The horse race has entered a critical month, Save Jerseyans.
Cancer free after an intensive regimen of radiation therapy, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and his campaign for governor are back on the trail and working to make up time in the battle for GOP support.
Ground Zero of that effort is Middlesex County, the operative incubator for his campaign manager, Rick Rosenberg, and a prime opportunity for an upset given its size, importance, and open county convention to award the coveted line.
On Wednesday night? Ciattarelli landed the endorsement of the South Brunswick Republican Committee.
“The Middlesex County Convention has been circled on our calendar for a long time, and our support is growing by the day,” said Ciattarelli in a statement this week. “I love the personal and grassroots process in Middlesex, and am honored to have earned the backing of South Brunswick’s Republican Committee and five more GOP Municipal Chairs who have embraced my vision of an entirely new direction for our state and our Republican Party.”
Ahead of this month’s Middlesex County Screening Committee and County Convention, Ciattarelli has secured support from East Brunswick Republican Municipal Chairman Victor Santamarina, Milltown Republican Municipal Chairman and Councilman Richard Revolinsky, Perth Amboy Republican Municipal Chairwoman Sharon Hubberman, Piscataway Republican Municipal Chairman Damon Montesano, South River Republican Municipal Chairwoman Teresa Hutchison, South Brunswick Republican Club President John Saccenti, and former South River Councilmen Jim Hutchison and Michael Trenga, Monroe Township Municipal Chairwoman Roslyn Kane, East Brunswick Council President Mike Hughes, East Brunswick Council Vice President Jim Wendell, East Brunswick Councilwoman Camille Clark, Middlesex County Young Republican Chairman John Steiner, South Plainfield Councilman Rob Bengivenga, and South River Councilman John Sapata.
That’s not say Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno’s organization doesn’t have a solid lead in the institutional support department.
The tirelessly-campaigning Guadagno’s 300+ party endorsements to date include Lucille Panos, chairwoman of the Middlesex Republicans and Sam Thompson, the former chairman and veteran State Senator who single-handily shut down then-NJ12 Congressional hopeful Mike Halfacre at the party’s 2012 convention (Chris Russell, Ciattarelli’s consultant, ran Halfacre’s opponent’s campaign that year). Both present formidable obstacles for Ciattarelli on the floor.
Here’s a complete list of Guadagno’s Middlesex backers, to date:
Brian Cahill Councilman Middlesex Old Bridge Richard Greene Councilman Middlesex Old Bridge Michael Leibowitz Councilman Middlesex Monroe Alan Rosencranz Councilman Middlesex Old Bridge Joseph Mollis Councilman Middlesex Old Bridge Jason F. Cilento Councilman Middlesex Borough of Dunellen Mary Sohor Councilwoman Middlesex Old Bridge Robert Luban Former Councilman Middlesex Woodbridge Charles Bruno Former East Brunswick Municipal Chair Middlesex East Brunswick Roger Daley Former Middlesex County Freeholder Middlesex Owen Henry Mayor Middlesex Old Bridge Kennedy O’Brien Mayor Middlesex Sayreville John Krenzel Mayor Middlesex South River Matthew Anesh Mayor Middlesex South Plainfield Jeff Pino Middesex County GOP Regional Vice Chair Middlesex Lucille Panos Middlesex County GOP Chairman Middlesex John Anagnostis Middlesex County GOP Regional Vice Chair Middlesex Don Katz Middlesex County GOP State Committeeman Middlesex April Bengivenga Middlesex County GOP State Committeewoman Middlesex Rod Kulp Middlesex County GOP Treasurer Middlesex Sylvia Engel Middlesex County GOP Vice-Chair/Edison Republican Chair Middlesex Art Rittenhouse Municipal Chair Middlesex Sayreville George Callan North Brunswick Republican Chair Middlesex North Brunswick Veronica Kadash Republican Chair Middlesex Helmetta Anthony Cook Republican Club Chair Middlesex Plainsboro Sam Thompson Senator (LD12) Middlesex Bryan Li Middlesex County GOP Executive Director Middlesex
Meanwhile, on Thursday night in distant Atlantic County, an unofficial Egg Harbor Township GOP endorsement vote netted Guadagno 43 votes; the only other Republican challenger to receive any support was Atlantic City’s Hirsh Singh with 4.
What’s it all mean? The GOP gubernatorial primary could turn on whether Ciattarelli, the Guadagno challenger with the most cash and organization, or any one of the lesser-equipped campaigns (like that of former Trump campaign adviser Steve Rogers of Nutley) can defy expectations and win in a wide-open contest like the one Middlesex presents in a few short weeks.
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