{"id":10538,"date":"2017-03-03T00:23:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T05:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=10538"},"modified":"2017-03-03T02:28:59","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T07:28:59","slug":"local-candidate-hopes-to-overcome-turncoat-guadagno-communist-murphy-in-n-j-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2017\/03\/local-candidate-hopes-to-overcome-turncoat-guadagno-communist-murphy-in-n-j-governors-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Candidate Hopes to Overcome ‘Turncoat’ Guadagno, ‘Communist’ Murphy in N.J. Governor’s Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joseph

Joseph Rudy Rullo (Photo: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

Joseph Rudy Rullo \u2013 actor, landscape company owner and now gubernatorial\u00a0candidate from Ocean County \u2013 said he was among the first in his Republican party to support Donald Trump\u2019s bid for the presidency.<\/p>\n

So it might not be a surprise that he\u2019s proposed turning New Jersey\u2019s political system on its head, calling out rivals in his party and the Democratic party, in this process.<\/p>\n

Ocean County Republicans, next week, will meet to determine which candidate wins its endorsement. It\u2019s a powerful endorsement at that, with many political pollsters having conceded that Chris Christie may not have become governor without his support from the GOP stronghold. The party organization is also led by attorney George Gilmore, arguably the most influential GOP\u00a0kingmaker in the state. Last week, he addressed his fellow Republicans at a candidates\u2019 forum.<\/p>\n

Rullo, 47, told Shorebeat his main primary rival is Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who he called a \u201cturncoat\u201d for failing to veto a gas tax hike while serving as acting governor, and switching her support to Trump late in the presidential campaign. Guadagno, however, has already won the endorsement of the Brick Republican organization, the second-largest in the county.<\/p>\n

\u201cKim talks about being in Ocean County, but I\u2019ve been in Ocean County the whole time,\u201d Rullo said during a recent interview. \u201cI did talk to people from Brick who don\u2019t agree with the endorsement. It happens for political gain and it is what it is. I don\u2019t cry about it, because there\u2019s nothing you can do. I stood by Ocean County after Sandy while Kim was silent and Christie abandoned us when he went to run for president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rullo is, by and large, waging a guerrilla campaign. He\u2019s filmed YouTube videos in front of gas station speaking against the 23 cent per gallon fuel tax increase that passed this summer. He\u2019s amassed a number of supporters who follow his nonstop social media pages, and he\u2019s channeled Trump in touting\u00a0himself as an outsider who has never held political office.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph

Joseph Rudy Rullo speaks to Ocean County Republicans at a candidates\u2019 forum. (Photo: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

The battle with Guadagno, he said, does not mean he\u2019s ready to pick fights with those in his own party. After a failed primary bid for U.S. Senate against Joseph Kyrillos in 2012, Rullo campaigned for his former rival. He also supported Steve Lonegan in the 2014 congressional primary, but ultimately said he became one of the biggest supporters of Rep. Tom MacArthur, who was victorious in both the primary and general elections.<\/p>\n

Policy Ambitions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rullo, who appeared last year as a cast member\u00a0in the HBO series \u201cVinyl,\u201d says he wants to become governor to reverse New Jersey\u2019s highest-in-the-nation property taxes.<\/p>\n

His first action, he said, would be to use the \u201cslush fund\u201d of service fees as a reinvestment in the state\u2019s ailing pension fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cPension fees went from $125 million to $700 million under Christie. It\u2019s slush fund,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you investigate and see, you\u2019ll find they donate to both sides.\u00a0This is because of Phil Murphy and his bond scheming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy, who is waging his own primary battle for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, is a former Goldman Sachs executive.<\/p>\n

Rullo would also follow Christie\u2019s lead in proposed school funding reform. Under the current formula, about 60 percent of state aid flows to 31 mainly-urban districts, while more than 500 others compete for the rest. But Rullo said that number would be reduced under his plan to unite each county under a single schools superintendent and business administrator.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsolidate spending for all schools\u2019 purchasing power,\u201d said Rullo. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t we dong that with our schools? It is such a smart move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rullo also said he would eliminate the controversial PARCC test, which he claims costs $40 million to administer. He would eliminate the Transportation Trust Fund, which he calls a \u201cblank check\u201d to borrow money without voter approval.<\/p>\n

As for the school funding formula, Rullo said he would work with Sen. Mike Doherty, a North Jersey conservative who proposed remaking the funding formula before Christie proposed his \u201cfairness formula\u201d last year. Under Doherty\u2019s plan, school aid would be generally equalized, but special needs districts would still retain extra funding. Still, he said, those 31 districts, the former \u201cAbbott\u201d districts, would be \u201cheld accountable\u201d for their spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Jerseyans\u00a0are infuriated and they\u2019re aggravated,\u201d said Rullo. \u201cI\u2019m going to go in as a mandate. If I come in as an underdog and I win \u2013 and I know I can beat Murphy \u2013 they\u2019re going to be scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump Style?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Joseph

Joseph Rudy Rullo (Photo: Shorebeat)<\/p><\/div>\n

As for Murphy: \u201cMurphy proposed a bank owned by New Jersey, and I called him a communist,\u201d said Rullo, who isnot afraid to trade barbs with rivals. He is proud of his early support for Trump, who also has gained a reputation for blunt statements. He also said he will follow Trump\u2019s lead on immigration issues, ensuring New Jersey does not become a so-called \u201csanctuary\u201d state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI make a payroll, and I have liability insurance. There are months I\u2019m just paying for the legalities to stay in business,\u201d Rullo said, excoriating those in the landscaping industry that avoid taxes. \u201cI\u2019ve been almost pushed out of my industry because of illegal immigration.While Donald Trump is president of the United States, illegal immigrants will not get free health care while our veterans do not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rullo also pledged to veto \u201cevery\u201d tax hike that comes his way, and eliminate the state income tax for veterans.<\/p>\n

His approach, he said, will differ from Christie\u2019s when it comes to public employees, a group which Christie has often criticized for receiving health care packages with\u00a0contributions he considers too small. A former volunteer firefighter, he said he respects public servants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he called them \u2018pigs,\u2019 I came out against that, and I\u2019ve been sticking up for teachers the last eight years, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As for another entertainer joining the campaign \u2013 former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d cast member Joe Piscopo has hinted at running \u2013 \u201cHe has the line of shit to be a politician, I\u2019ll give him that,\u201d said Rullo. \u201cBut it\u2019s disingenuous if he\u2019s just doing this to just get some new name recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

He saved his most candid remarks for Murphy: \u201cIf Murphy gets in, you\u2019re going to miss Chris Christie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though not on the same economic level, Rullo said he sees Trump in himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Donald Trump, and I knew \u2013 even though he\u2019s rich, I\u2019m poor \u2013 he was getting under the skin of the establishment by saying the things he wanted to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Rudy Rullo \u2013 actor, landscape company owner and now gubernatorial\u00a0candidate from Ocean County \u2013 said he was among the first in his Republican party to support Donald Trump\u2019s bid for the presidency. So it might not be a surprise that he\u2019s proposed turning New Jersey\u2019s political system on its head, calling out rivals in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,2,12],"tags":[24,2734,2785,2786,2784,2693,2787],"class_list":["post-10538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brick-elections","category-government","category-ocean-county","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-gop","tag-joe-rullo","tag-joey-rullo","tag-joseph-rudy-rullo","tag-new-jersey-governor","tag-ocean-county-republicans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FB_IMG_1486477925152.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-2JY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}