Carl Lewis says Christie tried to dissuade him

Gov. Christie tried to talk Olympic medalist Carl Lewis out of running for the New Jersey Senate hours before he announced his candidacy, Lewis said Monday.

The conversation April 10 with the governor came after several days of talks in which Christie's staff threatened that if Lewis decided to run, an athletic program he wanted to start would be scuttled, according to Lewis and his foundation's director, Chris Walker.

Christie's administration dismissed Lewis' interpretation of the conversations as "silly" and a misunderstanding on Lewis' part, but acknowledged that the athletic program is all but dead.

Lewis said the governor "was really trying to make it clear he did not want me to run in this race. He said, 'If you're going to do this race, we probably don't have time to do this program.' "

The governor and the track star began discussing a youth fitness program in May 2010 when they met as Lewis was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In December, they fleshed out the details in the governor's office. Lewis would be the "physical fitness ambassador for New Jersey" and run "Carl Lewis Fitness Academies" at schools and municipal recreation centers.

But when word circulated April 7 that Lewis might run as a Democrat for a Burlington County state Senate seat, Walker said, he received the first of increasingly tense phone calls from Frank Luna, a veteran political operative who performs constituent services for the governor.

Luna asked Walker, executive director of the Carl Lewis Foundation, whether Lewis was running for the Eighth District Senate seat. According to Walker, Luna told him: "The governor is concerned."

The two spoke daily the next two days, and on April 9, Walker said, Luna told him "the governor is very upset and disappointed, and Carl would be embarrassing himself by running."

Walker said that in that April 9 conversation, Luna told him, "How can you expect the governor to work hand-in-hand with Carl when Carl is working against him? You can forget about this program."

Christie and Lewis spoke April 10.

According to Lewis, the governor told him he would be supporting Republican freshman State Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, a longtime friend. That did not come as a surprise, Lewis said, adding that he believed they could have a civilized campaign.

Christie's press secretary, Michael Drewniak, confirmed the basic facts but disputed Lewis' interpretation.