Unique – It’s been more than half a century since a Republican won senate elections In the blue state New Jersey.
But real estate developer and hotelier Curtis Bashaw is optimistic about his party’s prospects november elections To end the decades-long losing streak.
“I believe this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” stressed Bashaw, one of two leading contenders in a multi-candidate field in the GOP Senate primary in New Jersey in June.
“I can’t wait to see how we prove to the rest of the country that New Jersey is more purple than people imagine,” he said in a national digital special interview with Fox News.
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Real estate developer and hotelier Curtis Bashaw, Republican candidate for Senate in New Jersey, stands in front of the historic Congress Hall Hotel in Cape May, NJ, on April 10, 2024. (Curtis Bashaw Campaign)
A big reason for Bashaw’s optimism is the possibility of a three-way race in New Jersey. long term democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who was indicted on federal corruption charges last year, is not running for re-election as a Democrat and is instead considering an independent bid, which polls indicate would likely. Votes will be taken away from Democratic Senate candidate Representative Andy Kim.
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Bashaw, an entrepreneur and historic preservationist best known in the Garden State for leading the restoration of historic Congress Hall and the Virginia Hotel in Cape May at the southern tip of the Jersey Shore, is a first-time politician.
“I’m a political outsider,” Bashaw insisted. “I’m a business man. I’ve built a business restoring historic abandoned hotels over 35 years.”
And he highlighted that he has grown his business from 25 to 1,000 employees.
“I’m involved because I want to free small business from excessive regulation,” he said.
File photo of New Jersey Democrat Representative Andy Kim at the US Capitol. (Fox News Digital/John Michael Rasch)
Bashaw’s main rival for the GOP nomination is Christine Serrano Glassner, who served for four years as mayor of Mendham Borough in the northern part of the state.
Bashaw has a tremendous fundraising advantage in the Republican race – partly thanks to a large self-investment in his campaign.
They also have an advantage on the primary ballot, as they hold the county line in two-thirds of the state’s 21 counties.
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new Jersey Counties have long been allowed to print ballots that include a major party line, which is widely seen as helping candidates with establishment support. Kim filed suit in federal court to overturn the county lines in the Democratic primary. But the GOP county lines were retained.
Bashaw said, “New Jersey is made up of thousands and thousands and thousands of small businesses. We’re going to reach them really quickly and our name ID will grow really quickly.”
And alluding to the busy campaign schedule before the primaries, Bashaw reflected that “I go out for six coffees a day. I go to every single county in our state to talk. I put a lot of miles on the car. “
Former President Donald Trump welcomes attendees during a campaign event in Shanksville, PA, on Saturday, April 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti) (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)
asked about the former president Donald Trump, “I’m supporting this ticket from top to bottom,” Bashaw told Fox News of who is a potential GOP presidential nominee.
It’s been 36 years since a Republican carried New Jersey in a race for the White House, but Trump plans to make a campaign stop in the state next month.
Bashaw said, “Donald Trump thinks New Jersey is in play. I agree with him. Trump believes he can turn the country from blue to red. I believe we can take this Senate seat. Can change from blue to red.”
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He argued that there is a huge opportunity to draw “a large swath of New Jersey’s unaffiliated voters into the Republican tent… We’re going to draw those unaffiliated voters over to our side this fall.”
National Republicans have not made any investments in Senate races in the Garden State to date.
But Mike Berg, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said, “We’re keeping a close eye on New Jersey.”
When asked about the contest, an aide to the national Democratic Senate campaign told Fox News that “Democrats have won every New Jersey Senate race since 1978 and 2024 will be no different.”
Real estate developer and hotelier Curtis Bashaw, Republican candidate for Senate in New Jersey, stands in front of the historic Congress Hall Hotel in Ridgewood, NJ, on April 17, 2024. (Curtis Bashaw Campaign)
Bashaw highlighted some major issues in his interview, including crime.
“New Jerseyans are not feeling safe in their homes,” he argued.
On immigration and border security, another major issue Republicans are highlighting, he charged that New Jersey is “now a border state. Illegals are coming into all of our counties.”
Defending parents’ rights in public education, he claimed, “Woke ideology has become pervasive in our culture and now schools in our state keep secrets from parents about very, very, very personal decisions.”
On the issue of abortion, which Democrats are spotlighting, Bashaw pointed to the two-year-old blockbuster decision by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, which overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had outlawed abortion nationwide for half a century. Was made legal.
Bashaw said, “I believe Dobbs’ decision was the right decision.”
But he also said “I do not support a federal ban,” which some in his party are supporting.
The Dobbs decision sent the fight over abortion back to the states, and abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in New Jersey.
“New Jersey has made this decision,” Bashaw said, before charging that “Democrats are extremists on this issue, passing a law allowing abortion up to the day of birth.”
