Daniel Cruz has dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate, leaving potentially eight Republicans for the chance to compete for the seat presently held by Bob Menendez, a three-term Democrat under indictment on federal corruption charges.
“I do not see Bob Menendez getting past the primaries,” Cruz asiad. “Beating Bob Menendez was a huge mountain to climb as well, but there could have been a slim chance to beat him.”
A former Andover Regional School District Board of Education member, Cruz said he saw no path to victory against the two leading Democratic candidates, Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) and First Lady Tammy Murphy.
“More people should be realistic when they are running in a blue county or district, but the truth of the matter is people have egos and too much pride to step away from a race they just don’t have a chance of winning,” Cruz said. “Perhaps as I met candidates along the way, they are just using the campaign funds to fund their personal ventures, which I believe is a disservice to our donors.”
Cruz, who spent more than two decades as a school administrator and won 17% in a 2021 primary challenge to State Sen. Steve Oroho (R-Franklin), said he would work to help the winner of the GOP primary but said he doesn’t see a future for himself as a candidate for public office.
“We are in a time where we should be healing and working together not against each other,” stated Cruz.
Instead, Cruz said he will attend law school.
He was the first Republican to launch a Senate bid against Menendez and is now the second to withdraw. Another would-be candidate, Shirley Maia-Cusick, ended her Senate after spending roughly $200,000 and is now seeking the GOP nomination for Congress in the 3rd district.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Mendham) had considered Senate bids but decided not to run.
The early front-runner in the Republican primary is Mendham Mayor Christian Serrano-Glassner, who joined the race shortly before the Justice Department unsealed its indictment against Menendez.
Curtis Bashaw, a real estate developer and hotelier from Cape May County, filed with the Federal Election Commission to seek the GOP Senate nomination but has not formally entered the race.
Two others mulling Senate bids, former News 12 New Jersey reporter Alex Zdan and Melinda Ciattarelli, the separated wife of former gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, have not announced their candidacies but last week filed letters of intent to compete at GOP conventions in Hunterdon and Somerset counties. Cruz had not filed.
Four other Republicans make up the second tier in the Senate race: perennial candidate Gregg Mele, the 2021 Libertarian nominee for governor; small business owner Michael Estrada, who won 1% of the vote in an independent State Assembly bid six years ago; Patrick James Merrill, and former presidential candidate Albert Harshaw.