Curtis Bashaw, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2024, was elected to the Cape May County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, winning a three-year term in the county where he ran strongest in his unsuccessful statewide campaign two years ago.
Bashaw received 21,725 votes, or 28.57%, while former North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello received 21,539 votes, or 28.32%, giving Republicans another sweep in New Jersey’s southernmost county.
The two Republicans defeated Democrats Eric Morey, who received 16,728 votes, or 22%, and David Temple, who received 15,979 votes, or 21.01%.
Republican Sheriff Robert Nolan, who ran unopposed, won another term with 25,106 votes, or 98.65%, and 343 write-in votes.
Bashaw, the owner of the historic Congress Hall hotel in Cape May and a former executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, and Rosenello will replace retiring Republican Commissioners Will Morey and Melanie Collette.
Morey is leaving after fifteen years in county government, while Collette is stepping down after one term to focus on her career as a political commentator.
For Bashaw, the victory marks a return to elected politics after his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign, when he lost statewide to Democrat Andy Kim, 54%-44%, but carried Cape May County by nearly 11,000 votes, winning 60% of the vote.
Bashaw had won the Republican Senate primary that year, defeating Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, 46%-38%.
Rosenello brings municipal government experience to the commissioner board after serving as mayor of North Wildwood.
The Republican victories extend a countywide winning streak that began after Democrat Jeff Van Drew ousted Republican Freeholder Mark Videtto in 2000. No Democrat has won a countywide election in Cape May County since.
Van Drew, now a Republican congressman, switched parties in 2020 after opposing the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. He was defeated for re-election tonight, and won Cape May by ten points.
Cape May remains one of New Jersey’s most reliably Republican counties. Trump carried it by 19 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, while Republican Jack Ciattarelli won the county by approximately 16 points in his unsuccessful 2025 gubernatorial campaign against Mikie Sherrill.
The latest results preserve the Republicans’ 5-0 majority on the Board of County Commissioners and leave Democrats without a countywide victory in another election cycle.
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