The last Republican to win statewide in New Jersey was Chris Christie, Save Jerseyans, and he won two consecutive gubernatorial elections – in 2009 and 2013 – with the support of South Jersey’s legendary Democrat party boss, George Norcross III. Christie’s tarnished star has long since set. The Cooper University Hospital chairman and insurance executive who once ruled most of South Jersey local and county government with an iron fist may’ve settled on a new prospective favorite horse on the other side of the aisle:
Vineland Mike Testa Jr., the state senator representing New Jersey’s increasingly red First Legislative District.
Norcross sat down for a relatively rare interview back on August 1st with WOND’s Scott Cronick and offered lavish praise for the photogenic 40-something Republican legislator.
“We had John Matheussen, who was a Republican senator, who we worked really strongly with. Today, we work best with Senator Testa who’s a real testament to great quality bipartisan government. And he is, probably, the rising star in Southern New Jersey of the Republican Party,” gushed Norcross. “Very articulate, very bright. I suspect someday he’ll run for statewide office, without a doubt. And he’s a real talent.”
George Norcross III, longtime boss of the South Jersey Democrat Machine, recently praised Sen. Mike Testa Jr. (R) and predicted a statewide run.
“We had John Matheussen, who was a Republican senator, who we worked really strongly with. Today, we work best with Senator Testa…” pic.twitter.com/lHriTH2ztE
— Matt Rooney (@MattRooneyNJ) August 14, 2025
Norcross’s once seemingly unshakable grip on South Jersey has slipped in recent cycles as the state’s Southern reaches have shifted rightward, but having survived (pending appeal) a sloppy criminal indictment, he remains one of the state’s most enduring political powerbrokers.
While his Trenton voting record undeniably skews to the right on most major issues, Testa (who also serves as Cumberland County GOP Chairman) did recently raise eyebrows by co-sponsoring a de facto green energy bailout bill packaged as a manufacturing incentive program and championed by Camden County’s Lou Greenwald, a legacy Norcross stooge in the Assembly who Norcross once infamously mocked as an “empty suit.”
Chris Christie did quite well for himself with Norcross as an ally, not just winning two elections but also partnering with Steve Sweeney to adopt a property tax cap and limited pension and benefits reforms. The state GOP especially in the Southern counties nevertheless suffered for Christie’s faustian bargain with the state’s Democrat bosses who, in exchange for their support, expected Christie to do the bare minimum to help Republican candidates in their respective backyards.
Norcross’s Matheussen comparison is arguably less flattering. After getting smoked in a 2002 GOP U.S. Senate primary, then-Governor Jim McGreevey nominated Matheussen to helm the Delaware River Port Authority in 2003 with Machine support; the Machine then promptly (but narrowly) flipped the traiterous Matheussen’s LD4 State Senate seat later that same year and haven’t surrendered it since.
