EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Former Republican legislator Vince Polistina will run for the retiring Chris Brown’s State Senate seat.
“Former Galloway Mayor and Republican leader Don Purdy confirms former Assemblyman Vince Polistina will run for Senator now that Chris Brown has decided he will not seek re-election,” WOND radio host Scott Cronick was the firs to report via social media on Thursday after making the announcement on his radio show. “He will be among a large slate of Republicans who want the job that may include Phil Guenther, John Risley, Don Guardian, Seth Grossman and Keith Davis. Look for the official announcement.”
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I subsequently reached out to Purdy who confirmed the news.
Brown’s Thursday retirement announcement led to a mad scramble in LD2, one of the state’s few genuine legislative districts. Polistina, a former LD2 Assemblyman and GOP rising star, lost a senate bid to then-Senator Jim Whelan in 2011 and left the legislature. Polistina has nevertheless remained involved behind the scenes and remains a political rival of Atlantic GOP Chairman Keith Davis.
The likely Democrat state Senate candidate is Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo who has run (and lost) to Brown before.
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