In a rare setback for Donald Trump, the candidate endorsed by the former president was defeated on Tuesday in New Jersey’s Republican Senate primary.
The Associated Press projects Mendham Borough President Christine Serrano Glassner, a Trump supporter, to lose to real estate developer and hotelier Curtis Bashaw.
Republicans believe they have a chance to win the November election, something they have failed to achieve in Democratic-leaning New Jersey for more than half a century.
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Sen. Bob Menendez leaves the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
A key reason for the optimistic outlook is the prospect of a three-way race in New Jersey. Longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who is on trial on federal corruption charges, is not running for reelection as a Democrat. On Monday, Menendez filed a petition with about 2,500 signatures to run for reelection as an independent. Polls suggest the embattled senator’s independent run could sap votes from Rep. Andy Kim, the Democratic Senate frontrunner who won Tuesday’s primary.
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Kim defeated labor union leader Patricia Campos Medina and activist Lawrence Hamm.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a real estate developer and hotelier, stands in front of historic Congress Hall in Cape May, New Jersey, on April 10, 2024. (Curtis Basho camp)
He will now face off in the general election against Bashaw, a first-time elected politician in New Jersey, an entrepreneur and historic preservationist known for leading the restoration of the historic Congress Hall and Virginia Hotel in Cape May, at the southern tip of the Jersey Shore.
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Serrano Glassner was endorsed by Trump three weeks ago at a mass rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, but Bashaw was the biggest fundraiser in the race.
Bashaw also had an advantage in the primary election, as he controlled the county lines of two-thirds of the state’s 21 counties.
New Jersey has long allowed counties to print ballots marked along party lines, a practice widely seen as favoring establishment candidates. Kim sued in federal court to overturn county lines in the Democratic primary, but Republican county lines were upheld.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished tonight. Instead of hurting people, we’re building something bigger. Together we’re building a bigger and better Republican Party — a party of people who believe in greater freedom and more opportunity,” Bashir said in his victory speech on primary night.
Navy veteran Albert Harshaw and former Tabernacle Vice Mayor Justin Murphy also ran in the Republican Senate primary.
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