One of America’s most well-known political operatives is wading into the upcoming NJ-04 Republican primary.
On Friday, Mike Crispi – a national podcaster for Right Side Broadcasting – confirmed for Save Jersey that he plans to launch a Republican congressional campaign next week for the seat currently occupied by long-time Republican incumbent Chris Smith. Crispi also confirmed for me that legendary operative Roger Stone will quarterback his campaign team.
–
“I’m very fortunate to have Roger running the show,” Crispi told me.
Before finding success with his “Red White & Truth” podcast, the 20-something candidate finished fourth in the 2017 Morris GOP freeholder primary to succeed Hank Lyon. Crispi will now take on Smith about one hour south in a newly-drawn district that is now the state’s reddest; it voted for Jack Ciattarelli over Phil Murphy in November by 31-points.
–
–
Former President Donald Trump recently issued a call for challengers to take on a list of congressional GOP incumbents nationwide including Smith who has served in the U.S. House since 1981.
Enter Stone, a close ally of Trump who worked for Nixon, Reagan, and (most New Jerseyans forget this part) as a strategist for Thomas Kean Sr.’s successful 1981 and 1985 Garden State gubernatorial campaigns. He’s been labeled a “trickster” by critics and a genius by his admirers, but no one has ever denied his skill at reading a race.
While a few other potential primary challengers have already announced NJ-04 GOP campaigns this cycle (including Tricia Flanagan, Mike Blasi, David Burg, and Daniel Francisco), Stone’s involvement in the contest could add a national dimension to what’s ordinarily an uneventful district primary.
“He’s fallen out of step from the grassroots and spends no time in the state,” Crispi added. “NJ-4 is very much the President’s base (+22.5 in 2020) and they deserve someone running a serious, well organized race they can be excited about.”
I reached out to Stone for comment and will update this post if/when we hear back from him.
–
