Shortly before Carl Lewis officially entered the 2011 state Senate election for New Jersey's 8th legislative district -- a Republican stronghold located in Philadelphia's outer suburbs -- Gov. Chris Christie caught wind of the decision.The Republican governor of New Jersey then called Lewis, a Democrat and nine-time gold-medal-winning Olympian in April of 2011."I'm going to come after you," said Christie, according to Lewis.The Christie administration said that a phone conversation took place but has denied that the governor tried to dissuade Lewis from running.
can everybody be exaggerating or lying especially when it's pretty much the same MO, they enter politics or he wants something and uses strong arm tactics and threats as retribution for non compliance
But that alleged intimidation attempt from a powerful politician to one of the all-time greatest athletic competitors not only adds potential intrigue, it also speaks to the aggressive nature of legislation in the Garden State.
“New Jersey politics is a full-contact sport,” said Ben Dworkin, political science professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville Township, New Jersey.And perhaps what Lewis perceived to be Christie's combative actions in 2011 were emblematic, foreshadowing the governor’s current crisis. Recent emails have indicated that Christie's office may have engaged in a devious act of political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J."What we're seeing here is part of a pattern that I witnessed personally," Lewis said. "I kind of look at a lot of parallels."During late April of 2011, Christie's frequent stand-in, Republican Lt. Gov. and secretary of state Kim Guadagno, threw Lewis, who grew up in Willingboro, N.J., off the ballot because he did not meet the four-year residency requirement of the state's constitution. Successive appeals by Lewis failed to get him reinstated, clearing the way for the Republican incumbent state Senator, Dawn Marie Addiego, who won unopposed.
how does "i will come after you" get perceived as anything else but a threat? mayor Zimmer laid it out and sat down with the feds knowing that if she was lying it's game over, tends to point to her being honest or incredibly stupid i'm going with the former. Mr. Lewis could be looking for 15 mins but fact is there is a record of a conversation given the reports of Christie and his aggressive tactics hard to dismiss.
