Richard A. "Rick" Merkt (born July 30, 1949) is an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 to 2010, where he represented the 25th legislative district.[1] He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2009 rather than running for re-election to the Assembly.
Merkt served as the Assembly's Parliamentarian from 2006 to 2010. He served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee, the Higher Education Committee and the Intergovernmental Relations Commission.[1]
Merkt graduated with a B.A. in 1971 from Yale University in History, was awarded a J.D. in 1975 from the Fordham University School of Law and received an M.G.A. in 1987 from the University of Pennsylvania in Governmental Administration.[1]
He was born in New York City and currently resides with his family in the Brookside section of Mendham Township, New Jersey.[2] In March 2011, Merkt was chosen to fill the seat on the Mendham Township Committee expiring in 2012 that had beenvacated in January 2011 by Jack Schrier.[3][4]
On October 22, 2008, Rick Merkt declared his candidacy for Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey.[5] However, Merkt was unable to meet the fundraising thresholds necessary to appear in the state-sponsored televised debates before the primary; thus, the primary was, in effect, a contest between former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Chris Christie and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan. Merkt did appear along with his two rivals in two privately-sponsored radio debates before the primary, however. Ultimately, Merkt received only 2.74% of the vote in the primary; Christie received the gubernatorial nomination. Merkt left the Assembly in January 2010 when his term expired.