Jeff Bell wins the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate

With 94% of the voting districts reporting statewide, Jeff Bell is leading Rich Pezzullo  by 3,200 votes in the race to take on Senator Cory Booker in November.

Save Jersey called the race for Bell.  Bell has 38,959 votes, 29%, according to The Associated Press.  Pezzullo had 35,733, 27%.

Establishment favorite Brian Goldberg has 33,194 votes, 25%.  Murray Sabrin has 20% of the vote, 26,249.

Bell defeated the last Republican U.S. Senator from New Jersey, Clifford Case, in 1978 GOP primary and lost the general election to Bill Bradley, a Rhodes Scholar and famous NBA basketball star.  This year he will take on Booker, a Rhodes Scholar and famous social media star.

Bell did not participate in any of the Republican County conventions this year. He has won the nomination without any county “Party Lines” on the primary ballot.

Bell sent out mail that Republican primary voters are used to receiving and he advertised MMM.

Follow Jeff Bell on twitter.  He has 175 followers to Booker’s 1.47 million.

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Backlash from Bennett’s “Endorsement”

Eatontown Councilman Richard “Duke” Robinson, the Eatontown GOP Chairman, Sheriff Shaun Golden and Councilman Kevin Gonzalez. Photo via EatontownGOP.com

Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett was apparently too enthusiastic in his use of language in the endorsement released yesterday from Republican leaders from Rumson, Shrewsbury Township, Eatontown, Oceanport, Red Bank and Tinton Falls.  In addition to the endorsement letter released to MMM, Bennett posted comments on his facebook page and in a email to County Committee Members to the effect that he had picked up the support of  “7 towns in the 2 Rivers area…. “

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MacArthur Defeats Lonegan in CD-3 GOP Primary

Tom MacArthur

Save Jersey has called the contentious Republican primary in the third Congressional District for former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur.

In a contest of carpetbaggers to replace retiring Congressman Jon Runyan in the House of Representatives, MacArthur beat former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan handedly.

With 70% of the votes counted in the Burlington County portion of the district and 63% counted in Ocean County, MacArthur is leading with 63% of the vote.

MacArthur will face off against Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard in November. Belgard trounced Howard Kleinhendler of Lakewood with almost 80% of the vote.  Kleinhendler was the Democratic nominee against Congressman Chris Smith in the 4th district in 2010.

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Four decades of Democrats: A look at how Republicans have lost U.S. Senate races in NJ

Four decades of Democrats: A look at how Republicans have lost U.S. Senate races in NJ (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Four Republicans are in a primary battle today for the right to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. Whomever wins the GOP nod will have an uphill battle as none of the candidates has big name recognition or much cash against the popular…

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Keyport Republicans Endorse Golden For Chairman

In the race for Monmouth GOP Chairman, Sheriff Shaun Golden picked up the endorsement of the Keyport Republican Committee over the weekend.

Keyport Republicans at the 2014 Lincoln Day Dinner. Photo via facebook

In a letter dated May 30 and released this morning, Bob Burlew, GOP Chairman of The Pearl of the Bayshore, wrote,

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Lest We Forget

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Another endorsement for Bennett

A group of Republican leaders from the Two Rivers (Navesink and Shrewsbury) area of Monmmouth County have released their endorsement for John O. Bennett to serve another two years as Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl, Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon and the GOP Municipal Chairs of Eatontown, Little Silver, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Township and Tinton Falls issued a press release endorsing Bennett.  Mahon’s name is listed as the GOP Chairman of Oceanport, not as mayor of the borough where Bennett serves and Administrator.

We, as chosen Republican leaders in our respected (sic) towns, are supporting Chairman John Bennett for a second term as Monmouth County Republican Committee Chairman.

Our Party, over the past two years, has seen a resurgence of support and stability through the leadership of Chairman Bennett. Republican candidates from all levels of our government in the county have been able to capitalize on the benefits presented to them by his steadfast and dedicated work.

We believe that Chairman John Bennett and his proven track-record of success is exactly what our party needs to continue its growth. Whether it is raising funds or rallying support for our local municipal elections, Chairman Bennett has been nothing short of reliable in his support.
Now it is our turn to return the favor for the Chairman for all of the hard work he has done for us.
Please stand with us to re-elect John Bennett as Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Party and continue the growth of our party.

Ekdahl is a pick up for Benentt. He was previously in Sheriff Shaun Golden’s corner for Chairman.

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In GOP U.S. Senate Primary: Write-in Joe Kyrillos

By Art Gallagher

Sen. Joe Kyrillos and Mayor Fred Rast greeting voters in Atlantic Highlands last year. photo by Art Gallagher

Several MMM readers have asked  me to endorse of a U.S. Senate candidate to take on Senator Cory Booker.  I can’t endorse, or vote for, any of the four candidates who are on the ballot this Tuesday.

I’m writing in Joe Kyrillos on Tuesday. If this post goes viral, Joe Kryillos could be the U.S. Senate Republican nominee on Tuesday night.  That’s how bad the U.S. Senate primary campaign has been.  Booker would then have a fight on his hands.  Share this post.

None of the four candidates on the ballot can make Booker break a sweat this fall.

None of the candidates on the ballot have raised enough money for a county freeholder race, never mind a statewide race for U.S. Senate.  Booker has spent over $12 million on his re-election bid since the first of the year. He had $2.9 million in cash on hand as of May 14.

State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2012, has refunded more money to his federal donors this year that any of the current Republican candidates have raised.

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Sweeney in Sea Bright: “Republicans Shaming Themselves” Over Sandy Bill of Rights

Beck: “Hubris and Ego have no place in this recovery process. We have all made some mistakes. Now we need to fix them.”

Thomas P. Largey, 82, and Senate President Steve Sweeney talk in Largey’s gutted Sea Bright home prior to Sweeney’s press conference. May 30, 2014. Photo by Art Gallagher

Senate President Steve Sweeney held a politically charged press conference in a partially gutted Sea Bright home this morning, ostensibly to create political pressure on Republicans in the State Legislature to join Democrats in overriding Governor Chris Christie’s conditional veto of the Sandy Bill of Rights.

Sweeney’s comments sounded like a campaign rally against Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Senator Jennifer Beck and Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, JR.

The “Sandy Bill of Rights” passed both houses of the State Legislature unanimously in March.  Christie conditionally vetoed the bill earlier this month, making over 150 changes to it.  Some of the changes were to bring the law into compliance with federal Housing and Urban Development regulations, others removed what Christie called “partisan language.”  One of Christie changes removed the requirement on the State that applicants for RREM grants be able to access the status of their applications online.

Sweeney penned an OpEd published in The Asbury Park Press last week wherein he appealed to Republican legislators who had unanimously voted for his bill “to do something they have yet to do under this (Christie) administration, and that’s to put aside their partisanship and override the governor’s veto.”

O’Scanlon responded with an OpEd of his own, wherein he said, “after further analysis we found a number of critical flaws that the Governor wisely and reasonably addresses in his conditional veto.”

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Manalapan Elected Officials Stand With Bennett

The four of the five members of Manalapan’s Township Committee, all Republicans, endorsed Monmouth County Republican Chairman John O. Bennett III for a second term as Chairman yesterday.

In a statement released by Bennett which can be found here, the Mayor Jordan Maskowitz, Deputy Mayor Jack McNaboe, and Committee Members Mary Ann Musich and Susan Cohen, the MCGOP Vice Chairwoman, said:

It is a great honor to stand with John O. Bennett in his campaign to seek a second term as Chairman and Vice-Chairwoman, respectively. The bottom line is that John Bennett has kept all of his campaign promises from two years ago, and the Monmouth County Republican Party is stronger today than it was then.
John’s first promise when running two years ago was to implement a new set of by-laws and move to a convention system when selecting candidates in order to make the entire process more democratic. John has done this, and now County Committee members select our organization’s candidates, not political bosses in the back room.

Manalapan Township Committee Members Mary Ann Musich, Deputy Mayor Jack McNaboe, Mayor Jordan Maskowitz, Susan Cohen and Ryan Green

John also pledged to put in place a Board of Directors to meet and advise the Chairman, and he has met this promise as well. Now, Republican representatives from all over the county have a direct say in the County Party. He also promised to keep our County Party headquarters open and staffed full time, and has done this. The County Party headquarters has been an invaluable resource for Manalapan Township. Last year at the headquarters, our campaign volunteers made phone calls into Manalapan every Monday night on behalf of Governor Christie, our County candidates, and our local Township Committee candidates.

We encourage County Committee members not just of Manalapan, but all of Monmouth County to vote for JohnO. Bennett, a proven leader and party builder, at the June 10th Chairman’s Convention. Thank you.

The fifth Republican on the Township Committee, Ryan Green, has ostracized himself from his colleagues because he wasn’t selected to be Mayor. Maskowtiz has called for Green’s resignation and Manalapan GOP Chairman Steve McEnery likened Green to Edward Snowden while calling him a petulant pipsqueak. 

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