DNC chairman will visit N.J. this week

Democratic National Chairman Ken Martin will be in New Jersey on Friday and Saturday to jump-start the general election and his party’s bid to elect another Democrat to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy.

Martin, who was elected earlier this year, will launch a canvass to turnout Democratic primary voters in Somerset County; the canvass is unrelated to any of the six candidates for governor.

“New Jersey’s gubernatorial election is one of the most important elections in the country in November,” Martin said.  “Let’s be clear: No matter who comes out of New Jersey’s GOP primary, New Jersey families will come out last with a Republican governor.”

The announcement of Martin’s visit to New Jersey came as President Donald Trump was taking part in a tele-rally in support of his preferred candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, former assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.

Martin, a former Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor state chairman, suggested that Trump will be a key factor in the Democratic offense to retain the governorship.

“New Jersey families deserve a strong Democratic leader who will stand up to the Trump administration’s attacks, not bend the knee to a wanna-be tyrant,” he said.  “New Jersey Democrats can count on the DNC’s support to ensure working families have a champion in the governor’s mansion after November and that’s why I’ll be in the state this weekend to raise the alarm about fighting back.”

Democrats have not won three consecutive gubernatorial elections since 1961, when the state elected Richard J. Hughes to replace two-term Gov. Robert Meyner.  The last time Republicans won three governor’s races in a row was in 1949.