LD36 Assembly Republican candidate Joe Viso is losing a prominent supporter after news of his bizarre criminal history came to light this week (h/t New Jersey Globe), but it’s who NJ 101.5 host and probable 2025 gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea blames for the recruiting disaster that’s interesting for political observers.
“Hey @BobHugin: you must run the only state party in the country that doesn’t vet candidates,” Spadea tweeted on Friday. “You’re not only embarrassing our party’s brand, you’re damaging our chances of taking back the Statehouse. A lot of people put their support behind Republican nominees in targeted Senate and Assembly races like LD-36. But because your @NJGOP just failed Campaign 101, many of us are now forced to withdraw our support of Joseph Viso.”
County parties control how their “line” (a space on the county-endorsed column on your ballot) is awarded. Save Jersey sources put most of the blame on Bergen County GOP Chairman Jack Zisa for the Viso vetting fail, but Spadea – a regular critic of the NJGOP – clearly doesn’t believe the blame belongs to a single chairman or his regime.
“Maybe if you spent less time trying to cancel our presidential primary and more time vetting our candidates, we’d be in better position next month,” added Spadea.
Spadea was referring to Hugin’s recent proposal to replace the 2024 GOP presidential primary with an insider convention; the idea was unanimously rejected by the state committee. Hugin is an ally of Jack Ciattarelli, the 2021 nominee who’s running again in 2025 who Spadea will need to beat for a shot at Drumthwacket.
Bergen itself has a relatively open nominating convention which could help decide the 2025 primary contest.
Hey @BobHugin: you must run the only state party in the country that doesn’t vet candidates. You’re not only embarrassing our party’s brand, you’re damaging our chances of taking back the Statehouse. A lot of people put their support behind Republican nominees in targeted Senate… pic.twitter.com/4tWH8q6uki
— Bill Spadea (@BillSpadea) October 6, 2023
