The four front-runners for the GOP nomination for governor are, clockwise from top, Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Sen. Ed Durr, radio host Bill Spadea, and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. (Photos of governor’s office by Dana DiFilippo; Bramnick and Spadea by Hal Brown; Durr and Ciattarelli by Amanda Brown)
Eight Republicans are angling to become New Jersey’s next governor, with most taking their campaign cues from President-elect Donald Trump’s performance at the polls in November.
Trump lost New Jersey, but just barely, and he did so well that some Republicans hope New Jersey has tiptoed into swing-state territory. That has driven most of those hoping to win June’s GOP primary to fight over “who’s most MAGA,” with the lone exception being Sen. Jon Bramnick, an anti-Trump moderate, said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican strategist.
“We already know what message they’re relying on, and it’s Trump. It’s a MAGA message,” Hoffman said. “There was a huge enthusiasm in the Republican base for President Trump in November.”
That campaign message could change next year as voters see what Trump does on illegal immigration, tariffs, foreign leaders, and more, and much depends on what Trump’s approval ratings look like, she conceded. But the GOP gubernatorial candidates have several other things going for them, Hoffman said.
They’ve increasingly embraced early voting and vote-by-mail, she said. And while Democrats still outnumber Republicans by about 900,000 statewide, GOP voter registrations in New Jersey climbed by about 180,000 during the Biden administration, compared to a Democratic gain over the same period of only about 5,500 voters, state data shows.
With the county line largely defeated, it’s harder to predict who will win, Hoffman said. Without the power of the party bosses carrying them, candidates will have to rely more on money and campaigning to persuade voters, she added.
Gov. Phil Murphy, first elected in 2017 and reelected to a second term four years later, is barred from seeking a third consecutive term next year. Here are the Republicans who have declared their candidacies to succeed him:
- Bramnick, 71, an attorney and sometime stand-up comedian, has served in the state Senate since 2022, after 18 years of service in the Assembly and seven years on Plainfield City Council.
- Ciattarelli, 63, a businessman, served in the state Assembly from 2011 to 2018, and has served on Raritan’s borough council and as a Somerset County commissioner. He lost the 2021 governor’s race to Murphy.
- Ed Durr, 61, a truck driver, is a former state senator who pulled off a stunning political upset in 2021 when he unseated then-Sen. Steve Sweeney. Durr lost his bid for a second term to Democrat John Burzichelli.
- Spadea, 55, has a morning talk show on New Jersey 101.5 and previously hosted a news show on Fox.
- Roger Bacon, 76, a Navy veteran who founded the Warren County Minutemen, a group that advocates for the Bill of Rights. He’s a perennial candidate who has run unsuccessfully in at least 10 state and federal races since 1992.
- Robert Canfield, 33, a real estate broker and a firearms instructor.
- James Fazzone, 70, a former two-term Burlington City mayor and retired public school teacher, principal, superintendent, and coach. He lost a bid for state Senate last year.
- Hans Herberg, 37, who ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 2021, works in sales and customer service, with previous positions in media and tech repair.
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