Sheila Oliver Campaign Is Alive And Kicking At Steve Lonegan

Written by Keith Brown 

State Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, so far the quietest candidate among the four Democratic hopefuls vying for the seat of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, has kicked her campaign into high gear three weeks before the special primary election.

Oliver, who in recent polling trails U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Rush Holt and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, came out swinging Wednesday against the leading GOP contender for the Senate seat, calling Steve Lonegan an “anti-science Republican with his head placed firmly in the sand,’’ for his views on climate change.

Lonegan, a Tea Party favorite and former mayor of Bogota, in an interview with NJTV published Tuesday criticized Oliver and the other Democratic candidates for subscribing to “far left extremism’’ on climate change.

Lonegan, the frontrunner of two Republican candidates, was reacting to a web ad put out by Holt, a physicist, which dealt with climate change. Holt says in the ad that if the U.S. does not act to curtail human-caused climate change, entire portions of the Earth will be uninhabitable.

“Millions will die. That’s science. That’s reality,’’ Holt says in the ad.

Lonegan told NJTV that there was no proof of such a claim, which he called “outrageous,’’ “irresponsible,’’ and “silly.’’

Oliver took exception.

“Of course climate change is real and of course it is being caused by man,” Oliver said in a release. “Lonegan’s radical agenda is dumbing down America by denying accepted scientific fact and placing oil profits ahead of middle class people affected by calamities like Superstorm Sandy.”

The statement was the latest of moves from the Oliver camp, which opened its campaign headquarters in Newark on Tuesday and fielded policy questions on immigration, “Stand Your Ground” laws and working with the GOP in an online forum.

During a 30-minute question-and-answer forum hosted by a liberal political group Tuesday, Oliver advocated for the abolition of “Stand Your Ground,’’ laws, such as the one in Florida which was used as a defense in the recent trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

“Without question ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws are unnecessary,” Oliver said. “I think that the travesty that we just experienced with the Travon Martin case has driven most of us in New jersey to a level of dismay.”

The forum was hosted on YouTube and Google+ Sensible Politics. U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt also have previously participated in the group’s online events.

Oliver pointed to her experience working under Gov. Chris Christie as evidence that she could, if elected to the U.S. Senate, work with Republicans on behalf of New Jersey residents.

“There is a way to bring everyone to the center of the room,’’ Oliver said. “That does not mean you have to abandon your ideological bent, but I believe you can, through sheer commitment and determination to be open-minded to various issues.”

Fielding a question about her stance on immigration, Oliver took a progressive approach.

“What we do have to figure out is a pathway to documentation in this country,’’ Oliver said. “This is an issue that has to be solved. I think it is time for the right wing to come to the center of the room to make sure everyone is treated fairly and equitably in the United States.”