Robert Turkavage Takes His Senate Campaign to the Streets

Robert "Turk" Turkavage is walking neighborhoods throughout New Jersey, hoping to drum up enough support to allow him to walk right into the United States Senate come November.

"I'm going door-to-door every day for the next four months," said Turkavage during a break in his campaigning Wednesday afternoon in Fords.  Turkavage is running as an Independent for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Robert Menendez, along with Republican Joseph Kyrillos and seven other Independent or smaller party candidates.

So what is Turkavage doing to make his campaign stand out in the field?

"I am running for one term only," said Turkavage.  "I am not interested in re-election."  Turkavage goes on to state that because of his one-term ambition, he avoids some of the hang-ups other politicians encounter during their time in office.

"I think that most federal legislators are trying to do a decent job, however, they're conflicted," said Turkavage, who lives in Cranford.  "They're always looking out for re-election - I don't have that problem.  They're afraid to vote against the party - I don't have that problem because I'm running as an independent.  And I don't take corporate campaign  contributions - in other words, I can't be bought."  Turkavage has also imposed a personal limit for individual contributions of $25, well below the federally allowed limit of $5,000.

Turkavage has one other campaign pledge that likely puts him in the minority of politicians running for office this fall.  "I don't denigrate other opponents," said Turkavage when asked why someone should vote for him over Menendez or Kyrillos.  "I think that's part of the reason why we can't get things done down in Washington."

Turkavage is running, he says, "...because I am very concerned about the national debt and the ramifications it has on our children and our grandchildren."  His plan to fix the issue of national debt?

"Stop the bleeding - pass a balanced budget amendment," said Turkavage.  In order to balance the budget, Turkavage lists 46 spending cuts on his website that he would endorse or propose in office, noting that his cuts would cut across all programs.

In order to help pay down the debt, Turkavage says he would propose legislation to create an annual Debt Elimination Assessment.  "[The Debt Elimination Assessment plan] is premised on the notion that all of the tax cuts stay in place the way they are," said Turkavage.   "If you make between $50,000 and $250,000 yearly, you'd pay an assessment of .75% of gross income.  If you make over $250,000 a year, you would pay 1.5%.  The money would be restricted or encumbered, it would go into a separate treasury and it would stay there until we had a budget that wasn't balanced.  That money would then pay down the debt directly."  The money would get transferred once the budget becomes balanced, Turkavage added.

Other legislation Turkavage says he would propose would include the creation of an Auditor General to review programs for potential cuts, a changing of the social security formula to compute benefits, and changes to Medicare cost-sharing structures.

Turkavage says he would also propose a one-year amnesty program to allow undocumented aliens to apply for residency.  "There would be an assessment of $3000 for each adult alien, that would increase to $3500 at 6 months and $4000 at 9 months."  Residency for those applying under the amnesty program would be conditional on that person providing documentation that that person and any dependents have medical insurance and that taxes would be paid on income earned in the previous year.

"We are not collecting the taxes that we have already assessed against taxpayers," notes Turkavage.  "We have people who don't report their income.  I would be strongly in favor of giving the IRS more power to go after people who underreport, and that would include a look back at prior years' returns.

Turkavage's strong endorsement of giving the IRS more power to go after under-reporters likely stems, at least in part, from his previous career.  Turkavage spent 32 years as an FBI agent, including stints as a Public Corruption Supervisor and a Government Fraud Supervisor in Manhattan.  "I know a little bit about fraud against the government," notes Turkavage.

Ultimately for Turkavage, running for United States Senate comes down to serving the best interests of the country.  "I may vote for something that against state of New Jersey interest.  My concern is the federal government first, and New Jersey second," Turkavage said.  "And people need to know that up front.  And if that upsets people, vote for the other candidates.

"Make no mistake about it, it's country first, state second as far as I'm concerned."