Republican developer Curtis Bashaw filed Federal Election Commission paperwork for a prospective U.S. Senate campaign today, and his main primary opponent, Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, is already coming out swinging.
Serrano Glassner, who is generally considered to be the frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination, released a statement slamming the “liberal” Bashaw for his history of Democratic campaign contributions and framing the race as a choice between her pro-Trump bona fides and Bashaw’s apparent anti-Trump inclinations.
“Curtis Bashaw is a liberal whom the voters cannot trust,” a Serrano Glassner spokesperson said. “He has personally donated over $30,000 to Democrat politicians – including over $15,000 to help the Democrat machine retain its grip on New Jersey government – and even worked against Donald Trump in his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.”
Bashaw, a hotel owner and former executive director of the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Authority from Cape May County, has made more than $150,000 worth of political donations over the years, many of them to Democrats in New Jersey and around the country. (He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Serrano Glassner’s attack.)
Among the more prominent Democratic recipients of Bashaw’s donations are New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who received a total of $5,200 from Bashaw in 2013 and 2014; West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, to whom Bashaw donated $2,900 in 2021; and current and former New Jersey Reps. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), John Adler (D-Cherry Hill), and Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights). Bashaw also donated to Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) both before and after his defection from the Democratic Party.
On the state level, a number of legislative Democrats have gotten donations from Bashaw in the last decade, including former Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), former Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), and now-State Sen. John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro), among others.
In the 2016 presidential election, Bashaw gave $1,500 to Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, who ran as a conservative alternative to then-Republican nominee Donald Trump. And just a few months ago, Bashaw donated $3,300 to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential campaign – once again snubbing Trump, who has become a Christie foe.
To be sure, Bashaw has also made plenty of donations to Republican candidates, including more than $20,000 to help Republicans retain the U.S. Senate in 2020 and many thousands of dollars to State Sen. Mike Testa (R-Vineland) and to the local Republican organization in Cape May County, where he lives. Bashaw also donated $2,700 to Bob Hugin, the 2018 Republican nominee for the Senate seat Bashaw is now seeking.
But Serrano Glassner, who has been running for the Senate since September and recently endorsed Trump for president, said that Bashaw’s bipartisan donations show that he can’t be counted on as a reliable conservative.
“Bashaw will never be a conservative champion and can’t possibly understand the struggles of the working men and women of New Jersey,” Serrano Glassner’s spokesperson said. “He is more in line with Gold Bar Bob and the Murphy Monarchy than he is with the small businesspeople and blue-collar workers across New Jersey who are struggling under this disastrous Biden-Menendez-Murphy economy.”
The Senate seat Serrano Glassner and Bashaw are running for is currently held by indicted Senator Bob Menendez, but he’s very unlikely to be this year’s Democratic nominee. Instead, the top two contenders are Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) and First Lady Tammy Murphy, either of whom would be the favorite against the Republican nominee in this November’s general election.