Gubernatorial candidates Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester, fresh from winning their respective parties nominations in yesterday’s primary election, will make their first joint appearance of the general election campaign on Tuesday, June 14, at the Employer Legislative Committee (ELC) Biennial Dinner at the Hyatt Regency, Route 1, Princeton.

Anyone wishing to attend the event can register online.

More than 500 of the State’s leading business people are expected to attend the ELC dinner. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. and the candidates will make their entrance at about 7:15 p.m. Photographers will have access to the banquet hall floor. Each candidate will address the audience for about 15 minutes. A platform with a mult-box will be stationed at one end of the room.

The Biennial Dinner is hosted by the 18 regional ELCs, established in 1959 as an affiliate of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA). The ELCs are regional grassroots committees made up of business people who meet monthly with legislators and other government leaders to discuss important business issues in the legislature.

"The ELC Dinner is the first major event after the parties select their candidates in the June primary. It’s always one of the top political events of the election season because it features each party’s gubernatorial candidate in a traditional ‘kick-off’ of the fall campaign,” NJBIA President Philip Kirschner said. "With an open seat for Governor and an off-year election, the Corzine-Forrester campaign will be one of the most closely watched races in the nation. Don't miss this opportunity to see it from the very beginning."

The 2005 ELC Biennial Dinner is sponsored by Bank of America. Ralph Izzo, president and COO of PSE&G, is the dinner chairman.