NJ Republicans can learn lessons from 2017-20.

By Rubashov


Yesterday, NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt put out an email that provided a laundry list of silver linings in the storm clouds that have oppressed New Jersey Republicans under his tenure. As in the aftermath of the 2018 cycle, when the GOP congressional delegation was all but wiped out, the message was to “focus on the positive” – with Steinhardt detailing the reasons why:

Friends,

It is two weeks since Election Day and about a week since my last update on the general election. A lot has happened since November 3, so I want to give you a brief update.

First, the hundreds of thousands of mail in ballots that were uncounted last week are largely counted now and, as expected, were very favorable for Republicans. Our data in the lead up to Election Day indicated a late surge of GOP votes, and that proved to be true. County election boards are now on to counting provisional votes and are required to finish counting and certify the results by this Friday, November 20.

Here are the most notable developments from around the State, in the last week:
Assemblywoman Dunn and Senator Bucco officially won their races. While the President lost LD25, these great candidates prevailed.

Morris County Freeholder Tayfun Selen won re-election.

The Monmouth County team of Christine Hanlon, Lilian Burry, and Ross Licitra won their races.

Ed Ramsey has a strong lead in the Salem County Freeholder race and we expect him to win, expanding the Republican majority to 4-1.

In Atlantic County, John Risley has a strong lead in the Freeholder race and is expected to win.

In NJ07, Senator Tom Kean Jr has cut 90% of Malinowski’s election night lead and is within 1% of pulling ahead. This race is one to closely monitor as the final ballots are counted.

There are still tens of thousands of ballots that will be counted between today and November 20 and we're closely watching county and municipal races across the State as our strong Republican candidates move into the lead.

Additionally, we had a very informative conference call with Bill Stepien and Justin Clark, the President's campaign manager and deputy campaign manager. They let us know that they are fighting hard in courts around the country to make sure every legal vote is counted. They are fighting to protect the rights of, of course, the President, but also candidates around the country in other states who have the right to a free and fair election. We remain thankful for their hard work and that of the President and Vice President.

And finally, as many of you know, the Georgia US Senate races are going to run offs on January 5, 2021. The GOP has 50 of the 100 Senate seats, so holding these two are critical and they need our help. There are two main things you can do to help.

1. The RNC has asked states around the nation to dial into Georgia to turn out conservatives. Sign up to make phone calls into Georgia via Trump Talk by emailing georgiavictory@gop.com

2. Contribute to the Georgia Battleground Fund, which is chaired by Governor Chris Christie and Karl Rove nationally, and our RNC Committeeman Bill Palatucci here in NJ. The below letter from Karl Rove has more information, and you can contribute directly here: https://secure.winred.com/senate-georgia-battleground-fund/joint-cjc_bp

You can reach out to Nicole for more information on the Georgia Battleground Fund at nicole@nicoledavidman.com.

As this unconventional election cycle comes to a close, you can be sure that the NJGOP and our team is going over our plans and activities from the previous year, analyzing the data we have presently, and doing an assessment of what worked and what needs to be reworked for the future. 2021 is right around the corner, and we’re already hard at work identifying vulnerable Democrats to unseat, including Governor Murphy, and building our war chest for the fight to come.

Over the last three years we registered over 200,000 new Republicans in NJ, erasing 23 years of lost registrants. Whole we scored some great wins this year, we still have a long way to go. We won't take our foot off the gas as we continue our fight to turn New Jersey red. Thank you for standing with us and for your continued support.

Thank you,

Chairman Doug Steinhardt

Having expressed his intentions to dozens – perhaps hundreds – of people throughout the state, some may see this missive in the context of Chairman Steinhardt’s all-but-announced gubernatorial campaign. This is natural, as it is natural for Steinhardt to want to put a “best face” on his tenure as NJGOP Chairman, a statewide position, and his most obvious credential for high office.

What concerns us is this paragraph:

As this unconventional election cycle comes to a close, you can be sure that the NJGOP and our team is going over our plans and activities from the previous year, analyzing the data we have presently, and doing an assessment of what worked and what needs to be reworked for the future.

We pose this question: Is the NJGOP “team” best suited to critique itself? And how would such a critique be conducted, in the run-up to a gubernatorial campaign, with the leader of the “team” as a likely candidate, and with many of the team’s members contemplating a departure from the NJGOP “team” in order to constitute a new Steinhardt for Governor team?

Being human, the NJGOP “team” will be hard-pressed not to turn this very necessary critique into a spin operation, ignoring mistakes, highlighting the bright spots. Again, a totally human response to such a situation.

New Jersey Republicans are at a shadow line, a nautical term, warning of a sea change, a departure from one region of the ocean to another. There are great opportunities ahead – in 2021 and beyond – but great trepidations too. The NJGOP could be headed for “sunlit uplands” or could just as well be on a course to “circling the drain”. Now is the time for a broad critique – or critiques – of various perspectives, examining not only tactics, but message as well, because message informs the broader strategy (something generally beyond the scope of tactics).

Chairman Steinhardt’s email references the voter registration success New Jersey Republicans have had, “erasing 23 years of lost registrants”.  Stop for a moment and consider that.  23 years ago was 1997.
 
In 1997, Republicans held the Governor’s office and a majority of the state’s Members of Congress.  The GOP controlled the State Senate with 24 Republicans to 16 Democrats, and the Assembly with 50 Republicans to 30 Democrats.  At the local level, Republicans not only controlled counties like Somerset and Burlington, but Bergen and Passaic too.  Republican County Executives ran Essex and Mercer Counties and Republican Bret Schundler was Mayor of Jersey City.
 
In terms of voter registration, Republicans had 19% of the registered vote to the Democrats’ 25%, the remainder being mainly unaffiliated.  Today, Republicans are at 22% and Democrats at 39%, the remainder being mainly unaffiliated.  Surely Republicans need to ask what it is that they are measuring?     

NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt

 N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website.  Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions.  To submit a column for publication, please contact Marianna at Marianna@JerseyConservative.org.