Primary season has played out mainly as Donald Trump has wished, but most New Jersey Republicans voting in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate last night defied him.
Despite securing the former president’s coveted endorsement, Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner found that even his seal of approval couldn’t trump a steep financial deficit in her race against real estate developer Curtis Bashaw.
Bashaw’s win was the finishing touch on a solid night for the New Jersey political establishment. In the Garden State’s 8th Congressional District, Representative Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), the son of indicted U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, came out on top in his hotly-contested primary. (RELATED: Indicted Democrat Senator To Launch Independent Reelection Campaign)
Bashaw emerged victorious despite Glassner’s prowess at cozying up to Trump during the primary. Both candidates endorsed Trump for president, but Bashaw had previously donated to Chris Christie’s failed presidential campaign and even signed a letter dubbing Trump a “threat to democracy.” Glassner didn’t hold back on the campaign trail, describing Bashaw as a “coward” and “phony.”
In the end, Bashaw’s campaign infrastructure proved too strong to overcome.
The New Jersey Globe explains:
As of 12:42 a.m., Bashaw has 46% of the vote to Serrano Glassner’s 39%. Two other candidates, former Tabernacle Committeeman Justin Murphy and U.S. Navy veteran Albert Harshaw, have 11% and 5%, respectively.
As predicted, Bashaw is doing best across South Jersey, where he had institutional GOP support across the board; Serrano Glassner is winning the North Jersey counties where she had the county line, but nowhere else.
Bashaw, a Cape May-based developer on his first run for public office, will now go on to a general election against Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), who won tonight’s Democratic Senate primary in a landslide. Incumbent Bob Menendez is also looming; the Democratic senator, who is currently on trial on federal corruption charges, announced yesterday that he plans to run for re-election as an independent.
By most traditional measures, Bashaw went into the Senate primary well ahead of Serrano Glassner. Despite getting in the race several months later than her, Bashaw outraised Serrano Glassner $1.4 million to $475,000 – both totals which include substantial self-funding – allowing him to get his message out to a wider array of voters.
Bashaw benefited from the county organization line in 11 counties, a little-known aspect of New Jersey politics that allowed him to have priority placement on most New Jersey Republican primary ballots.
In March, a federal judge’s ruling temporarily eliminated the county line, but it only affected the Democratic primary; the Republican line remained in effect in all but four of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
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