Donald Trump has yet to make a single 2022 endorsement in New Jersey aside from his ally Jeff Van Drew, but Mike Crispi (R, NJ-04) is hoping he’ll make the cut with a little over two weeks left to go before primary day. This weekend, the conservative podcaster notched an endorsement from former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“I am proud to announce the support of America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani and look forward to welcoming him and Roger Stone back to the Garden State this week!” said Crispi. “Our campaign is SURGING!”
In a statement backing Crispi, Giuliani attested that the candidate could be counted upon to challenge “RINO” politicians and “cultural Marxism.”
ENDORSEMENT ALERT: I am proud to announce the support of America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani and look forward to welcoming him and Roger Stone back to the Garden State this week! Our campaign is SURGING! #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/l9sJC1adrt
— Mike Crispi (@MikeCrispiNJ) May 22, 2022
The Chris Smith challenger’s campaign is led by longtime Trump ally Roger Stone; he previously received the backing of Michael Flynn, another popular figure in MAGA world.
Thus far, Crispi’s campaign has been energetic notwithstanding its lackluster early fundraising. Crispi had raised just shy of $100,000 (96k) at the end of 2022’s first quarter. Helping Crispi’s cause was a late-in-cycle contraction of what was once a large field of challengers who were drawn to the deep red district by President Trump’s late 2021 call for challengers to take on Congressman Smith.
A Trump endorsement is difficult to predict and sometimes drops with little advance notice to the candidates themselves.
Smith, by contrast, won both the Ocean and Monmouth county lines and reported $825,000 cash on hand at the end of March.
