Hirsh Singh ends ludicrous White House bid

Hirsh Singh has suspended his ridiculous and farcical bid for the Republican presidential nomination, dealing the 38-year-old manchild – a sort of cross between Veruca Salt and Peter Pan — his seventh loss in just six years.

“In the interest of uniting the MAGA conservatives behind a single candidate.  I have decided the right thing to do is to suspend my campaign and support President Trump,” Singh said.  “During this campaign, we attempted to connect with and unify all Republican factions and the establishment.  However, some elements of the establishment showed an aversion to reintegrating the Republican voter base with the leadership.”

Singh had paid the $1,000 filing fee to get on the ballot in the New Hampshire primary.

Singh raised just $36,062 between July 27 and September 30, but had just $188 left in the bank.   Two-thirds of his warchest was self-funded; he brought in just $9,900 from other contributors.

His father/roommate, defense contractor Tribhuvan Singh, spent nearly $1 million to help his son run for governor in the 2017 GOP primary; he took advantage of a loophole in New Jersey campaign finance law that eliminated limits because the two were living in the same house.   He won 9.8% of the vote.

The elder Singh has helped bankroll his son’s other runs for office.

He briefly sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2018 before switching to the congressional race in New Jersey’s 2nd district.  Twelve-term Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor) was retiring, and the GOP was searching for a challenger against the Democratic frontrunner, State Sen. Jeff Van Drew.

While Singh secured several organization lines, he lost the Republican primary to former Atlantic County Freeholder Seth Grossman by 2,232 votes, 39%-30.5%, in a four-candidate race.

He tried to take on U.S. Senator Cory Booker in 2020  but lost the Republican primary by 8,727 votes against former U.S. Food and Drug Administration executive Rik Mehta, 38%-36%.   His campaign was propelled by organizational lines in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Ocean, where his 34,217-vote margin made him in contention to win the nomination.  He lost the other 17 counties.

In 2021, Singh’s scorched-earth campaign for the GOP gubernatorial primary Jack Ciattarelli didn’t work.  He finished third with just 21.5% of the vote and wound up ceding the pro-Donald Trump mantle to a shadowy ex-pastor, Phil Rizzo.  Singh fought to get into debates and then inexplicably ducked one of them.

In the most bizarre race of all, Singh mounted a fight for a condo board seat in Atlantic City last year and lost badly.