Ned Thomson starts a PAC

Former Assemblyman Ned Thomson (R-Wall) has launched a new political action committee to recruit and develop a younger generation of Republican leaders in New Jersey.

Thomson, a former Assembly Republican conference leader, has founded the Garden State Heritage Political Action Committee, which will focus on voters ages 18 to 42 and use social media, artificial intelligence, and data-driven strategies to reach them.

“When I ran for the Assembly in 2025, my campaign wasn’t just supported by young leaders — it was powered by them,” Thomson said. “And they told me something I couldn’t unhear: they are the ones inheriting the reckless, dangerous policies coming out of Trenton.  The debt.  The mandates.  The affordability crisis.”

Thomson said Republicans have an opportunity to mobilize younger voters who feel ignored by the state’s political establishment.

“This generation isn’t apathetic — it’s been abandoned,” he said. “And in 2024, they proved something the political class still hasn’t absorbed: when someone actually speaks to them and takes their future seriously, they show up. And when they show up, they change everything.”

The new PAC comes after Republicans made significant gains among younger voters in the 2024 presidential election, when Donald Trump substantially improved on his previous performance in New Jersey and lost the state by fewer than six percentage points, but then lost the gubernatorial race to Democrat Mikie Sherrill by fourteen points.

Republicans hope those gains can become durable if they develop candidates and campaign organizations capable of communicating with voters outside traditional political channels.

“The public square has moved, and too many in politics are still shouting into the void of yesteryear,” Thomson said.  “We’re going where this generation actually lives — their feeds, their platforms, their conversations — to share the principles of liberty and prosperity, and to hand them the torch.”

The move signals that the 73-year-old Thomson is done running for office.

Thomson represented the 30th legislative district in the State Assembly from 2017 until he lost his seat in a stunning 2023 upset to Democrat Avi Schnall (D-Lakewood), who received the overwhelming support of Lakewood’s politically powerful Orthodox Jewish community.

In a 2025 rematch, Thomson finished third in the race for two Assembly seats, behind Republican Sean Kean (R-Wall) and Schnall.  He lost by 7,175 votes after losing Lakewood by 16,495.  Thomson raised less than $30,000 in one of the state’s most heavily Republican districts; GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli won the 30th legislative district by 49.6 points against Sherrill.

Now out of office, Thomson says the Garden State Heritage PAC will seek to build a pipeline of younger candidates and campaign leaders rather than concentrate on a single election cycle.

“This isn’t about one election or one candidate — it’s about building a bench that will lead New Jersey for the next thirty years,” stated Thomson. “Every dollar invested in Garden State Heritage is a dollar invested in the young men and women who will inherit this state.”

Thomson previously served as mayor of Wall Township and was first elected to the Assembly in a 2017 special election following the resignation of Assemblyman Dave Rible (R-Wall).