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Jon Bramnick likes to make jokes, so much so that he is, as billboards around the state proclaim, the “funniest lawyer” in New Jersey.
Humor comes in handy in politics, and Bramnick has been pretty good at that as well.
He represented LD-21 in the state Assembly for about 20 years, including a lengthy stint as Republican Leader. He moved up to the Senate two years ago.
Primed by that background, Bramnick on Saturday is expected to announce his candidacy for governor in the 2025 election.
The venue, appropriately, is the Stress Factory Comedy Club in New Brunswick.
So, you can expect all sorts of comments and cracks about the nexus of politics and comedy.
But the cold reality here is that there is nothing amusing about the challenge Bramnick faces.
He long has been a “moderate,” on social issues and more conservative on spending money. Time was when such an official would be known as a “Rockefeller Republican,” which was once a laudatory label.
Those days are gone.
In the current Republican party, moderates are given the dreaded title of RINO, which suggests in no uncertain terms that they are damaged goods and not to be trusted.
The staunch conservative, or MAGA, wing of the Republican Party can’t be dismissed.
It is worth remembering that in 2021, Jack Ciattarelli won the gubernatorial primary against two more conservative candidates, but he got only 50 percent of the vote.
Now, here’s where political extremism trump’s logic.
Ciattarelli came within 3 points of Phil Murphy, a pretty good showing in a “blue” state.
Yet, go to right wing Republican gatherings and you hear speakers condemn Ciattarelli, who is kind of a moderate himself, for running a lousy campaign.
Ciattarelli says he’s running for governor again – in fact, he never really stopped.
So, won’t Bramnick and Ciattarelli draw from the same field of Republican primary voters?
Bill Spadea, an ideologically right wing radio host, has been seen by observers as a likely GOP candidate for governor. He is certainly acting like one, travelling around the state to various Republican events and swearing-in ceremonies.
Even if Spadea doesn’t run, you would expect Team MAGA to be represented. MAGA Republicans are a distinct minority statewide, but they can be influential in primaries.
We noted how Ciattarelli is “persona non grata ” for one cohort of Republicans; Bramnick is as well.
Phil Rizzo, who has run unsuccessfully for governor in 2021 and Congress in 2022, is nonetheless quick to condemn Bramnick.
Rizzo recently “tweeted” that Bramnick’s “Trump hating campaign for New Jersey governor” will end the way Chris Christie’s presidential campaign did.
Those views are common among conservative New Jersey Republicans.
Bramnick has shown no love for Donald Trump, saying in a recent interview with the Gothamist the following:
“You can’t be neutral on Donald Trump. You can’t be neutral on democracy. You can’t be neutral on January 6th and expect New Jersey voters to vote for you. You have to tell the truth about these incidents and about Donald Trump. And if you don’t, and you try to walk this fine line, the voters in New Jersey are not going to vote for the Republican. You have to stand up and when you see things in your party that are bad, you’ve got to say them.”
Most voters in New Jersey probably would agree with that statement. And those sentiments would make an experienced pol like Bramnick a pretty good general election candidate.
But his problem will be getting there.
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