Morris County had long reigned alongside Ocean County as a reliably red behemoth for New Jersey Republicans running statewide.
Is Chris Christie’s home county about to fall? The trends aren’t encouraging, Save Jerseyans. The county could see Democrats break back into county-wide office in 2024 for the first time since the 70s particularly if Joe Biden is once again able to retake Morris.
In 2008, when Barack Obama won a decisive national victory and a double-digit margin in the Garden State, John McCain still managed to post 53.46% of the vote in Morris. Flash forward to 2020 when Joe Biden won Morris by nearly 13,000 votes or 4-points (51% to 47%). Rockaway, Randolph, Parsippany, the Mendhams, Morris Plains, Madison…they’re all lean blue now, and Dover and Morristown are deep blue municipalities as the wealthy county’s suburbs track the woke trend afflicting metro areas across the country.
Need more evidence of possible impending disaster? Sure thing: State Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25), a second-generation “name” candidate and current GOP minority leader, won reelection by less than 1,000 votes this cycle out of over 45,000 cast despite not facing a well-funded challenger. Republican Commissioner Tayfun Selen crept back into office in November 2023 with an under 6,000 vote margin out of well over 100,000 tabulated.
It’s against this backdrop that GOP incumbents John Krickus, Stephen Shaw, and Deborah Smith announced on Monday that they’re seeking reelection. The trio may need to outrun the Republican nominee (likely Donald Trump) to keep their jobs and avoid breaking a 50-year streak of shutting out Democrats in county races.
Can Republicans overcome their vote-by-mail deficits, messaging problems, and propensity for infighting to avoid defeat here? Only time will tell, but they’ll need to move quickly and improve substantially to keep Morris County in the column ahead of 2025 when Republicans can’t dream of retaking Drumthwacket without Morris.
