Lewis, who won 10 Olympic medals in all, said he was interested in working on educational issues and helping the state become more affordable. He declined to discuss specifics, saying he had pulled his campaign together quickly and would announce his platform as soon as possible.
He did take care of one important detail: Monday morning, he registered to vote in Burlington County. Lewis, 50, lives in Medford. He said he had been registered to vote in California.
Lewis is one of scores of candidates who filed by Monday's deadline to run for the Legislature, as all 40 Senate and 80 Assembly seats are up this year. Elsewhere in the state, tough races seem to be shaping up in Atlantic and Bergen Counties.
Lewis' candidacy raised the spirits of Burlington County Democrats, who have been on a losing streak. Earlier this year, the county surrogate and clerk, who had won their posts as Democrats, switched to the Republican Party.
Wearing the smile of a man who had just let a very big cat out of a bag, Burlington County's Democratic Chairman Joe Andl said, "This will engage our troops. It will bring a breath of fresh air to the party."
But the race is likely to be difficult, even for a celebrity candidate who knows the area.
Lewis is running on the Republican-dominated eastern side of Burlington County against well-known incumbent Dawn Marie Addiego of Evesham. Without a presidential or gubernatorial race to draw out voters, legislative races are typically low-turnout elections that tend to attract primarily the party faithful. Historically, faithful Republicans have outvoted Democrats in legislative races in the Eighth District, where Lewis is running.
"This is a race Republicans are walking into with a 20-point advantage," said Monmouth University polling director Patrick Murray. "I start out somewhat skeptical, since we've not heard about Carl Lewis being politically active before."
Republicans, however, are taking Lewis seriously.
