 Bradley was re @-@ elected in 1984 with 65 percent of the vote against Montclair mayor Mary V. Mochary . In 1988 , he was encouraged to seek the Democratic nomination for President , but he declined to enter the race , saying that he would know when he was ready . In 1990 , a controversy over a state income tax increase — on which he refused to take a position — and his proposal on merit pay for teachers , which led the NJEA to support his opponent , turned his once @-@ obscure rival for the Senate , Christine Todd Whitman , into a viable candidate , and Bradley won by only a slim margin . In 1995 , he announced he would not run for re @-@ election , publicly declaring American politics " broken . " 
