Republicans plot comeback in New Jersey

[RandySF]

Republicans are targeting several House seats they lost to Democrats in New Jersey last year, as they look to come back after losing nearly all of their seats in the state.

Republicans lost four New Jersey House seats in 2018 as voters angry with President Trump and former Gov. Chris Christie (R) punished their party. The GOP had already lost a seat in the state in 2016.

In 2020, the GOP thinks it has a decent chance of winning back three of those seats – if things break the right way. But it won't be easy, and Democrats are optimistic that they’ll hold all of the seats

“I think the Democratic incumbents are at least slightly favored in all four of the districts that flipped in 2018, but Republicans have a chance in all of them,” said John Weingart, associate director of Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University who has worked in New Jersey state government during both Democratic and Republican administrations.

New Jersey has long voted for Democrats for president and senator, but the state has typically been more mixed in House and state-level races.

However, Republicans have fared poorly in recent congressional elections. While the GOP held six of the state’s 12 House seats before the 2016 elections, they now only hold one of them.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/457784-republicans-plot-comeback-in-new-jersey

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Republicans won't go far in NJ if they continue to put up

candidates like five years ago. My rep is Bill Pascrell, Jr., a venerable democrat from Paterson. He's the one who is dogging Trump for his tax returns. Five years ago, the *best* that the Republicans could do to challenge him was Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of "Kosher Sex." I'm serious. The rabbi made youtubes of him having "debates" with a suit on a hanger hung on a chain-linked fence as though it were Bill Pascrell. (Guess he got the idea from Clint Eastwood.)

In any case, that the best the state republican party could do.

Then there was the Bob Hugin debacle last year (against Bob Menendez).

Unless the Republicans "fix" our voting machines (or the Russians), I'm not too worried about 2020.

[struggle4progress]

2. "Elect me! I promise to do nothing but play golf with the President!"

[mcar]

3. NJ is one of the fastest warming states in the country

https://www.nj.com/news/2018/06/nj_is_one_of_the_fastest_warming_states_in_the_us.html

I have a hard time seeing Republicans climate change deniers gaining traction there.