Van Drew raising money for Wilkes in 38th, report says

Rep. Jeff Van Drew will travel to Bergen County on October 2 to headline a fundraiser for Barry Wilkes, a candidate for State Assembly in the potentially competitive 38th district, SaveJersey is reporting.

Some top Republicans think Wilkes, a businessman from Glen Rock, could pick off Assemblyman Chris Tully (D-Bergenfield) if Republican issues playing in other parts of the state are similarly effective in this suburban Bergen district.

The high-dollar event could infuse some cash into the final month of Wilkes’ campaign.  Van Drew has become extraordinarily popular with Republican base voters since he switched parties in 2019 and became a strong supporter of President Donald Trump.  The South Jersey congressman does little statewide campaigning beyond his South Jersey district.

A former Glen Rock GOP municipal chairman, Wilkes had built a chain of eleven family-owned delicatessens across Bergen and Passaic counties.  In a 2020 race for borough council, Wilkes came within 542 votes of winning a Democratic town; he ran 950 votes ahead Donald Trump and 845 votes ahead of Republican congressional candidate Frank Pallotta in Glen Rock.

Under a new legislative redistricting map approved earlier this year, the 38th became marginally worse for Republicans.

The GOP needs to win the Bergen County district if they want to take control of the legislature in 2023.  Gov. Phil Murphy carried the 38th by a 52%-47% margin in 2021.

Wilkes grew up in Fair Lawn and moved to Glen Rock in 1984.  He took over the family business, Wilkes Delicatessen, which was started by his grandparents in Ridgewood in the 1930s.  He helped grow the deli business into eleven different locations.  He also founded a wholesale distribution company that services food establishments across North Jersey.

In Glen Rock, Wilkes served as a planning board member for eleven years and served on the Republican county committee for over two decades.  He’s been involved in the Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, and Habitat for Humanity.