‘Stopping Donald Trump starts’ in N.J., top Democrat says

The leader of the national Democratic Party stood on a porch in Somerset County on Saturday — seven miles away from the president’s golf club — to hammer home a message.

“Stopping Donald Trump starts right here in New Jersey,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin told a few dozen local party leaders, candidates, and voters at a private residence in Basking Ridge — three days before the primary in the massive race for the Garden State’s next governor.

Martin was on hand for a final-weekend push for votes and painted Jersey as ground zero for American elections right now. It’s one of only two states, along with Virginia, to hold a gubernatorial race this year. And it’s seen as an early litmus test on Trump’s first year back in the Oval Office.

Republicans are trying to win back the governor’s office after eight years of term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Trump, who lives part of the year at his golf club in Bedminster, even held a phone call last week to stump for Republican frontrunner Jack Ciattarelli, stressing the goal is to turn the blue-leaning state red.

“New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show and vote for somebody that’s gonna make things happen,” Trump said.

Martin admitted Saturday the Democratic Party is trying to shake off a lull after Republicans retook the White House and both houses of Congress. To boot, New Jersey hasn’t elected one party to three straight terms in the governor’s office since 1961.

“I think what most people want to see is if our Democratic Party will get up off our asses and fight,” Martin told the audience that stood on the lawn outside the house in the rain to hear him speak. “Why have we lost ground with so many people? Because they believe we’re not gonna fight. They believe we’re weak. They believe we’re spineless.

“Let’s get out there and fight.”

Six candidates are running in Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination to succeed Murphy. And all signs show it’s a very tight race.

The five-man Republican primary is different: Ciattarelli, a former state Assemblyman who came within about 3 percentage points of upsetting Murphy in 2021, has led big in all polls and has Trump’s critical endorsement.

Though there are still 800,000 more registered Democrats in New Jersey, Republicans have gained ground and Trump shrank his margin of defeat in the state last year.

On Saturday, Martin said Republicans’ “best opportunity to stop us” is in Jersey — and even noted Ciattarelli is well liked.

“While Jack may be a nice guy, Donald Trump is not and you can expect (Ciattarelli) to fall in line,” the DNC chair said.

“At some point, we have to remind Americans who we are,” Martin added. “Donald Trump goes around talking about making America great again, but he ignores the values that built this country.”

Next year is big for Jersey, too. Democrats believe one of the seats key to retaking the U.S. House in Trump’s midterms lies in the state’s purple 7th congressional district, home to Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Martin’s stop Saturday took place there, and several Democrats hoping to unseat Kean were on hand.

The six Democrats running in the gubernatorial primary are: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney. All of them have repeatedly promised to combat Trump.

Last week, Trump called the Dem contenders “literally lunatics.”

The DNC has not endorsed a candidate. Martin praised all of them.

“We’re going to make sure we’re investing a lot of time, energy, and money to keep this state blue,” he told reporters after his speech. “And I think we’ll prevail in the end. You’ve got six great candidates.”

He said they all “represent the great diversity in our party — the ideological diversity, the geographical diversity.”

Asked how much money the national party will pour into the general election, Martin said: “It will be a significant seven-figure investment in this state.”

He noted the president was back at his Bedminster club this weekend and is slated to attend a UFC event in Newark on Saturday night.

“They’re very bullish on their chances here,” Martin said of Trump and Republicans. “He’s going to put a lot of his own time and personality and money and effort in this state.”

Trump also reiterated his support of Ciattarelli on social media Saturday afternoon.

Also running in the Republican primary are contractor Justin Barbera, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and former radio host Bill Spadea. Barbera, Kranjac, and Spadea are Trump supporters. Bramnick has been willing to criticize the president.

Early in-person voting runs through Sunday.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.