Christine Serrano Glassner has secured her first major endorsement as a candidate for the U.S. Senate: Rep. Thomas H. Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield), one of three Republicans representing New Jersey in Congress.
The endorsement comes on day two of Serrano Glassner’s bid to become the GOP Senate candidate against Bob Menendez, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman and an incumbent since 2006.
“Washington, DC is in desperate need of more leaders who put New Jersey families before politics,” Kean stated. “Christine Serrano Glassner is a strong leader and someone I have seen firsthand take on tough fights for her town and win. She has my full support, and I look forward to campaigning alongside her.”
Serrano Glassner is serving her second term as mayor of Mendham Borough and served in the administrations of President George W. Bush and New York Gov. George Pataki. Her husband, Michael Glassner, held major positions in Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Mendham Borough is in Kean’s congressional district. Another announced candidate for the Republican Senate nomination, Shirley Maia-Cusick, an Abzugian immigration consultant who formally announced earlier this year, is also one of Kean’s constituents.
“Congressman Kean has been an outstanding leader for our state in Trenton and now for my home district in Washington. I thank him for his confidence in my campaign and his strength for New Jersey families,” said Serrano Glassner. “ I look forward to defeating Bob Menendez and ending his career of cronyism.”
Kean and Menendez are former opponents. In 2006, Jon Corzine appointed Menendez to the Senate seat he was vacating to become governor. The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball had rated the race a tossup, and a Quinnipiac University poll released in late September put Kean ahead, 48%-45%. Still, in a strong year nationally for Democrats, Menendez won by nine percentage points.
New Jersey’s 7th district includes Hunterdon County and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren. Kean’s early endorsement could help Serrano Glassner as she seeks organization lines in those counties.
In her announcement, Serrano Glassner went after Menendez for being the target of a federal corruption investigation.
“New Jersey deserves better than this dark cloud of corruption that has been following Bob Menendez for a decade,” she said.
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