Hotelier Curtis Bashaw won the Cape May County Republican convention tonight, securing the organization line in his home county for his U.S. Senate bid.
Bashaw has considerable support in Cape May, where he has restored and operates several hotels, including the historic Congress Hall and won the convention with all 121 votes. Christine Serrano Glassner and Brian Jackson were on the Cape May ballot and received zero votes, as did Gregg Mele, who dropped out last month.
Cape May represents 2.6% of the statewide Republican primary vote; in 2020, the county cast more votes than Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, and Salem counties.
Tonight’s win continues a sweep of South Jersey counties, where he has scored organization lines in Atlantic, Cumberland, Camden, and Gloucester. He has the recommendation of the Burlington GOP screening committee, and, depending on how one views New Jersey geography, won the Ocean County GOP convention.
If he wins the nomination, Bashaw would become the first statewide candidate from Cape May since Rep. Charles Sandman (R-Erma) defeated incumbent William Cahill in the 1973 GOP gubernatorial primary. Sandman had lost Republican primaries for governor in 1965 and 1969.
The last statewide nominee from South Jersey was Gov. Jim Florio, who won in 1989 and lost in 1993.
