New Jersey Republicans: Focus on midterms, 2023 election before 2025 gubernatorial race

Amid jockeying over who will run for governor in 2025, New Jersey Republican leaders say the party needs to focus first on the elections that will be held sooner.

Members of the New Jersey Republican Chairs Association traveled to Ocean County on Monday, convening at a restaurant in Bay Head just a month after Ocean County GOP Chair George Gilmore returned to power. The meeting featured remarks by former Gov. Chris Christie, whose governorship Gilmore helped make possible by turning out his county’s Republican votes in large numbers in the 2009 election. Ocean County is the biggest red county in New Jersey.

“Chairman Gilmore was well received and everybody welcomed him as the winner that he is,” Hudson County Republican Chair Jose Arango, who leads the association, said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s a new beginning. We are a big family. And the main goal here is to unify the party to make sure that we win more congressional seats this year and next year we take control of the [state] Senate and Assembly.”

Monday's meeting comes as several Republicans position themselves to run for governor in 2025, something Christie said should take a back seat to planning for the elections that will happen sooner — like this year’s federal midterms and the 2023 statewide election, in which control of the Legislature will be up for grabs.

“Chris addressed a bunch of things, but as it pertains to 2025, he said two things: Success in ‘22 and ‘23 [and ‘24] will be an important building block for success in 2025,” said Republican National Committeeman Bill Palatucci, a close Christie friend who was present at Monday's meeting. “Then he did say in 2025, this group will play a very important role in helping to determine who the party’s candidates should be. He was encouraging all the chairs to work together.”

Though Democrats control New Jersey politics, Republicans made significant gains in 2021 — winning back seven seats in the Legislature and coming narrowly close to unseating incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Many in the party believe the GOP has a realistic chance of regaining control of the Legislature next year. New Jersey Republicans, anticipating a nationwide red wave in this November's midterms, are also hoping they can flip several of the state's congressional seats that are now now held by Democrats.

Gilmore had been on the outs with much of the GOP leadership after his 2019 conviction on three federal criminal tax charges. His last-minute pardon by former President Donald Trump in January 2021 helped him claw his way back to power, culminating in his narrow win of the Ocean GOP chair contest last month over Michael Mastronardy, the Ocean County sheriff who had the backing of most of the county’s Republican officials.

Prior to his return as chair, Gilmore in at least one case worked against the bulk of the state Republican party, helping to raise money for far-right GOP gubernatorial primary candidate Phil Rizzo. Gilmore’s help nearly won Rizzo matching funds from the state, which would have made the primary more difficult for the eventual nominee, Jack Ciattarelli. Rizzo lost out on matching funds because his campaign was late in filing its paperwork with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Back at the helm of the most formidable Republican county organization in New Jersey, state Republicans are privately discussing whether Gilmore will come back into the establishment fold or continue to back far-right candidates. Bill Spadea, a radio host who espouses anti-vaccine and baseless 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories, is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate and recently teased “some big announcements” along with lawn signs bearing his name.

The positioning for 2025 began shortly after Ciattarelli conceded his three-point loss to Murphy last year. Ciattarelli, at his concession speech, said he intended to run in 2025.

At least two other potential 2025 candidates were also present at the Republican Chairs Association meeting: Warren County GOP Chair Doug Steinhardt, a Ciattarelli rival for the 2021 nomination before he abruptly dropped out early in the race, and state Sen. Michael Testa , who’s also the Cumberland County GOP chair.

But Republican leaders at the meeting stressed in interviews with POLITICO the same message Christie had: They need to focus on the elections ahead of them.

“It’s far too early to make a decision as to who I would support for governor,” Gilmore said. “I have elections this November that I have to concentrate on and next year is Legislature. … “Everybody’s focused on this November and next November.”