GOP activist reveals why New Jersey is not 'just a Democrat state' in push to flip governorship
Presler focused his 2024 efforts for the election on the neighboring battleground state of Pennsylvania, which went red, but said his group Early Vote Action is focusing on the Garden State based on promising numbers for Republicans in recent years.
"So, I think the best place to start is a lot of people think that New Jersey is blue. However, look at 2021, and I think that context is Jack Ciattarelli, who is our Trump-endorsed Republican candidate this November, just narrowly lost the governorship in 2021, four years prior by 84,000 votes, and that was a much less favorable environment for the Republican Party, for Donald Trump, etc.," Presler said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "And so the fact that we were still close back then shows the appetite that it's not just a Democrat state."
Democrat Mikie Sherrill Wins Nj Gubernatorial Primary, Setting Up Showdown With Trump-backed Gop Winner
In 2024, President Donald Trump lost the state by a narrower margin than expected, as he garnered 46% of the vote, compared with just over 41% in 2020. In 2021, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who is the nominee again, lost to Gov. Phil Murphy by just over 84,000 votes, which was a much tighter race than the 2017 gubernatorial election. This year, Rep. Mikie Sherrill is the Democratic nominee as Murphy is wrapping up two consecutive terms in office.
Presler said that team is "very diverse," and they're doing a variety of outreach efforts to not only boost turnout in deep-red areas of the state, but also to connect with key communities in the state, including Jewish, Muslim, Hispanic and Black Americans.
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"I definitely think that the America First emblem or the America First motto, that has been key to saying, 'Listen, why are we the personal piggy bank of the rest of the world? Why aren't we investing in the infrastructure and education here in our country?' Whereas Democrats wanna put the rest of the globe first and not American citizens," Presler said.
Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli Captures Gop Nomination For New Jersey Governor
He noted that in many areas of the state that border Pennsylvania, there are "shared values" that help better understand the electorate.
"Our strategy is we want sky-high voter turnout in the rural areas. Therefore, Hunterdon, Salem, Warren, Sussex, those are going to be key to our victory. And sure, the margins of the vote population aren't huge there," he said. "But in a state that was decided by 84,000 votes four years ago, you betcha that a thousand here or a thousand there is gonna make a difference."
The race, along with other off-year contests, could be an earlier indicator of the political environment headed into the midterm election and the 2028 presidential race. The activist noted that in New Jersey, touting key Trump policies, like the creation of a major tax deduction on tips, could be crucial to getting out the vote.
Trump Not On Ballot, But President Front And Center In New Jersey's Primary For Governor
"You have our beautiful casinos over there," Presler said of Atlantic City. "What did President Trump and the Republican Party just put forth with the BBB? No tax on tips, no tax on overtime. A lot of New Jersey is tourist-centered, and a lot of it is working class in the hospitality industry. I think there's going to be a direct correlation between the economy getting better and the people of New Jersey, especially independent voters coming over for President Trump," he said.
The general election in the Garden State is Nov. 4. Virginia is the only other state with a gubernatorial election this year.Original article source: GOP activist reveals why New Jersey is not 'just a Democrat state' in push to flip governorship
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And, Sandweiss says, it represents a whitewashing of the past that might signal a desire to exclude non-white Americans in the present. The fraught history of John Gast's 'American Progress' Gast's work on American Progress began in 1872, when he was commissioned to make a work for George Crofutt, an American publisher of several different guides promoting westward expansion. The image shows settlers traveling by stagecoach, conestoga wagon, and railroads, guided by a giant allegorical female figure of America, who holds a schoolbook in one hand and places a telegraph wire in the other. While these figures are glowing in a bright light, the fleeing Indigenous people are shrouded in darkness. 'On the one hand, [Crofutt] needs a set of ideas that his readers will readily respond to and are, in a sense, already familiar with,' Sandweiss says. 'In addition, he's using the picture as a kind of propaganda. 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For the DHS to post this painting through an uncritical lens, Sandweiss says, signals 'a broader ignorance of American history on the part of the current administration'; an ignorance that she sees reflected in the administration's efforts to alter the historical information shared by agencies like the Smithsonian and the National Park Service. 'If you overly simplify the past—if you pretend that the only important people in the story were white men—you not only distort the past and dishonor the many other kinds of people who were part of American society at that moment, you also suggest that there's not a space for different kinds of people in the present,' Sandweiss says. 'Whitewashing the past makes it easier to whitewash the present, and pretend that people who are not like the people we see in this painting have never had a part in the American nation.' The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. 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