Durr ends bid for governor, endorses Spadea for GOP nod

Seeing no viable path to win, former State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan), the South Jersey truck driver who made national headlines when he ousted then-Senate President Steve Sweeney four years ago, is dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for governor and endorsing Bill Spadea.

Durr said he secured the 2,500 signatures needed to get on the ballot but, as first reported by the New Jersey Globe, could not raise the $580,000 he needed to qualify for matching funds under the state’s gubernatorial public financing program.

“My supporters are the best.  They worked down to the wire to ensure I have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, and I thank them for their love and support,” said Durr, who served one term in the Senate and is an unabashed supporter of President Donald Trump.   “Unfortunately, the second part of the equation is money. We will not qualify for matching funds. Without matching funds, we are out of the debates, making it difficult to get our message beyond those who already support this campaign.”

Citing the 2021 primary, when Ciattarelli won with 49.5% against two Trump-supporting conservatives, Durr opted not to repeat past mistakes and split the MAGA conservative vote.

“Jon Bramnick openly admits he is not MAGA, and Jack Ciattarelli has always been a never-Trumper,” Durr stated.  “While there are two of us carrying the conservative message of the MAGA movement, only one has the financial resources necessary to carry that message through to November. I am ending my campaign so Bill Spadea can use all his campaign resources to defeat the two never-Trumpers in this race and carry our conservative message to November.”

Durr pledged to help Spadea win the nomination and hinted he’d run for office again.  Some Republicans believe he’s positioning himself to challenge U.S. Senator Cory Booker next year.

“I am not going away,” he said.  “There are other races on the horizon.”

The 61-year-old former senator, known as “Ed the Trucker,” defeated Sweeney with 51.2% of the vote in 2021 but lost his bid for a second term to former Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro) by an eight-point margin.

He joined the governor’s race last May and participated in a four-candidate Republican debate in February, but he never raised much money and skipped GOP county conventions.