By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
There are runoff municipal elections today in Bayonne, Newark and Trenton on Tuesday, Save Jerseyans, but no matter who ultimately prevails, the end result will be the same:
The election of a liberal Democrat. Whoopie!
So whatever. Republican leaders in Monmouth County are voting today; it’s a more interesting contest to me in terms of actual statewide implications given the importance of Monmouth as a lean-right swing county, and this race happens to be a county committee brawl for the chairmanship between the incumbent – former Governor John Bennett – and his challenger Sheriff Shaun Golden.
There’s also plenty of coin on the line as proxies affiliated with large law firms advocate for their preferred champion. High stakes inevitably translates to extremely messy and also somewhat unpredictable due to the fog of war…
This battle was fought largely behind-the-scenes. Meeting-to-meeting, house-to-house, face-to-face, and plenty of hours logged on the phones, too. Remarkably, only 1 of 19 “higher” GOP elected officials representing at least portions of the county decided to publicly offer an endorsement.
That’s probably because no one can agree on where this race stands. Bennett bested prominent attorney and Golden ally Christine Hanlon by just 3 votes in 2012; consequently, when the relatively popular sheriff threw his hat in the ring two years later, there was a general acknowledgment in both camps that Bennett was the one who needed to make up ground.
Everyone to whom I’ve spoken this week agrees that Bennett has made up ground with an intense round of personal diplomacy; on Tuesday alone, he announced the endorsement of committee members from six towns. Unmoved by Bennett’s backing, Golden cites support from members of the Howell, Wall, Middletown, Avon, Ocean, Marlboro, Keyport, Holmdel, Spring Lake, and Neptune City Republican organizations, promising to “build coalitions, attract new members and educate new residents about the accomplishments of Republicans in Monmouth County” in his last letter to the committee before the big vote.
Bennett’s messaging has been more aggressive, oriented around a two-fold attack (paraphrasing): (1) “I have a record party-building and Golden doesn’t” (see this mailer, sides one and two), and (2) “Golden serving as sheriff AND chairman raises major ethical issues.”
Sheriff Golden strenuously dismissed that second allegation from the onset, initially refusing to dignify it with an answer, but eventually going so far as to produce a very officious-looking legal memorandum in support his position prepared by a major law firm. Bennett’s camp, in turn, insists it’s not just about the state of the law but additionally the likelihood (or potentiality, depending upon your perspective) of ethics-related attacks from the other party.
So did Golden make a mistake by not responding from the get-go? Or did Bennett err by raising the issue?
Well, for what it’s worth, most objective folks in my universe say, at the very least, that it’s helped Bennett corral some soft supporters who think/feel the challenge itself is unwarranted.
Again, the operative inquiry is how many.
This is where the “lie factor” enters the chairman’s race equation, one which is common in just about any contest among a closed group of political individuals. Both men’s close supporters are citing head counts (always off the record, of course) showing them leading by healthy margins in a pool of upwards of 600+ anticipated eligible committee voters at tonight’s convention site, the iPlay America in Freehold. But if it’s unclear which way the wind is blowing (as evidenced by all of the elected’s abstentions referenced at the beginning of this post), then how many committee members might’ve done the same by telling both men what they’d expect to hear?
Both candidates have a reputation for hard-nosed politics. They’re fighters. Would you take a chance on honesty in a face-to-face encounter with a former governor or sitting sheriff? I’m sure you’d like to say to me “yes, definitely!” but I suspect the answer isn’t “yes” for a healthy minority of committee members of the dominant party in any given county. There’s often too much on the line politically, personally and professionally. I’m not defending the system… that’s just politics. It’s the same everywhere in varying degrees, whether in reality or simply as a matter of perception which, not to get too trippy on you, is often the most real thing in the world.
Tonight, however, committee members get to enter the safe confines of voting machines…
That’s why I won’t be surprised to see either man win by 5 or 115 votes tonight, Save Jerseyans. Hold on to your rears. We’ll let you know what happens when something does. And may the best man win!
I am not voting for Bennett and I am not voting for Golden. I am voting to continue the healthy, inclusive status of our Organization; thus, recognizing that better conditions fought for by County Committee Members, have been granted. Bennett, listened, promised, delivered, and we will support his determination to finish his commitment to assist County Committee Members with their service to the communities. Absolutely no common sense or justification to change leadership …
@ Edith T. Nowels – And Bennett let people down as well. This is well known. So Puuuuuuhlease spare us the talking points via the Bennett campaign. He has played an arrogant and nasty race, full of snarky comments.
Have to ask this question was it Matt Rooney Governor just because John was president of the State Sen come on that like calling him a former something why do people leave the party my answer is it is not 1950
Does Gerald Ford’s presidency not count?
@ Edith T. Nowels – The people have spoken, now let’s come together. @ Wendy Ella May, please write in coherent sentences so that we can understand what you are saying.