Kim Guadagno and Jack Ciattarelli at the 2017 GOP nominating convention
Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is apparently looking to clear his path to the 2021 Republican gubernatorial nomination by inviting his past and potential political opponents to attend his campaign kickoff.
Ciattarelli, who lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to former Lt. Gov Kim Guadagno in 2017, will ceremonially announce his candidacy at his high school alma matter in Raritan on January 21, according to a NewJerseyGlobe report. He told the Associated Press that he was running last February and has been a frequent guest at GOP events throughout New Jersey ever since.
MMM has learned that the candidate has personally invited Guadagno, as well and NJ GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt, Monmouth County GOP Chairman, Sheriff Shaun Golden, and former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin to attend the event.
Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso, Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon, “top contender for governor” Jon Bramnick and Freeholder Director Tom Arnone on the Walk to Washington train last winter.
The pre-primary of the 2021 GOP nomination for NJ Governor got a lot more interesting this morning.
In a Star Ledger Friendly Fire interview with Democrat strategist Julie Roginsky and Republican strategist Mike DuHaime that Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick shared on facebook, DuHaime declared Bramnick to be a “top contender for governor after a strong 2019.”
Bob Menendez has been declared the winner in his hotly contested reelection bid against former Celgene CEO Bob Hugin.
With 69% of the districts reporting, Menendez is leading Hugin 53.7 % to 43.%, according to the Associated Press. The AP, ABC News, NBCNews and NewJerseyGlobe all declared Menendez the winner before 9 pm.
Reports from all parts of Monmouth County indicate a historically high turnout for the mid-term election today. As of noon, some Middletown voting districts had a turnout of 50% of all registered voters.
In Neptune, as of 10 am, 3287 voters had turned out, which I’m told is 45% of the total turnout in 2014.
The turnout in a Manalapan district exceed the 2014 turnout as of noon.
There were lines to vote in Freehold Township, Long Branch and Howell this morning.
GOP U.S. Senate candidate visited the New Monmouth Diner in Middletown this morning. He said good turnout is good for Democracy and that he’s been hearing encouraging anecdotes from throughout the state.
Bob Hugin speaking with Middletown Republicans. photo by Art Gallagher
U.S. Senate
Bob Hugin will have a 25,000 vote lead over Senator Bob Menendez tonight but a winner will not be declared until November 20. Ballots post marked today and delivered by the post office by Thursday evening are to be counted under Governor Murphy’s new election law. There will be a record number of provisional ballots to be verified and counted or not. There will be counts, recounts, lawsuits and reviews of security cameras at the North Bergen and Jersey City Post Offices before the final outcome is known. Read the rest of this entry »
The borough of Monmouth Beach has a notable history of connections with United States Senators. At least two have lived there.
Bob Hugin
The first, Alexander G. Cattell, represented NJ in the U.S. Senate from 1866 to 1871. The other, William W. Barbour, was a U.S. Senator for NJ from 1931 to 1943. Both men were Republicans.
Cattell was one of the area’s first major developers as part of the Monmouth Beach Association. He owned a large house on Ocean Avenue. Barbour, a borough native born in July 1888, also served as Rumson’s mayor. He was the son of Colonel William Barbour, who was also an original developer of MB.
A little more digging showed me that the daughter of Senator H. Alexander Smith (a Republican who served NJ from 1944 to 1959) was married at the St. Peter’s Church of Galilee in town. She married a member of the Dominick family, which would produce its own senator, Peter H. Dominick, a Republican who served Colorado from 1963 to 1975. And one more — the uncle of Senator Nicholas F. Brady (a US senator for NJ during 1982) owned a large house on Ocean Avenue in MB.
So Monmouth Beach knows something about US senators.
U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin, Kathy Hugin and Monmouth Freeholder candidates Sue Kiley and Gerry Scharfenberger in Red Bank this week
New Jersey could elect a Republican to the United State Senate on November 6 for the first time since Diff’rent Strokes debuted on NBC-TV.
The Cook Political Report this morning moved its rating of the campaign between Senator Bob Menendez and GOP nominee Bob Hugin from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”
Senator Bob Menendez is leading GOP nominee Bob Hugin by 11 points, 53-42% in a Quinnipiac University Poll of likely New Jersey voters released this afternoon.
The 1,058 New Jersey likely voters has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 .
Only 5% said they are undecided, but 13% said they could change their mind between now and the time they vote.
