Hudson County Republican Chair Jose Arango told the New Jersey Globe today that he has filed paperwork officially giving Christine Serrano Glassner the Hudson GOP line for U.S. Senate.
Arango had endorsed Serrano Glassner, the mayor of Mendham Borough and a former Republican county committeewoman in Jersey City, back in December. In the Hudson Republican organization, the chairperson has the power to award the county line, and Arango did so in consultation with his county’s municipal chairs.
Hudson is a heavily Democratic county, but it’s large enough that it still has a sizable footprint in Republican primaries. The county is home to 46,221 registered Republicans, around 3% of the statewide total – more than, say, Warren or Hunterdon Counties, two traditional Republican strongholds.
With the Hudson endorsement, county convention season for the Republicans seeking indicted Democratic Senator Bob Menendez’s seat has come to an end.
Serrano Glassner is one of the leading contenders for the nomination, along with Curtis Bashaw, a hotelier from Cape May, and Alex Zdan, a former reporter for News12. A number of other candidates have also launched campaigns and competed at county conventions, but none are likely to make much of a dent.
Bashaw has the overall advantage in county lines. He’ll be on the line in counties representing around 51% of the state’s Republican electorate after winning a total of 12 county party endorsements, including every South Jersey county: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Ocean, Salem (which doesn’t have a county line), and Somerset. Ocean County makes up the largest share of GOP votes of any county in the state.
Serrano Glassner, on the other hand, will be on the line in around 31% of the state after winning seven party endorsements: Bergen, Hudson, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex (which also doesn’t have a line), Union, and Warren. The remaining two counties – Monmouth and Passaic, representing 15% of the GOP electorate – went for Zdan.
But if Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown)’s lawsuit to abolish the county line is successful, then the last two months of campaigning to win party endorsements will become far less meaningful. Bashaw has the advantage for now as long as the county line remains in place, but if the line goes away, it’s anyone’s guess how the GOP Senate primary will shake out.
