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Republican candidates who lost close elections are reacting to the news that the old guard propping up Howes' opponent's campaign donated $180,314 to Democrats during Howes' tenure as Chairman.
"In 2021, Mike, Vinny, and I came within a hair of knocking off far-left Trenton Democrats Zwicker, Freiman, and Jaffer," said Joe Lukac, 2021 Assembly Candidate and Manville Republican Chairman.
"While the LD-16 campaign and Tim Howes' SCRO were working hand-in-hand out of the same office, sharing strategy and volunteers and working together as a team, the old guard were funding the campaigns of our liberal opponents. Shame on them," Lukac said. "Those same people are now running a campaign against Tim Howes. If Republicans all worked together instead of trying to tear our organization down from within, we would win more elections."
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The 2021 election remains illustrative of how coordination between SCRO and the various towns can be mutually beneficial. We have previously noted with pride how we flipped 10 municipal seats from blue to red that year. Many of us vividly recall how hard Bridgewater Councilman Michael Kirsh and Watchung BOE Member Amber Murad worked as our countywide candidates, establishing meaningful presence in all 21 municipalities. Michael and Amber shared the ticket that year with tenacious LD-16 campaigners Mike Pappas, Vinny Panico, and Joe Lukac, who came closer to unseating the LD-16 Democrats than anyone else has.
Ultimately, the Commissioner race was decided by 842 votes or about 3/4 of 1% for the second seat. The spread from first to fourth was just 2,670 votes or less than 2.5%-- a real photo finish. Our ticket spent a remarkably efficient $3.28 per vote in the very same election year that $61,590 was donated to Democrats by allies of the current challenger for County Chair.
Let that sink in. While Somerset County Republicans were working their butts off to win, some within our midst were pulling the rope in the exact opposite direction, directly aiding the Democrats' Vote-By-Mail signup program and other efforts. What if Dems had $60K less to spend that year? Or if even a fraction of that money found its way to the Kirsh-Murad campaign? They would have both won convincingly in 2021, Republicans would have had shots at majority control in both 2022 and 2023, and we would all be working toward Michael and Amber's re-election campaign right now.
"To this day, I remain humbled by all the support we received and appreciative of the genuine bonds of friendship we built," said Kirsh. "But the SCRO should be haunted by what might have been had some who should be our allies not so clearly enabled Democrats to win."
"Although we didn't win, I still look back on that 2021 race fondly," said Murad. "But we proved one thing. No journey can be successful when it's a matter of 2 steps forward and 1 step back."
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