By John DiMaio
If Democrats think this election proved their dominance, they’re mistaken.
They campaigned on Republican ideas of affordability, lower taxes and accountability, and rode a wave of national distrust. But they will govern with the same old Trenton dysfunction. That will be a hard sell when voters have their say again in two years, with all 120 seats in the Legislature on the ballot.
This wasn’t a mandate for the status quo. It was driven by record turnout and national headwinds. Exit polls show that 91 percent of voters said their decision was about Trump, not Mikie Sherrill or Jack Ciattarelli. That reflects frustration with Washington, not faith in Trenton. Just a year ago, Trump lost New Jersey by five points. That is a far cry from the 13-point margin Democrats are celebrating today.
This wasn’t a “blue wave.” It was a protest vote. And protest votes don’t last forever.
Yes, we now stand at 23 seats in the Assembly, down from 26 when Gov. Phil Murphy first took office. But perspective matters. We were outspent ten-to-one in one of the strangest political climates imaginable that no one predicted.
Senate President Nick Scutari dumped upwards of $800,000 into last-minute attacks in District 21 to boost his leverage over the Assembly Democratic caucus. In District 8, Democrats Andrea Katz and Anthony Angelozzi ran on affordability in a $4.6 million race fueled by labor unions on both sides. And in District 25, Marisa Sweeney echoed GOP themes, admitting Trenton’s reckless spending is destroying New Jersey, while campaigning to unseat Morris County’s Republican lawmakers who have been fighting that very trend.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Democrats just confirmed whose message is winning.
We’re nowhere near the collapse of 1973, as some critics have suggested, when Republicans lost 25 Assembly seats overnight and were left with just 14 after Watergate. This time, we don’t need to rebuild from rubble. We only need to pull away the Democrats’ false mask, expose the truth and remind voters who’s really fighting for them.
The GOP has already proven we can win here. We gained two Assembly seats in 2019 and six more in 2021, when I co-chaired our Assembly campaign effort, as voters pushed back on Murphy and Democratic policies in elections focused on state issues.
This isn’t the time for gimmicks or headline-chasing, even within our own party. I won’t allow Republicans to roll the dice or “pick names from a hat” and call it strategy. New Jersey families and Republicans who depend on us deserve focus, discipline and a plan that delivers results.
Our challenge now isn’t message, but scale.
Affordability remains the defining issue in New Jersey. Ninety percent of voters say property taxes are a problem. That’s where Republicans have credibility and the greatest opportunity to rebuild.
To get there, we must do more than refine our policies. We have to sharpen how we fight for them. Matt Rooney put it plainly last week: “New Jersey needs a warrior caucus.” He’s right about that.
A warrior caucus is disciplined, relentless and grounded in purpose. It knows who it’s fighting for — the workers, young families and seniors who need someone willing to stand their ground. It shows up when it’s hard and when people need it most, not just when it’s easy, and it stands with the team through good times and bad.
The people of this state are tired of business as usual. They don’t want more gestures, commemorations or hollow slogans. They want leaders in Trenton who actually fight for them, loudly, clearly and without apology.
We will meet that moment. We are not interested in symbolic bipartisanship or watered-down compromises that keep Trenton spinning its wheels. The next two years will demand clarity, discipline and consistency. We must speak with one message, stay focused on affordability and make it unmistakable who is standing up for the people who pay the bills.
The Republican Assembly caucus is up to that challenge. That focus is what define our discussions and will define our direction going forward.
Republicans in general tend to appeal to people’s heads, but not their hearts. That also needs to change.
Voters don’t just need to hear why Democrat’s tax policy is bad; they need to feel how those policies are keeping young families from buying homes, driving seniors out of state, punishing businesses and employers, and squeezing working families just trying to get by.
Democrats found a message that resonated and stuck with three words: “Freeze utility bills.” It wasn’t real policy, but it was simple and memorable. We need our own rallying cries rooted in truth, backed by substance and repeated relentlessly.
The Assembly Republican caucus just reaffirmed its leadership team nearly unanimously, not out of complacency, but out of resolve. We’ve heard the critics. We’ve read the headlines. And we’re taking the challenge seriously.
We accept the political realities in front of us, but we reject the idea that this is a permanently Democrat state. Our job is to influence the next governor’s agenda, block reckless bills on the floor, and rebuild trust with the people who feel left behind by Trenton.
Republicans aren’t retreating. We’re rebuilding, becoming stronger, leaner and louder. The only way to earn relevance is to fight for it, every single day, on behalf of the families being crushed by the Democrat’s cost of living.
The tide will turn again. And when it does, the Assembly Republican caucus – focused, united and battle-tested – will be leading that change.
_
JOHN DiMAIO represents New Jersey’s 23rd Legislative District in the General Assembly. He also serves as the Assembly’s Republican Minority Leader.
