Westfield
97sep25 Editorial
Union County
Should Be a Key in Race Between Gov. Whitman, Sen.
McGreevey
With both Governor Christine
Todd Whitman and her Democratic opponent, State Senator
James McGreevey, in Westfield this past weekend, the
importance of Union County in the upcoming Gubernatorial
campaign has been displayed. In 1993, Mrs. Whitman was
edged in Union County by former Governor James J. Florio
by less than 200 tallies, with 152,000 votes cast for the
two candidates in the county which has over a half
million residents.
As this newspaper went to press
last night, the Governor was at the Scotch Plains
Municipal Building. Our readers can be assured that our
photographer will be on the scene to provide extensive
coverage on the Governor's visit. On Election Night, we
expect close attention will be on how Union County votes,
as was the case last year in the United States Senate
race.
 Senator
McGreevey attended a $150-a-person fundraiser last Friday
night sponsored by Westfield Mayor Thomas C. Jardim at
the home of Westfield Councilman and town Democratic
Committee Chairman Lawrence A. Goldman.
In photo above, left to
right.... Council Candidate Ken Rotter; Mayor Tom Jardim;
Rosemary Millet; Mr. McGreevey and Mr. Goldman
Central Jersey will be a big
factor in the race for governor. Mr. McGreevey is from
Woodbridge in Middlesex County where he serves as Mayor
while Governor Whitman was a Freeholder in neighboring
Somerset County. Governor Whitman now resides in
Tewksbury, Hunterdon County.
Governor Whitman arrived Sunday
afternoon at 2 p.m. in Westfield as a surprise guest for
the community's FestiFall street festival. Throngs of
spectators quickly joined the crowd around the Governor.
With the large reception
Governor Whitman received, she wound up staying for close
to two hours -- over an hour and a quarter longer than
was originally planned. During her walk through the
downtown, the Governor visited the offices of The Leader
and The Times of Scotch Plains and Fanwood. The visit,
part of a photo opportunity for our local newspaper,
marks the second visit by Mrs. Whitman. She visited our
offices in 1993 as part of her kick-off Gubernatorial
campaign that year.
 Left to right..
Horace Corbin,
Publisher;
Gov. Whitman;
Gail Corbin,
Gen. Manager
Accompanying the Governor into
our office were Congressman Bob Franks of New Providence,
Assemblymen Richard H. Bagger of Westfield and Alan M.
Augustine of Scotch Plains, Union County Republican
Chairman Frank X. McDermott, Westfield Councilwoman Gail
S. Vernick, and Union County Freeholder Edwin H. Force.
Our election coverage in this
week's issue includes photos of both Governor Whitman's
and Senator McGreevey's visits to Westfield.
To maintain our goal of
providing equal coverage to candidates of both parties,
we extend our invitation to Senator McGreevey to stop
into our offices during his next visit to Westfield.
Our door is always open to any
candidate who would like to introduce themselves. We hope
that through our comprehensive coverage, all our readers
will go to the election polls with knowledge of the
candidates, their platforms, the main issues in each of
the campaigns and where the candidates stand on the
issues.
Our pre-election issues
will be mailed to all households in Westfield and Fanwood
as both towns have local races this November. We
are doing this as part of a community service to get out
the vote. We hope all our readers will enjoy this issue.
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