3 tr0312CHRISTIE MURRAY

Gov. Chris Christie and former Rep. Dick Zimmer, who chaired a task force looking at privatizing state jobs. (Ed Murray | The Star-Ledger )

Another prominent New Jersey Republican is giving the thumbs-down to Donald Trump.

Former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R-12th Dist.), who twice ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, said Trump "is neither a conservative nor a Republican."

"He does not respect the Constitution and does not have the temperament or the character to be president," Zimmer said.

While expressing dissatisfaction with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Zimmer said, "I think the Republic can survive four years of Hillary as it has survived eight years of Obama. I'm not sure I can say the same about Trump."

But Zimmer isn't endorsing Clinton. Instead, he's backing Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.

Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, "was elected and reelected as a principled, fearless small-government fiscal conservative," Zimmer said. "The Libertarian ticket is clearly superior" to the nominees of the Republican or Democratic parties.

Zimmer ran the task force set up by Gov. Chris Christie to identify state jobs that could be done instead by private business.

A former state treasurer under Christie, Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, is the New Jersey chairman for Johnson.

Christie endorsed Trump shortly after his own presidential campaign fizzled and has been a top adviser to the GOP nominee.