It’s been a good weekend for Curtis Bashaw, Save Jerseyans.
On Friday, the Cape May-based hotelier and developer was awarded the Camden County Republican line for June’s primary. Camden’s line is one of a handful which isn’t awarded at a convention.
Then, on Sunday, Bashaw received the support of the Burlington County GOP’s screening committee which bodes well for his chances at the upcoming county committee vote.
Bashaw previously won the Atlantic, Ocean, and Cumberland lines and is expected to carry his home county of Cape May on Thursday. Salem doesn’t award a line (one of two Republican county organizations – the other is Sussex – that doesn’t follow the practice); consequently, Bashaw is now all-but certain to complete a sweep of South Jersey county lines in the primary phase of the 2024 U.S. Senate race.
Where does the race stand?
The GOP primary is too close to call as we enter mid-March. Bashaw’s South Jersey sweep does bode well for his chances overal especially since the South, while not as populous as North or Central Jersey, is home to a disproportionately large portion of the state’s Republican electorate. Bashaw also won the Somerset line, and he previously emerged with the Middlesex screening committee endorsement. Rival Christine Glassner (mayor of Morris County’s Mendham Borough) has the Warren, Hunterdon, Union and Morris lines in her corner, while ex-News 12 reporter Alex Zdan earned the Monmouth and Passaic organizations’ respective lines.
Lines aren’t always dispositive, but they’ll probably loom large this year since none of the three Republican candidates boasts significant name recognition on a state-wide scale. The largest remaining prize on the Republican side of the aisle is Bergen County.
