obviously a big part of the decision. But well before the storm, one of the things we saw in this administration was responsiveness,” he said.
“We had seen during the Corzine administration the refusal to return phone calls [and] answer emails,” he added. “It was infuriating.”
Within weeks of taking office in 2010, Schneider said, a Christie staff member reached out to him as a point of contact.
Schneider also said the governor’s leadership during the storm was a big factor.
“The governor is the leader of the state, and he took a leadership role in the middle of a presidential campaign where he was campaigning for Romney,” he said.
However, it wasn’t until January when he seriously considered voting for Christie, because the governor criticized House Republicans for delaying the passage of a Sandy aid bill.
“The home run for me came in January when he called out Speaker [John] Boehner and the House Republicans,” he said. “I think the biggest problem in the country is the obstructionism of the Republicans.
“There was my governor calling them out for being obstructionists, and I have a lot of respect for that.”
According to Schneider, bringing in a new administration in the middle of the recovery process from the storm would be a negative for the state.
“Rebuilding after the storm is still our biggest issue and will be for at least the next year,” he said. “The amount of work we have to do along the oceanfront is a big deal.
“His administration is doing a good job. Seeing a new group of people coming in and taking that over, would just be the last thing this state needs right now.”
Standing at a podium with a banner proclaiming his “strong leadership,” Christie said his job forever changed when the storm hit.
“Before Oct 29, I felt like I had the greatest job in the world,” he said. “Being governor in the state where you were born and raised was the most amazing thing that anybody could experience.
“On Oct. 30, I no longer had a great job; I had a mission. With support of folks like Adam, I will not let anyone or anything get in between me and accomplishing that mission.
“We will rebuild, recovery and restore our state, and we will do it with Republicans, Democrats and independents together.”
Schneider said he isn’t concerned about the political repercussions of his endorsement.
“I’ve been mayor for just about 23 years; running for something else is not a big concern for me,” he said.
“I’m not real worried that the county Democrats aren’t going to be friendly toward me or the state Democratic organizations are not going to be friendly toward me,” he added.
While he is crossing party lines for Christie, Schneider said he would continue to support Democrat and Long Branch native Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) in his bid for the late Frank Lautenberg’s Senate seat.
“As long as I’ve known him, nobody out-works Frank — both as a campaigner and as a congressman,” he said.
“I can’t vote for Republicans for national office, although if Gov. Christie became president and I was friends with the president, I don’t see that as a downside.”
According to the Christie campaign, Schneider became the 27th New Jersey Democrat to publicly support Christie’s re-election bid, a list that also includes Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long.