Woodbridge Republicans To Battle in Acrimonious Primary Contest

One thing Tuesday's Republican primary won't be is placid.

That's because Councilman Bob Luban and former township prosecutor Christopher Struben are both running for the party line for the mayoral nomination, and both admit there is little love lost between the two competing Republicans.

"Bob Luban believes he's entitled to perks at the taxpayers' expense. I don't. I'm a real Republican," said Struben, who - not coincidentally - is running on the "Right Choice for Real Republicans" line.

Luban, the council's sole Republican, resolutely insists his target isn't Struben - it's Mayor John McCormac, the incumbent Democrat whom Tuesday's Republican primary winner will be facing in November.

"Struben is puzzling. He keeps saying he's conservative, and yet he agrees with almost everything this Democrat mayor has done," Luban said. "And this mayor is one of the biggest spenders Woodbridge has ever seen."

The fight between Luban and Struben is just the open sign of the bitter battlefield Republican politics in Woodbridge has become. 

On one side is Luban, who has served Colonia as a councilman for 26 years, handily winning reelection in almost every challenge he's faced. On the other side is Struben, a self-described conservative who said that the more pragmatic Luban and the township's Republican Organization do not represent "real Republicans."

"Luban became a Democrat in 1994. [Former Woodbridge Mayor and NJ Governor Jim] McGreevey said he'd give him a job if he changed parties," Struben charged. "I've always been a Republican. I believe in Republican values."

At first a Republican, Luban changed his party affiliation and served as a Democrat on the council until 2009, when he registered once again as a Republican. The party change was because, Luban said, he "had enough with the monumental planned spending and borrowing money that was going on under this mayor in Woodbridge. It has to stop, or this township is going to go broke. Our bond rating has already been lowered because of the spending and borrowing."

When McGreevey was governor, Luban worked at an auditor job in Trenton for which he was paid $100,000. When Jon Corzine followed McGreevey into the governor's seat, he offered 3,000 state employees an early buy-out package as a way of cutting the state employee payroll. After working more than four years for the state, Luban said he decided to go with the retirement package.

The full-time job Luban had boosted the pension he had accumulated from his decades as councilman to a combined $40,000 a year. Before his government job, Luban had worked for years as an auditor and systems analyst for AT&T.

"I qualified for the buy-out package because of my years of service as a councilman and because of my age," said Luban. 

"I'm not ashamed of the pension. I worked for the pension at the state level and I worked for it at the township level," Luban said, adding that he had nothing to do with arrangement Corzine made with the state legislature to offer early buy outs and retirements.

"I must be doing something right. I've been elected for seven consecutive terms," he said.

Struben, an attorney in private practice, worked for five years in the 1990s as a prosecutor in Woodbridge. He was appointed to that position by McGreevey, after being recommended for the job by Ken Gardener, a former Woodbridge Republican chairman who has since changed party affiliation to become a Democrat.

Struben pointed out he was paid as a private contractor while he worked as prosecutor. "I had to pay my own taxes. I had to pay my own healthcare. I had a private job as a lawyer when I was public prosecutor," he said.

He accused Luban of wanting the mayor's job so he can boost his pension. 

"I will not apply for the pension when I become mayor," Struben vowed. "Taxpayers have a hard enough time." 

Winning as mayor, though, would have no effect on his pension, Luban said, despite accusations by Struben that Luban wanted the mayoral job "as a pension boost."

"My pension is fixed. Becoming mayor would have zero effect on it," Luban said.

The acrimony between the two men flared, at least on Struben's side, when he said Luban ignored his calls for a debate.

"Luban is scared of me. He refused to debate me," Struben fumed. 

His opponent said Struben initially refused for both candidates, and their entire council slates, to participate in a debate. When Struben changed his mind, Luban said, it was too late, timewise, to hold any kind of meaningful debate.

"I'm not running against Struben," Luban said flatly. "My opponent is the mayor." 

Struben said he will get rid of the business administrator's car, and require many department heads to work as independent contractors, as he did when he was a prosecutor working under McGreevey. That, he said, will save taxpayers money on pensions and benefits.

Luban did not agree.

"Woodbridge is one of the largest municipalities in the state. A mayor always wants to attract the best possible people to work for him, while being sensitive to the financial costs that wages and salaries place on taxpayers," Luban said.

Yet despite the animosity, both men say they will support and actively work for whomever wins Tuesday's Republican primary for the general election in November against McCormac.

"I'll support the republican party. I don't mince my words. I'll do everything I can do. I'll actively go out and work and help if Luban wins," Struben said.