Donald Trump continues to easily pick up endorsements from the party faithful.
On Saturday, the former president was unanimously endorsed by the over 1,000 voting elected officials and county committee delegates who were represented at the annual Atlantic County Republican nominating conventions. The victors receive a spot on the coveted June primary “line.”
Incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew of NJ-02 – a close Trump ally – was also unanimously endorsed.
Trump remains deeply popular with New Jersey Republicans but less-than-loved by the state’s electorate as a whole. He lost Atlantic County 53% to 46% in 2020, roughly the same margin of loss he weathered in the former site of his legendary casino empire four years earlier in 2016. No Republican presidential nominee has carried the state in November since 1988.
Meanwhile, Cape May hotelier Curtis Bashaw easily defeated ex-News12 journalist Alex Zdan by a large margin: 953-265 (78%-22%). Christine Glassner, the mayor of Mendham, declined to participate despite recent wins in North Jersey counties.
The race is quickly turning into a North-South contest with the Southern and Jersey Shore counties gravitating towards Bashaw and the North leaning to Glassner.
Key upcoming contests which could decide the race are Ocean (where Bashaw has the screening committee nod) and Bergen and Middlesex (two populous counties with wide-open conventions and no clear favorite).
Atlantic’s weekend results are also a major victory for the colorful ACGOP Chairman Don Purdy who continues to demonstrate strong control over the direction of his committee despite being relatively new in his tenure as local party leader.
