Mary Jo Guinchard has defeated George Song in the GOP primary for New Jersey’s 5th congressional district, the New Jersey Globe projects, meaning that she’ll go on to face Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) in November.
As of 1:04 a.m., Guinchard leads Song 70%-30%.
Guinchard – a former mayor of Tuxedo Park, New York – has steadily risen through the ranks of the Bergen County GOP in recent years; she ran for county commissioner twice, in 2022 and 2023, losing in the primary the first time and the general election the second time. That set her up to win the Bergen Republican convention this year for the right to take on Gottheimer, a hugely important victory given that most of the 5th district is located in Bergen County.
The loser at that convention was Song, a member of the Paramus school board, though Song did get the GOP organizational line in Passaic County. (The 5th district’s third county, Sussex, doesn’t have an organizational line.) Song, as a Korean American Republican and an elected official in one of the 5th district’s top swing towns, could have been an appealing general election nominee if things had gone differently.
But either of them would have been substantial underdogs against Gottheimer, who won 55%-44% in 2022 and who has an astonishing $18 million in his warchest. Gottheimer has already started pillorying Guinchard as “MAGA Mary,” attacks that will likely only increase in the coming months.
What will be really worth watching this year is how much of that warchest Gottheimer spends to boost his name recognition ahead of a potential campaign for governor in 2025. The moderate congressman may only represent one-twelfth of the state in Congress, but the New York media market covers far more of the state than that, and his millions give him the ability to broadcast his 2024 campaign messaging far and wide.