(WEST ORANGE, OCTOBER 23)- Schundler for Governor campaign manager Bill Pascoe and State Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25) issued the following statements criticizing the latest dirty tricks by the McGreevey campaign:

“Desperate candidates do desperate things,” said Pascoe. Now Jim McGreevey isn’t satisfied with lying about Bret Schundler’s proven record of cutting taxes and Bret’s plans to fix our schools without just throwing more money at them - now Jim McGreevey is actually bringing other people into his lies. It’s bad enough that he lies about Bret; but it stinks when he starts lying about others, too.

“This morning, we received several disturbing phone calls from our supporters in Morris County,” continued Pascoe. “Our supporters told us that they had received a phone call from an unidentified campaign office telling them that Senator Bucco was supporting Jim McGreevey for Governor, and that they should vote for the ‘McGreevey-Bucco Team.’

“Given Senator Bucco’s strong support for Bret Schundler, we smelled something rotten. And sure enough, we were right. After making a simple call to Senator Bucco’s office, we learned that, in fact, Senator Bucco’s own son received one of these fraudulent calls from the McGreevey Team.

“Yesterday, I called on Jim McGreevey to pull down his deceptive radio advertising -- advertising that even the Star-Ledger called ‘highly questionable’ and misleading. Today, I repeat that demand and call on Jim McGreevey to stop the dirty campaign tricks in Morris County. If we can’t trust him to run a clean campaign, then how can we trust him to keep us safe and not raise our taxes?” Pascoe said.

Echoing Mr. Pascoe’s statements, State Senator Anthony Bucco said he was troubled by the fraudulent phone calls his family and his constituents received today:

“The last thing I want voters in the 25th District to believe is that their senator is supporting Jim McGreevey. My constituents want lower taxes. Jim McGreevey has never met a tax he didn’t raise. I want to reduce the cost of state government. Jim McGreevey has proposed 62 new government programs that will cost taxpayers billions in higher taxes.

“I am 100% committed to electing Bret Schundler the next Governor of New Jersey because he wants to lower property taxes and cut taxes for businesses so that our economy will rebound. I remember the last time New Jersey had a tax-and-spend Democrat as Governor -- his name was Jim Florio -- and he gave us the biggest tax increase in New Jersey history, a tax increase that cost Morris County almost 15,000 jobs. And I remember the freshman legislator who cast the deciding vote for that 2.8 billion dollar, job-killing tax increase -- his name was Jim McGreevey.

“The McGreevey campaign should stop trying to confuse the voters of the 25th District and start explaining why Jim McGreevey will not take a pledge to raise taxes,” Senator Bucco said.