Richard A. "Rick" Merkt is an American Republican Party politician who served from 1998 to 2010 in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 25th legislative district. In his sixth term as a legislator, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2009 rather than running for re-election to the Assembly. Noted for his interest in and knowledge of constitutional issues, Merkt served as the Assembly's Parliamentarian from 2006 to 2010. He served in the Assembly on the Appropriations Committee, the Higher Education Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Banking and Insurance Committee and the Intergovernmental Relations Commission. Merkt graduated with a B.A. in history in 1971 from Yale University, was awarded a J.D. in 1975 from the Fordham University School of Law and received an M.G.A. in 1986 from the University of Pennsylvania in Governmental Administration. He was born in New York City and resides with his wife in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. In March 2011, Merkt was chosen to fill the seat on the Mendham Township Committee expiring in 2012 that had been vacated in January 2011 by Jack Schrier. Merkt served as deputy mayor of Mendham Township in 2012 and as mayor in 2013. On September 15, 2014, he was appointed Borough Administrator of Mendham, New Jersey and resigned from the Mendham Township Committee. He served as Borough Administrator from November 1, 2014, through September 30, 2017. In 2018, he was elected to the New Hampshire State Republican Committee, and in 2019, he became vice chair of the Cheshire County Republican Committee. In December 2019, Merkt announced that he would seek a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2020.
2009 gubernatorial campaign
On October 22, 2008, Rick Merkt declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey. 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 JerseyChris 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. While Merkt received about 3% of the vote in the primary, Christie received the gubernatorial nomination. Merkt retired from the Assembly in January 2010 when his sixth term expired.
