The Republican red wave that swept South Jersey in 2021 still hasn’t subsided.
On Wednesday, nine-year Buena Vista Township Committeeman John Williams announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party. Instead, he’ll seek reelection on the GOP ticket. and will seek re-election as a Republican.
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“The Democratic party of today is not at all in line with my views,” said Williams in a statement. “I want to be a part of the new day here in Buena Vista Township. I’m looking forward to continuing to serve alongside talented Republicans including Mayor Bill Ruggieri, Deputy Mayor Ellen Testa and Committeeman Aaron Krenzer. I’m also proud to have an opportunity to seek re-election on a ticket with New Jersey’s Conservative Congressman Jeff Van Drew.”
2021 was a big year for South Jersey Republicans who swept legislative races in LD1, 2, 3 and 8, picked up seats in Cumberland and Gloucester county governments, and netted numerous down-ballot seats.
Williams’s notable defection comes two years after Jeff Van Drew, Buena Vista’s congressman, switched parties and joined the GOP over impeachment.
“Whether it’s trying to Defund the Police, Abolish Prisons, Pack the Supreme Court, Repeal the 2nd Amendment, Enact the Green New Deal, Eliminate Private Health Insurance, or ram through Biden’s Radical Socialist so-called Build Back Better spending spree, we are seeing just how right Congressman Van Drew was when he famously declared, “the Democrat party that once was is no more,” said Van Drew Campaign Manager Ron Filan. “It should come as no surprise that a Conservative Democrat like Buena Vista Township Committeeman John Williams would take one look at Governor Murphy’s latest taxpayer-funded partial birth abortion law, on top of everything else his party is pushing, and realize the Democrat party had left him long ago and that the rightful home for Conservatives has always been within the Republican Party.”
Buena Vista Republicans had just won a 3-2 majority on the township committee last fall; Williams’s move makes the committee 4-1 Republicans. Ellen Testa, mother of Cumberland County GOP Chairman and State Senator Mike Testa Jr., won a seat on the committee in 2021.
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