Why is the NJGOP scared of Carl Lewis?

by: Jay Lassiter

Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 10:29:56 AM EDT

After calling Carl Lewis a political lightweight who'd be "embarrassing himself if he ran," the Chris Christie administration continues to throw roadblocks at the 9-times Olympic champ's bid for NJ Senate.

(The BurlCo frontier)-- It's becoming quite a spectacle watching the entire state Republican apparatus bend over backwards to keep Carl Lewis from running against GOP Senator-select Dawn Addiego this November.

Once thought to be the Republican's opening salvo (tossing Lewis - a Democrat - from the ballot on on a residency technicality) turns out to be part of an orchestrated attempt to take the choice from the voters in Burlington County, where -- not coincidentally -- GOP party goons reign supreme. As early as April 9th -- two days before Lewis filed his petitions to run -- Governor Christie decided to clear the Republican path to victory with a little Jersey-style arm twisting.

Philly Inquirer:

Gov. Christie tried to talk Olympic medalist Carl Lewis out of running and [...] Christie's staff threatened that if Lewis decided to run, an athletic program he wanted to start would be scuttled.

Local figures are working diligently with the Governor to deprive the voters of a choice in November. Case and point: the residency challenge was filed on behalf of BurlCo Republican Committee Chair Bill Layton and Ted Costa who's chairman of the Hainesport GOP. (A judge opined that Lewis can run, but the final decision is with Christie's deputy: Lt Gov. Kim Guadago. The mind reels, right?)

So while we're waiting for the Lt Governor to "decide" if Lewis can run (or not) let's reflect on how much organizational bandwidth the NJGOP's pouring into a contest that they desperately want to never see happen.