Since two other candidates, Bill Spadea and Ed Durr, declared they would also not participate in votes to award a county organization motto, gubernatorial candidate Jon Bramnick will not be competing at Republican county conventions this year, leaving that lane nearly entirely to challenger Jack Ciattarelli.
It was not a hasty choice to withdraw from the state’s county conventions. According to Bramnick, a two-term state senator from Union County, the GOP relies heavily on the efforts of Republican County party officials, county committee members, and volunteers. Nonetheless, I think the convention process will not fairly reflect the actual primary environment this year, especially because other Republican contenders have chosen not to take part in it.
Some gubernatorial candidates have reconsidered the time and expense required to communicate with convention delegates in the absence of organization lines, which are occasionally accompanied by preferential ballot positions, and office block ballots that prohibit statewide candidates from running against down-ballot contenders beyond a shared slogan. Steve Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, is not attending the conventions on the Democratic side.
At conventions, two minor contenders, former Burlington City Mayor Jim Fazzone and former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, are still theoretically in the running; Kranjac submitted a letter of intent to run in his home county of Bergen, but Fazzone did not.
I still plan to urge rank-and-file Republican voters and county committee members throughout the state to participate in the primary process. According to Bramnick, fewer than 24% of registered Republicans voted in the 2021 gubernatorial primary. My campaign’s main goal is to increase the party’s enthusiasm so that more Republicans will run in this year’s primary.
Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz (R-Summit) and Michele Matsikoudis, Bramnick’s running mates, will run on the organization’s slogan at the Union County GOP convention. This could result in two lawmakers who have endorsed Bramnick using the same ballot slogan as another candidate, most likely Ciattarelli.
If granted, the clients will employ organizational slogans, according to Kean MacLelland, a spokesperson for Munoz and Matsikoudis.
At 12:23, this story was updated with MacLelland’s feedback.
