PRESS RELEASE: Claire Gustafson Considering Getting Into CD1 GOP Primary

It looks like we may have a primary in CD1. Josh Duvall has already announced as a candidate in the district. Former Collingswood school board member and president of the Camden County New Jersey Federation of Republican Women announced she has formed an exploratory committee to consider getting into the race. Her press release on the matter follows:

COLLINGSWOOD – Saying, “2020 is vastly different than 2014, in every district we need candidates not afraid to stand with our President,” Claire Gustafson announced she has formed an exploratory committee to gauge interest and support into a possible candidacy for Congress in CD1.

“Republicans I’ve talked with don’t want a wishy-washy middle-of-the-road nominee pandering for Democrat votes,” Gustafson said. “They want a candidate who understands that ‘reproductive rights’ does not mean using abortion as a form of birth control. They want a pro-Second Amendment candidate who isn’t afraid to voice their support for President Trump’s policies. I’m solidly behind our President and don’t believe in pandering, if I run Republicans will get the candidate they want.”

If Gustafson makes the move from exploring a run to being a candidate for Congress she will start off with support from current and past elected officials in Gloucester and Camden Counties.

Greenwich Township Mayor George W. Shivery, Jr. said, “I met Claire when she ran in 2014 and, frankly, she was a far better choice than the party’s handpicked candidate. If she runs she will have my endorsement and support. I will encourage Gloucester County to award her the line.”

Joe Adolf, a former mayor of Magnolia and Republican in Berlin added, “No doubt, the party got it wrong in 2014. Claire’s got some experience having served on Collingswood’s school board and she’s proved she can run an aggressive campaign. This is a great opportunity for Republicans to right a wrong and run a candidate not afraid to take the fight to Congressman Norcross.”

Former Stratford Councilman John Dudley said, “Without a doubt running in CD1 is going to be tough, we need a candidate up for the challenge. Claire is an experienced campaigner, of the names I’ve heard wanting to run she’s the only one tough enough to take the fight to Norcross. I hope she makes it official and runs.”

“Exploratory committees are about gauging support and determining if the financial resources to be competitive will be there,” Gustafson said. “No Republican will match Congressman Norcross dollar-for-dollar, but whoever the candidate is must be able to raise enough money to force him to keep his money in the district and not send it to the second and third districts. If we determine I can raise the money needed to do at least that, I’ll be in.”

About Claire Gustaafson: Active in her community, Claire is currently the President of Camden County New Jersey Republican Women, a former school board member in Collingswood, a former soccer and Little League coach and a member of Collingswood’s historic commission. She’s owned her own small business for over 30 years and is married with four sons, one daughter and several grandchildren.

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US Senate: Meissner Picks Up An Endorsement, Singh Calls Himself Frontrunner

Stuart Meissner

This morning, within three minutes of each other, InsiderNJ and New Jersey Globe are out with the news that announced GOP candidate for US Senate Stuart Meissner has announced the endorsement of Hudson County Republican Chairman Jose Arango. This is the first official endorsement from a county chairman in the 2020 GOP Senate primary.

Arango offered a strong endorsement of Meissner. From the InsiderNJ report:

“Cory Booker is always looking for the next best thing,” said Arango in a statement. “That’s not Stuart Meissner. Stuart’s only focus will be on New Jersey—and not on higher office. He’s a different kind of candidate who will clean up our state that has been left badly broken by greed and corruption. We deserve a problem-solver who cares about the hard-working people of the Garden State. We need a Republican who will unify all our members as the Party of Growth Opportunity and Prosperity—that’s our next Senator, Stuart Meissner.”

Meissner is an “interesting” candidate, and since I no longer have a dog in this fight I’ll pay more attention to what comes out of his campaign.

Another candidate in the US Senate race, who also hasn’t put The Bob & Steve Show on his press list, Hirsh Singh came with a statement this morning in which he called himself the frontrunner. To be fair, Singh will likely never put this show on his press list because, well let’s just say he and I will not be sending each other Christmas cards.

Singh’s statement was apparently his thoughts on the 2019 elections and/or his thoughts on restoring conservative values to NJ based on the title of the statement. I couldn’t really tell because it wasn’t an easy read, mostly he complained about California.

Whatever the point of Singh’s statement, he should use some of that $100K he’s raised to hire a writer. In the statement Singh refers to himself as “frontrunner,” something The Bob & Steve Show will likely never call him, but he has raised 100 grand so, while it pains me to say it, Singh is a legitimate candidate.

Others in the race include Rik Mehta, who I assume has some money as he has some pretty good consultants on his team, my former client Tricia Flanagan and Natalie Rivera.

There are rumors others will be getting into this race. We’ll sit back, watch and update you if (and when) someone else gets in.

Are Conventions More Important To The NJEA Than Veterans?

Today started like most mornings, a call from Bob saying, “You should blog about…” and me saying back, “You know how to write.” This morning Bob’s complaint was that schools are open on Veterans Day and that schools were closed part of last week for the annual NJEA Convention.

Bob went on a rant about how he remembers when he was a kid school was closed and how his mother used to drag him off to some Veterans Day celebration somewhere. Honestly, I was only half listening.

I couldn’t remember if I had off from school for Veterans Day as a kid, so I called my mother. She absolutely, positively remembers school was closed for my brother, sister and me on Veterans Day. Since arguing with my mother is a pointless exercise, it’s official, school was closed on Veterans Day when I was a kid.

After much discussion, and me asking Bob why he hasn’t typed anything for today’s blog, the bottom line, at least for us, is that it is incredibly disrespectful that teachers could be sure schools would be closed so they could be one of only three state teacher unions in the country to hold their annual convention during the school year and then have schools open on an important Federal Holiday – Veterans Day.

Why not simply keep schools closed one more day to honor our veterans? Is the NJEA afraid teachers would not be paid if schools were closed today? They shouldn’t be afraid because teachers, by law, get paid for attending the annual convention of the New Jersey Education Association.

Whatever the case, unlike the NJEA, we at the Bob and Steve Show believe that if schools can be closed for a convention they should be closed on Veterans Day.

We choose to remember the reason for the day. As explained on the U.S. Department of Defense website “Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.”

On this Veterans Day, and every day, we thank all veterans for their service.