In this year’s GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Republicans in tiny Cape May County have the opportunity to nominate one of their own: Curtis Bashaw, a hotelier and developer who lives in the city of Cape May.
But Cape May’s local congressman, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), said today that he doesn’t plan on endorsing Bashaw or anyone else in the near future. Van Drew said that he typically sticks to a policy of staying out of competitive primaries.
“My rule of thumb is not to endorse in any primary,” he said. “When that internal business is done, I will strongly support the [Republican] candidate and help them.”
Bashaw faces a large field of Republican opponents in the race to flip U.S. Senator Bob Menendez’s seat, most notably Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former News12 reporter Alex Zdan.
Van Drew noted that as someone who represents six different South Jersey counties in Congress, endorsing statewide candidates can be tricky, since not every county party organization in his district will necessarily agree on their preferred nominee.
Bashaw is likely to get official party support in most of Van Drew’s 2nd district, but he’s not assured the county organizational line everywhere, especially in Gloucester County. If the six counties in Van Drew’s district do indeed go in diverging directions, that would mean Van Drew is bracketed with different Senate candidates depending on the county.
“It’s complicated – I’ve got six counties, I’ve got six chairmen,” Van Drew said. “You could have a situation where one county goes one way, and somebody else goes another way. Who knows who I’m going to be on the line with.”
And beyond just his own re-election campaign, Van Drew is also the New Jersey chair of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign this year, giving him even more reason to stay neutral. Serrano Glassner has already won county conventions in two North Jersey counties, Hunterdon and Union, and is likely to win other county lines soon, meaning that Trump is set to run on the county line with at least two – possibly three, if Zdan wins any conventions – different Senate candidates.
Bashaw is not much of a Trump fan himself, having donated to the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2016 and to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s Trump-skeptical campaign last year. That sets him apart from Van Drew – and from Serrano Glasner, who has close ties to Trump’s orbit and who has endorsed Trump’s comeback presidential campaign.
Despite his own pro-Trump views, Van Drew did not express overt concern about Bashaw’s stance on the former president.
“I don’t think he’s going to be a Trump person, but I can’t speak for him,” Van Drew said. “It’s an interesting issue.”
Van Drew considered a Senate run of his own this year, even launching a statewide digital ad campaign to test the waters, but he ultimately passed on the race, saying there was too much he still wanted to accomplish in the House.