Alieta Eck, the political upstart who vowed to fight President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, conceded defeat to Steve Lonegan tonight in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.
But Lonegan said Eck has now agreed to help his campaign as an adviser.
Eck, a 62-year-old doctor from Somerset County who had never before sought elective office, carried only 20 percent of the vote in the race for the GOP nod to run for the Senate seat vacated after Frank Lautenberg's death.
Lonegan, a conservative activist and the former mayor of Bogota, drew 80 percent and will go on to face Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the Democratic primary winner, in the Oct. 16 general election.
"I congratulate Mayor Lonegan on his victory, and I would like to thank him for a spirited primary campaign," Eck said in a statement tonight. "While we sometimes disagreed over the issues, I believe the battle of ideas is a healthy thing for a political party. I wish him the best of luck in the special election."
Eck operates a free health clinic with her husband in Franklin Township and ran in an effort to help repeal the federal Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.
After his victory speech tonight, Lonegan told The Star-Ledger that he got a gracious phone call from Eck.
"She's as nice on the phone as she is in person. I said, listen, I'd love to have you on the campaign, and she said yes," Lonegan said. "She'll be a health-care adviser."
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