The Republican Party in New Jersey has been successful in the past and has elected Republican governors.
Whether it was Tom Kean Sr, Christie Whitman, or Chris Christie, they all faced opposition from the more conservative wing of the party. The three winners were considered the more centrist or center-right candidates.
The approach of the last Republican contender for governor, Jack Ciattarelli, was to campaign as being 100% MAGA. He lost by 14 points.
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New Jersey is not interested in 100% anything. Rather, New Jerseyans seek common-sense candidates who reject divisive “us vs them” politics.
Today, our party in New Jersey is viewed as the “Trump party.” As a result, the voters don’t see any evidence of the traditional New Jersey Republican Party, which was fiscally conservative and socially moderate. As a result, we see loss after loss by our candidates.
Joe Hathaway, our candidate for Congress, recently lost to a very extreme left-wing Democrat, Analilia Mejia, in the race for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Mejia will replace Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in the role.
Joe is a great guy and a true centrist, but even he could not overcome the “Trump” brand.
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New Jersey is a purple state, and therefore, voters are looking for moderation in their candidates. If we continue to be labeled only as Trump Republicans, the future will be bleak for my party.
The Democrats don’t want to be the party of former President Joe Biden or any one individual person. Why would we want a label?
Jon Bramnick is an attorney and New Jersey state senator. Before being elected to the state senate, he served in the state Assembly for two decades. He was the Assembly minority leader from 2012 to 2022. He holds the honorary title of “Funniest Lawyer in New Jersey.”