Could THIS Be The End? Don't Count On It, Yet!

From our friends at Save Jersey:

Posted by Matt Rooney On October 06, 2016

It’s been quite a week in N.J. politics.

What presidential election? Right??

The gas tax fight is only one story. Election 2017 is already shaping up with the Dem primary over and the GOP primary officially getting underway.

And while Goldman Sachs alum and former Ambassador Phil Murphy‘s early Democrat gubernatorial primary triumph this week will have a profound impact on next year’s race to succeed Chris Christie, Save Jerseyans, some of my fellow South Jersey Republicans are now celebrating what they see as longer-term political implications for the hated regional Democrat Machine led by George Norcross III.

In fact, Senate President Steve Sweeney‘s defeat is “Norcross’s Waterloo” according to one GOP House campaign.


Steve Sweeney

“For the last few YEARS, George Norcross — the renowned powerbroker of New Jersey politics and brother of do-nothing Donald — has been working feverishly to get his protege elected governor,” said Annalee Thompson, campaign manager for Bob Patterson, the Republican challenger to George’s brother Donald in the First Congressional District. “Norcross has held meetings in North Jersey, orchestrated union endorsements of his preferred candidate, and kept close to the elites in the political class — all to ensure that his favored son would be the next governor… and well-positioned to deliver favors to Norcross himself. But, it turns out that the Norcross Party — at the direction of North Jersey powerbrokers — is lining-up behind former Goldman Sachs executive and uber-multi-millionaire Phil Murphy for Governor.”

“…Norcross’s influence is waning,” she concluded.

Waning? Or checked?

Pervasive North Jersey Norcross-phobia helped kill former Congressman Rob Andrews’s 2008 primary campaign against the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Regional biases aside, Sweeney didn’t do himself any favors despite his significant leadership role as the senior Democrat in Trenton. Frequent collaborations with Governor Christie, bungling the casino expansion campaign and failing to secure passage of a union-backed pension amendment likely played an equal – if not larger role – in limiting the Gloucester County iron worker’s ability to build a winning coalition outside of his machine’s Southern New Jersey base.

Christie (center) and Norcross (right)

The he said THIS.

Yup; he’s paying a price for guilt by association on both sides of the aisle.

A hypothetical 2017 victory for Phil Murphy would likely mark the end of the governing ‘Christiecrat’ coalition that’s dominated our state’s politics over the last several years as we know it.

Don’t count out the man who once infamously declared state-wide Democrats “have no choice” but to pay homage to him just yet. He’s a master of the long game. His bloc of votes still commands the legislature. I’m sure a ‘deal’ with Team Murphy is already in the works.

All the same, looking forward if the New Jersey Republican Party was a REAL statewide force (a guy can dream), then the legendary South Jersey Machine would be a few legislative seats-less powerful regardless of which liberal gets to carry the New Jersey Democrat Party’s banner next November.

That’s why I’m a one issue voter in next year’s GOP primary, folks. Whichever candidate convinces me they’ll do a better job of rebuilding the NJGOP as a legitimate opposition party will earn my vote in June.