By Matt Rooney
Election 2025’s fallout continues, Save Jerseyans, and the New Jersey Republican Party finds itself in its weakest position since the aftermath of Watergate. That’s right… the 1970s! No governor, no Senate, down five seats in the Assembly (just 23 seats out of 80, giving Democrats a veto-proof majority), and no power whatsoever to influence policy in Trenton. Said another way: they’re officially irrelevant.
It’s grim. Real grim. People are correspondingly upset, angry, and feeling pretty damn hopeless about the state’s future. I’ve felt all of those things over the past 72 hours. I’m feeling them now.
And yet legislative Republicans raised some eyebrows – and blood pressure readings – on Thursday by reelecting their respective leadership slates with no significant changes. Arguably, the “how” this went down part is a bigger issue for many than the end result. The Assembly caucus actually tabled an attempt to debate the options before proceeding with the leadership vote. Wouldn’t an open and wide-ranging discussion have been a better idea – and a better look – after one of the worst defeats in memory? Regardless of who ended up entering or remaining in leadership? Especially since this is the second consecutive rough cycle for the legislative GOP.
I’ve probably spoken to ten individual Republican legislators since the vote, mostly off the record or on background. They expressed different opinions regarding the leadership’s composition, but most of them seemed to get it: while the national shutdown battle undoubtedly played a role in the SIZE and scope of the Sherrill landslide, it’s not as if New Jersey Republicans were kicking ass in recent past cycle BEFORE this calamity befell them. Something needs to give, and it’s time for a radical change in how the party – and this Assembly caucus – does business.
Let’s move forward with some fresh ideas. Here are some suggestions from yours truly which I shared with the legislators. I believe these suggestions could, if heeded, help build the sort of warrior super-minority caucus we need to bring the NJGOP movement back from the dead:
- A general strike: Here’s an idea… all 23 Republican Assembly members refusing to vote for (or introduce) any legislation that doesn’t improve the security or prosperity of the people of New Jersey. No more resolutions for national hot dog day. No naming roads after long-dead cub scout leaders. No quid pro quo votes where bipartisan cover is traded for projects back in the district. It will piss off the Democrats, but it will send an important signal to everyone: business as usual is over.
- Reading from the same script: When you barely control one-quarter of a chamber? You need to speak together, with one voice, in order to amp up the volume. Republican members need to select a handful of issues (all affordability related) and make them the cornerstone of their floor speeches, social media posts, State House step rallies and in-district stump speeches. Marketing 101: repetition increases recall and makes branding easier. Maybe don’t call it a “Contract with New Jersey,” but the 140 character version of Newt’s early 1990s magnum opus is what we need.
- FREEDOM TO THRIVE: People don’t want to just afford New Jersey, treading water and scraping by. They want to thrive here. The Suburban State used to emody the American Dream for new Americans departing Philly or NYC for that first home – and slice of ownership – in Jersey. With Krasner in Philly and Mamdani in NYC? This is a perfect time to drive home that contrast. For starters… we need to reach young New Jerseyans making objectively decent money but who can’t afford to leave their parents’ basements.
- Talk like real f–king people for a change: Trump and Christie oozed authenticity on the campaign trail in part because they didn’t sound plastic or over-rehearsed. If you want to relate? You need to be relatable, and using more normal language is key. For example: we’re not campaigning to “lower your property tax rates and increase ratables.” The new GOP is trying to help you buy a home without selling one of your kidneys! See the difference?
- Screw bipartisanship: You’re in a super-minority. This is a near-extinction event. Literally nothing left to lose! Clearly, the American people are pissed. Tuesday proved that. They’re not looking for someone to go along to get along; they want someone whom they believe (1) understands what they feel (2) because they feel it, too, and (3) is willing to actually fight to make immediate change.
- Stay true: for example, many of the supporters of the offshore wind bailout bill just lost their jobs. Activists are watching. Take heed and stand for something.
- Messengers matter: The GOP caucus has a few young guns with young kids who, with all due respect to the grey hairs, are better ambassadors to the people who sat home or flipped from Trump to Sherrill on November 4th.
This is a obviously a partial list, folks. But it’d be a really nice start to a better version of the New Jersey GOP.
Let’s see if they listen.
